Melting aluminium at homemade easy foundry furnace and crucible

[FaceCandys]

Wat was the crucible made out of ?!

[desilveywr]

Well, with all the disparging commentary here, I'd like to give you my congrats and thanks for posting this! Looks to me like the ice and snow worked mostly in your favor, with the rapid cooling built in for you by God! I know NOTHING about this, but am keenly interested; so thanks again for the lesson!!!

[MyIvank]

You had everything working against you, wind, snow, cold but you still succeeded in melting and casting the metal, good on you. Keep up the the great work.

[art4med]

Just read comments here, quite entertaining.

[1kbraun]

dont ever use flaming used cooking oil to temper steel it makes it brittle

[GAZKINGOFKINGS]

this video was about how not to do it !!

[ivanov3000mltk]

типа везде в итернете соду и соль кладут для флюса

[KeopsTV]

@ivanov3000mltk thumbs up him for talking another language :P

[Wadley225]

And you are doing this melting in the ice cold winter air. Real smart, nothing like having nature work against you trying to heat up some metal!

[vmakar85]

а нафига там сода нужна???

[JaiacosM]

Do you add NaCl as a flux? would borax work as well?

[ivanov3000mltk]

@JaiacosM I do not know. But as I know borax is used to dissolve oxidised layer on metals. I doubt NaBO3 is able to react with Al2O3 due to it chemical resistance. But who know... Try.

[UzumakiProsuto]

whats going on with that pan does it leak : \

[ivanov3000mltk]

@UzumakiProsuto No. pan is made from thin steel with thick Al bottom and another thin steel disk. When I pour hot Al into pan Al bottom have melt. It looks like pan leaks.

[Paintfiend123]

can you make knuckel dusters with this method?cheers

[tinydog6666]

Good Job

[jtalton626]

Man...all I can say is that although your foundry may work, your mold needs improvement. ROFLMAO

[ivanov3000mltk]

@phantasm091 Hi! As I know the best al alloy for the bells is duralumin, but it is not the best for casting. May be it simple formes like bells it will be casted rather good. I cast Al from cars engine heads and cast duralumin - Al alloy from Al tubes and angle bars. In simple formes it bouth cast well.

[ericlepiq]

lol grinder not made in america lol is this in russia...........anyhow evrything in made in china now

[ivanov3000mltk]

@ericlepiq

Is it significant? Do you like tea? Coffee? Where does it made? Where does it grow? :)

[gadadhoon]

That didn't go so well.

[SameOldRoper]

is that how you make athletics discus in russia

[ivanov3000mltk]

@SameOldRoper No.

[holyfuckjustsignmeup]

That is the stupidest thing I've ever seen. Your insurance company is going to want a loooooooong talk with you.

[xbigragux]

dude prob looks like fire marshall bill..some bad ass gloves

[ivanov3000mltk]

@KR4ZYxGAMING There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

;))

[Patambo2000]

I don't want to insult you, but this is extremely stupid, big time, I ADVICE ALL WHO WATCH THIS VIDEO TO NEVER EVER TRY THIS AT HOME, why loose your precious eyes? or other body parts like your hands? why get injured?

NO INTENTEN HACER ESO, ES UNA GRAN ESTUPIDEZ , es increiblemente peligroso, el individuo que sale haciendolo esta completamente idiota.

[ivanov3000mltk]

@Patambo2000 Hi! It is very kindly to worry about my and anybody health. I want to say you - it is not so terribly and dangerous indeed. Use gloves, glasses and your brain and all will be good. Don't be afraid, be carefull. It is not the same.

[ihavemonkeysinmybutt]

why would anyone want to melt aluminum?

[eddie1134]

@ihavemonkeysinmybutt for casting rounds duhhhhh

[Tewrobert]

@ihavemonkeysinmybutt probably someone unlike you with some ambition ........Something you obviously know nothing about.......

Great Video Ivan,

[eatmypies]

tell me ivanov? Have you ever made castings of your toes? cos one day you will!

[ivanov3000mltk]

@eatmypies I have cast only bulk cylinders as a procurements for futher machining.

[ivandivandakor]

whats the point of that energy waste?

[ivanov3000mltk]

@ivandivandakor Hi! It is only for fun. And time spending.

[Jackapooh102]

looks nice and warmmm

[EarlRausch]

Good video! and some good comments.I to like choppergeeza thought about the water hitting the Molted AU, I have just melted lots of Lead and one drop will shoot molten lead everywhere.

The salt will drive off hydrogen and the baking soda is to help the metal flow better.

As far as safety other than above, I think he was safe he had heavy welding gloves on, and that fire brick that's on top is just warm on top. I believe in tough learning. one SMALL burn teaches you an awful lot.

[EarlRausch]

@EarlRausch

Sodium Carbonate is NOT the same as Baking soda, I think I was on pain pills when I said that it was.

The salt part is true in that it will disperse the hydrogen, And the sodium carbonate will make the metal flow better,

[Ebdan88]

Oh Boy I really have had this dream of building my own GUN, or MashinGUN one day.... This is a reall good start ....although its going to be reall hard...!!?

[MrKaddan]

Cookin with aluminium :D Anyways how did you get it out of the pot? 

[TOXER555]

@MrKaddan

putt butter in the pan first ;D

[ivanov3000mltk]

@MrKaddan I cut the pot with angle grinder.

[junkymagi]

ivanov, you've got more balls than I

seriously, I'd be worried about a drop of molten metal hitting that snow and exploding all over the place...

[ivanov3000mltk]

@junkymagi Hi! It is better late than newer :) after 5 mounth. It is not theme for dispute, but if somebody can take enough care fo safe pouring of hot Al it can be not very dangerous. Nobody and I too is courage like Rambo :)

[jrichtman]

Thanks for this very well thought out comment, Although I think the word your looking for is paranoid agoraphobic instead of that very interesting paragraph you posted. If you think being safe makes you a "pussy" thats great, be the biggest bad ass you can be, but when you die doing something stupid please have someone upload the video so we can see how you lived your life to the fullest.

[jrichtman]

Nice video, but am I the only one cringing the whole time at all the safety concerns?

[ivanov3000mltk]

@jrichtman Hi! It is quite safe. Anyway to ride on motobyke 100 mph is more danger, but many people do it.

[HeadShot360IN]

@jrichtman so you're saying that you want people to do nothing with their lives?? if you go outside you might get mugged, or a sunburn, or cataracts, or a teeny tiny scratch from a leave blowing in the wind.. we should all stay in a small room in our house and keep the lights off so that we can avoid all possible injury and be pussies.

i'd rather go sky diving and end up dieing cause i thought it would be fun then sit and do nothing with my life...

[ivanov3000mltk]

@HeadShot360IN Hi! Thanks. I Think TRUTH is somewhere in the centre of different opinion. Of course it is very very and very nesessary to avoid danger, BUT!! Only if it does not interfere your plans and your business. In russian is proverb:" Anybody who does not run risk - never drink champagne !"

[becoming29]

@ivanov3000mltk So you did all that to pour it in a pan with a hole in it...

[iSMITH4life]

@HeadShot360IN if you risk nothing, then you gain nothing

[Fletch8600]

Ain't you a douchebag. Do us a favour, go skydiving and end up dying, please.

[ivanov3000mltk]

I think it let melt to clean.

[plarroy]

Why the salt and bicarbonate?

[ivanov3000mltk]

@plarroy I think it clean melt. May be it is wrong, I don't sure.

[jacktheripped]

@ivanov3000mltk salt is a flux and sodium CARBONATE(not bicarbonate) is a degasser

[jsnsykes]

@plarroy The salt and bicarb act to assist in the drawing out of hydrogen, and to homogenize the melt.. I am completely amateur, and this is just observation.

[mcnowski]

paying off the college bills with melted pop cans.....

[Allroundmoviemaker]

I finished my foundry three days ago and successfully casted my first copper ingot. Go see the video, I guess, you might like it :)

[Allroundmoviemaker]

By the way, did your pan have a hole before the pouring already or the molten aluminium really "burn" through it? Cuz it looks like a pan made of stainless stell, which I thought wouldn't melt under about 1600°C.

[EirosNevermore]

@Allroundmoviemaker many pans like that are actually cheep copper pans coated in stainless steel. They warp fairly easily, and you could burn a hole through them this way on a regular basis (if you had enough crappy pans, anyway)

[Allroundmoviemaker]

What's the cause of using NaCl and NaHCO3? Are they good for some special reaction or so, cuz I don't know it.

[panzuman]

your foundry works like mine but opposite i adjust the propane not the air i will put up a video so i can show you you inspired me :)

[chooechooe]

i did this with coal. it works good

[chooechooe]

is sodium bicarbonate baking soda?

[ivanov3000mltk]

yes, it is used for cooking.

[chooechooe]

ok thanks

[panzuman]

did you make your crucable? if so how or at least what materials?

[ivanov3000mltk]

The crucible was made from piese of steel tube. I cut small piese from tube for crucible bottom, flat it and weld to one end of tube.

[zuuluu1]

BEAUTIFUL! Thanks so much for this post! About how much did it cost for the propane to do this where you live and how much propane does it use for the 40 minutes this took to make? Thx bud and keep up the good work :)

[ivanov3000mltk]

As I can remember: I used aproximately 5 litre of liquid propane for 1 hour burning. It cost 100 russian rubles so I spend 4$ (USD) during one hour to melt 3 kg of Al.  In Moscow

[zuuluu1]

Thx bud! I didnt know you had a currency called rubles. I like that thow haha. I think it should be about 2 dollars here at 5 liters. Wont be to expensive plus my family owns a hardware store so I can get all the propane equipment I need lolz. Well Thx for all the help :)

[ivanov3000mltk]

The good idea is to add some oil to propane flow when furnace is hot. It let to use propane only for initial heating.

[Procrastinatathor]

Let me be sure I understand well:

You have a blower and propane plugged in. After (boldly :P) lighting it, you increase the blower flow until the max is reached and you're set. Right?

[ivanov3000mltk]

Hi! You are absolutely right. First I turn on blower on slow power, second I turn on propane flow, third I ignite it, and after small time I rise air flow to reach max burning efficiency.

[choppergeeza]

man with that snow and ice i was just waiting for moisture to hit the metal then BANG!!!! big time. safety first peeps. 25 years as a aluminium die caster and not a bad burn yet.

[highguard01]

see i put my aluminuim cans in before the crucible was hot plus tomato soup cans not that great of crusable for starting off.but i found my coal! second day and getting better!

[Procrastinatathor]

3:17

Are you cutting a piece into smaller pieces so it fit the crucible?

[ivanov3000mltk]

Yes, it is right!

[Procrastinatathor]

Method of lighting the whole thing:

Style: 5

Efficiency: 5

Safety: 0

:D

[ivanov3000mltk]

I agree and can add: furnace funny BOOM when I lighted it after long propane flow. :D

[faxepl]

That's a... quite a bold way of igniting the gas.

Anyway good luck with your furnace.

My furnace is made from fire bricks and burns charcoal.

The crucible is the bottom half of 1 litre fire

extinguisher container.

[faxepl]

Oh, and salt is for degassing the metal I think.

PS. greetings from Poland.

[buerm009]

what does the salt and sodium carbonate do?

[xplymouth2]

same thing it does with the ice i presume, lower its melitng point.

[vince19811981]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you can melt aluminum, f**king awsome, can i have my 9 minutes back!

[ivanov3000mltk]

Next time use "search" more carefully to save your time.

[vince19811981]

lol !!! well said

[ivanov3000mltk]

:) +1

[robertg222]

If you didn't want to watch aluminum melt for 9 minutes why did you watch a video titled "Melting aluminum" for 9 minutes.

[vince19811981]

its a very a good point, I guess I didn't pay attention to the title, just the same way you didn't pay attention to me sort of apologizing for my comment to the guy who made the video, im not sure if you can find it, its about 2 inches below this very comment.

[robertg222]

I didn't realize that was an apology. But if you say it was I will believe you.

[sw8741]

very nice video! i like how you put together your furnace from various pieces. ingenious!

i think punk105 should have said, "has anything ever gone very wrong?". any major accidents?  spills? burns? explosions?

[ivanov3000mltk]

Hi! NO OF COURSE NOT!!!!! :)))) if I can write this words :) In fact it is very dangerous to heat propane tank on open air to rise inner pressure in the tank. As I do. NEVER repeat it! It was one accident there^ I pour liquid Al to bad form and Al pour onto the snow. Snow immediatelly vapour and LIQUID Al jump behind my coat collar... It was painfull. In addition - syntethic wear and gloves burn very well near furnace :) right on my hands :)

[ivanov3000mltk]

Moscow. And what does it mean in clear oxford english: "has anything ever gone super wrong" because I can't catch your thought because of my poor english.

[WingLee51]

COMMUNIST!!

[ivanov3000mltk]

eat vitamins please and treat your nerves.

[punk105]

Hey man, I stumbled into your video, and I was just wondering, has anything ever gone super wrong and what area of Russia do you live in?

Awesome vid

[billygotgrove]

Be careful that the scrap you are melting doesn't have moisture on it of it will cause a steam explosion when added to molten metal.

From a back yard metal caster

[ivanov3000mltk]

It is very useful comment! Especially when anybody add solid scrap to liquil molten. When you melt solid scrap for the first time - it is not danger, because water simply wapoir when heating. But if add to liquid... I get some portion og liquig Al behind my neck when pour molten to wet form. It was very painfull...

[AdultoysUSA]

I've never heard of adding nacl & nahco3 to this process - can someone point me towards some online resources that describe this procedure?

I know you mentioned it earlier here but i didnt know What ur set up is composed of, is that just soil or clay dug up within the fence? Also These cement bricks did u make them? are they fire bricks for refractory/high heat or? it isnt regular every day cement is it?

Would a clay soil work as exterior circle just piled around/packed inside fence/etc?

[ivanov3000mltk]

First, about adding nacl & nahco3 I read in russian part of internet. Now I can't say anything about it's helpness. Without nacl & nahco3 melt became the same. Second, furnace is made of blocks of foamed concrete. It is industrially made blocks. They have very small weight (about 15 kg for 60*20*30 cantimeters block) and wery high heating isolating properties. Unfortunetly they are very soft and often crack when heated and cold. I use it because it's cheapness and easy treatmentness.

[AdultoysUSA]

So your saying that adding the nacl & nahco3 doesn't make any difference? you get the same results with or without it? Sry wasn't understanding what you meant by what u said.

[ivanov3000mltk]

Time is going and experience is growing :)

Yes, I try to melt Al without salt and soda (nacl & nahco3) and get the same results. BUT I think that adding salt and soda you let VERY dirty Al scrab to clear. It is not science opinion, it is only my supposition. And second - I think you should let melted alloy to stay for a while to let heavy pollution fall to bottom.

[LordKain187]

Hey I got a question, if your using scrap aluminum; how can you keep the cans from burning to powerder instead of melting?

[ivanov3000mltk]

I use scrap in thick fragments and don't use cans as scrap. So it is not a problem. Some parts burn and some parts only melt.

[regould22]

When you try and heat aluminum up to melting temperature it loves to turn into aluminum oxide (the powder) instead of melting and cans are the worst. Cans have a lot of surface area compared to amount of metal. You best bet is once you get a pool of molten aluminum add crushed cans and push then down into the molten metal so they aren't exposed to air when they melt. But first make sure there is no liquid in the cans or you may get a face full of aluminum from a steam explosion.

[tommysid]

nice video........keep up the good work

[death2148]

Is that a paint can? Will stone work? just wondering

[ivanov3000mltk]

I do not understand what do you call "paint can"? Crucible is made from steel tube, and forms are cans, but they are heated before filled by Al to burn any paint and water. Second- stones are foamed concrete. Well heat isolator and heat resist.

[fangus503]

haha i think your ingit casting had a hole in it

[ivanov3000mltk]

HAHA, you are absolutely wrong. The reason is different..

[fangus503]

HAHA youre such an absolute faggot you didnt even finish your fuckin comment. jesus, i liked the video but you turned out to be a real prick

[ivanov3000mltk]

Please, read more good american books wrote by your exellent american writers. You can begin from O'Henry. You will improve your humour sence. And it should help you attack your opponent more perceptibly and effectively :)

Sorry for my english.

[fangus503]

oh, thats a good one! yeah, perception. it also helps if you dont arrogantly subject your viewers to insulting responses to comments just because they misunderstood your video. youre a real foreign asshole, just like the rest of them.

[ivanov3000mltk]

It is very sadly hear your opinion about "foreign asshole, just like the rest of them" . You disgrace your great country USA. But I know that people with opinion like you is not in majority, and can't rise their tail when appear face to face in front of "foreign asshole". Second - remember Adolph Hitler - your attitude to other world as the same.

[xplymouth2]

haha nice man, you just made him shut up,ps: greetings from canada

[colt4667]

Thank you for posting this video. Keep up the good work. Your English is fine!

[colt4667]

fangus503: you are a total asshole!!! Why do you insult this man? I am an American and I am so ashamed of you! Get a life, asshole!!!

[martinlocotuerca]

que esta haciendo un guiso jajaj

[TalksWithDirt]

Wow! Amazing results for everything being homebuilt! What do you plan to make with your foundry? Are you considering something like the David Gingery series of home-built machine tools? You're pretty far along to the ability to start making some cool stuff. Looking forward to watching your progress.

[ab48726]

Very nice video, you got a LOT of Al out of that pour. Just curious, what are the salt and soda for? Slag coagulant? Flux?

[ivanov3000mltk]

As I know Al oxide is heavy then pure Al and drop on the bottom of the crucible. So it was left in the crucible and thrown out.

Salt and soda is used as flux. It is not my idea, I hear about it from experienced man.

[LEBANON707]

Do you mean Aloxide or Alhydroxyde Al(OH)3? I agree it promotes fusion but how do you get rid of it at the end ?

[ivanov3000mltk]

Hi! As I know, Al(OH)3 decompose at Al melting temperature to Al2O3 and water. So I mean Aloxide. I eliminate both top level of the melt and the bottom level of the melt. Top I clean with little shovel and bottom simply left in the crucible.

[LEBANON707]

Good explanation. To your success

[junkymagi]

Salt degasses, soda (flux?) impurities float and are skimmed off as slag.

[ivanov3000mltk]

It is household soda for cooking.

[stutest2]

Do you mean bakeing soda

[stutest2]

what is NAHCO3 IS IT BOROX