Aluminium Foundry

Step 6 First time lighting the foundry

Every type of refractory has its own curing time and manufacture guidelines. If refractory is not cured properly it might crack under high temperature. The type of refractory I used had to be cured by lighting the foundry for a few hours keeping the tempature at 100°C, this type of refractory is good for up to 1200°C (cured). After refractory was cured I lit the foundry first time with charcoal and after one hour when the tempature was over 1000°C. I placed my hand on the outerside of the furnace and it just felt warm, that was a good sign that the refractory is doing its insulating part by keeping the heat inside the furnace.
After the furance body was cured I welded handles for the furnace lid and welded 4 support washers to hold the refractory in the lid.