Homemade Electric Aluminum Foundry - Second Casting

My second aluminum casting with a homemade electric foundry. See www.budgiemetalworks.ca for info on how I built it and other details. Thanks for watching!

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• homemade
• aluminum
• foundry
• electric
• furnace
• casting
• ingots
• tongs
• shank
• lost
• foam

[RedSun875]

ummm.... it does not seem wise to me to you tube a mess up while advertising for the metalwork bizz...

[BudgieMetalworks]

@RedSun875 This isn't an advertisement... it's me filming a hobby in my garage. I also don't consider this a mess up; it's very common for castings to not turn out even at commercial foundry shops.

[trancepose]

I was wondering, how much its running cost is compared to propane foundries. If you had the chance to discuss it others, can you inform me? I am planning to build a foundry in a couple of months...

And thanks for the video

[BudgieMetalworks]

@trancepose I don't have very accurate numbers, but I remember calculating that my foundry costs under $5 to run for a few hours. People generally assume that electricity is very expensive, but since we are not running the foundry all the time, the operating cost isn't a big concern. I'm not sure how much propane costs in your area, but it's about $18 here to refill a BBQ tank. I have no idea how long that lasts, but it seems pricy. Hope that helps

[telosfd]

How many Kwatts is your foundry ?

[BudgieMetalworks]

@telosfd It is approximately 4.5 KW (4500 W) when running; peak power will be higher when you first start the foundry. It draws about 18A at 220VAC, 60Hz; I have it on a 20A breaker.

[Travisthehead]

is that an electric blast furnace?

[trancepose]

@BudgieMetalworks thank you very much for the information buddy. and good luck with your future projects

[DrGoodwrench64]

You should have made the casting vertical, not horizontal. That's why you're getting voids. The super-heated air inside the casting can't get out fast enough as the molten metal rushes in and heats the air inside the casting. It's actually not so much the air as it is the water vapor content of the air. Water expands 1800x when steam is superheated.

Also, you need to make the nipple bigger. Think "Oval". And you needed more and ran out. Fill that crucible! And for God's sake, MOVE FASTER!

GJ!