Print PDF
Favorite
Email
Step 9The Pour
Well now we've melted aluminum, but what can you do with it?
Well, if you know how to pour a casting that would be a really great thing to do with it. I dont, so I just poured it into an ingot. Later, when I learn how to cast a part then I can melt the ingot down (free of dross), and make it into something.
So first we need to remove as much material that is not aluminum as possible. Aluminum will be a shiny, shiny liquid at the bottom of the crucible, the dross will be anything floating on top of it.
Grab the spoon and jam it into the crucible (carefully), you should be able to see/feel what is liquid and what is not, remove as much of what is not as possible. Likely you'll come out like me, after sticking it down there once and bringing a wad of gunk out, the wad as well as some aluminum was stuck to the spoon.
But thats good enough...
Now we need to pour, first turn off your blower, then just place the ends of your crucible holder into the holes in the crucible CAREFULLY!! You REALLY have the chance to severly hurt yourself here!! Lift the crucible carefully out of the furnace. It will virtually instantly make crackling and popping sounds of very rapidly cooling down. I hope your cast was nearby...
Use the spoon in your other hand to gently lift the bottom of the crucible, pouring out the aluminum below the remaining dross.
WOW!! Look at that shiny stuff, isnt that amazing!
It will QUICKLY become dull and begin to solidify, and the muffin tin (if your using one) will become dull red .
Let it cool upwards of an hour before trying to touch it.
After pouring, place the crucible back in the furnace, and let everything die down and cool. Your charcoal should still be burning and everything will be hot for several hours, try to just let them be.
If you have some marshmallows break them out, and roast them over the remaining fire (might as well).
Congratulations, you can now make liquid metal, and form it into things. The whole world is open before you (or at least it feels that way).
Well, if you know how to pour a casting that would be a really great thing to do with it. I dont, so I just poured it into an ingot. Later, when I learn how to cast a part then I can melt the ingot down (free of dross), and make it into something.
So first we need to remove as much material that is not aluminum as possible. Aluminum will be a shiny, shiny liquid at the bottom of the crucible, the dross will be anything floating on top of it.
Grab the spoon and jam it into the crucible (carefully), you should be able to see/feel what is liquid and what is not, remove as much of what is not as possible. Likely you'll come out like me, after sticking it down there once and bringing a wad of gunk out, the wad as well as some aluminum was stuck to the spoon.
But thats good enough...
Now we need to pour, first turn off your blower, then just place the ends of your crucible holder into the holes in the crucible CAREFULLY!! You REALLY have the chance to severly hurt yourself here!! Lift the crucible carefully out of the furnace. It will virtually instantly make crackling and popping sounds of very rapidly cooling down. I hope your cast was nearby...
Use the spoon in your other hand to gently lift the bottom of the crucible, pouring out the aluminum below the remaining dross.
WOW!! Look at that shiny stuff, isnt that amazing!
It will QUICKLY become dull and begin to solidify, and the muffin tin (if your using one) will become dull red .
Let it cool upwards of an hour before trying to touch it.
After pouring, place the crucible back in the furnace, and let everything die down and cool. Your charcoal should still be burning and everything will be hot for several hours, try to just let them be.
If you have some marshmallows break them out, and roast them over the remaining fire (might as well).
Congratulations, you can now make liquid metal, and form it into things. The whole world is open before you (or at least it feels that way).
| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
6
comments
|
Add Comment
|
Aug 16, 2009. 10:22 PMiknowad
says:
What can you use melted aluminum for?
Reply
Oct 29, 2008. 3:49 PMgamerguy314
says:
so is this good if you just want to heat up metals too, but you put them in for less time? Also... The can doesn't get melted at all does it?(the one holding the coal)
Reply
Nov 16, 2006. 4:19 PMzofo300
says:
kool a killer hockey puck
Reply
Aug 30, 2006. 4:39 PMsolidification
says:
one other thing. a metal bucket will radiate a lot of the heat made, out its thin walls. It will act a lot like a heat sink, sucking heat away from where you want it to go. Try building your walls out of a good insulative material. Firebricks (found in fireplace/tile shops) or even cheaper is to go to a lawn and garden store where you will find a huge bag of Vermilculite/ Pumice/sand etc. for a few bucks. you don't even have to cement these things together. you can simply sadwhich it with metal buckets. (the inside one should not be galvanized though ;P . Now when you burn the fuel, heat will still disipate out of the inner bucket, but now the transfer of heat is very low compared to insulating the wall with flowing air. (do not use a clay pot for either wall. while it will withstand the heat chemically, it will fracture mechanically when it cools down. and by fracture, I mean pop apart, spilling the insulator everywhere.
Reply
Aug 30, 2006. 4:10 PMsolidification
says:
You might try upgrading out of Galvanized materials. The common term galvanized means a piece of metal coated with Zinc through the galvanic process. Zinc is a very bad thing to heat in air, as it quickly reacts with oxygen to form zinc oxide. Zinc oxide fumes are pretty bad to breathe or have collecting on your body/eyes/clothes etc. The zinc that is not exposed to oxygen, will either run into your steel can walls and embrittle them (they will eventually fall apart, probably at the worst time) or it will diffuse into your metal that is being melted. (which isnt so bad, as it will lower the melting point, allowing greater superheat and probably improve fluidity a little. But that is another game.
Reply
2
Aug 14, 2006. 8:08 PMJack Daniels
says:
to make a mold get some of that sculpting foam or closed cell foam like POLYSTYRENE (easist to shape and sculpt also holds it's shape best) make your prototype then get a wooden box and fill it about 1/4 full with sand any grade will work but the finer it is the less you have to sand (pun not intended) after words place your protyotype in and fill the res of the way with sand making sure to keep a hole to poor the alumium into poor chill and remove there you go instant part
Reply
 |
Add Comment
|
