$30 backyard aluminum foundry - TURBOCHARGED

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!! The hair dryer was enough to heat aluminum cans but not aluminum rods. I switched to an air compressor to push more air in and it definitely did the trick. Even though I was wearing safety glasses, a hot ember managed to get under them and burn off three of my eye lashes.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• aluminum
• foundry
• backyard
• smelt
• melt
• molten
• paint
• can
• coffee
• blast
• furnace
• diy
• homebrew
• casting

[Nuvious]

There are many things I could've used besides compressed air that would've worked much better including the mentioned vaccum blowers and other air pumps designed for continuous airflow. In all likelihood a more powerful blow-dryer could've also worked, but I bought one specifically to be disposable in case this experiment went awry and as such I bought cheap and it didn't push enough air.

[Sn1p3ro3o5]

now i am just getting into this but can i suggest breaking down your raw material (aluminum) into smaller pieces so they melt faster?

[Nuvious]

@Sn1p3ro3o5 We actually did this with smaller strips of metal. However, once you get a good pool of molten aluminum, it doesn't matter how big or small the pieces are as the transfer of heat from molten metal to the unmelted pieces will be very effective. We started with a bunch of chopped up pop cans and got a nice small pool going and then started putting in the larger pieces. The last piece was nearly 6"x2"x2" and it melted in less than a minute in the already molten aluminum.

[paramedpiper]

what did you use for a Crucible?

[Nuvious]

@paramedpiper A piece of 2" steel piping with a pipe nipple on one end. I then drilled a hole through the top of the pipe section so I could use a piece of re-bar to pick up and put down the crucible. Even though it's a threaded seal, when the pipe heats up it effectively makes it leak-proof as the threads expand against each other.

[sking0369]

Are you using anything to remove slag? and what?

[Nuvious]

I didn't, but since it floats on the top you can use a piece of iron to scoop it off the top.

[MrLeonard55]

Who counts their eyelashes?

[Yunneck]

"DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME" damn, now i MUST to try this at home :/

[jackoskellington]

I now have the ability to melt metal!!!

[minibikerider1]

@Nuvious you can use a leaf blower it don't need to be close because of the volume of air it get hot near it though

[misterprickly]

@ThePajamaPlayer I have to agree; You're almost melting the paint can.

[jmg1957]

well done.

[ThePajamaPlayer]

Just a bit of inpit, I've got my own forge in my backyard, and I figured that using a pipe the size of the hair dryer, and making the forge very large actually makes a significant difference; in fact, when i melt aluminum cans, the idea isn't to melt the cans, it's to melt the cans WITHOUT melting the steel. Just saying that it you do it right, a hair dryer can do alot more than melt blocks of aluminum, which ive done before, you just have to do it right

[robokid560]

how do the can support the heat

[1220975]

screw hair dryer, get out the ol leafblower!