No gloves, unacceptable footwear, no face shields. There were a number of clumsy movements. The holder change and skimming of the dross took place WAY to high, do it on the ground. The crucible was allowed to cool. Lots of ugly scenarios could have happened.
Well, like I've said to every other critic on this website. It was our first time firing up the furnace and our first time melting anything. It was a successful melt and pour despite how "clumsy" we were. Thanks for the concern.
I agree with everything you had to say. We moved the crucible back to the furnace afterwards for the cool down. The whole thing was clumsy and unsafe. Today a different game safety and fluid motion. Any advise is welcome.
UGHHHHH.... AGAIN!! Another great youtube video that is incomplete!!! You go thru all this work, record it, and leave the details that everyone wants to know, up in the air!! What kind of brass were you using? Yellow Brass? Red Brass? Were they pipe fittings? How many pounds did you use? What was your final weight after melting? What did the final product look like after cooled and buffed?
Wonderful video. I am glad neither of you were hurt, despite the complete lack of safety equipment and casual technique. To anyone contemplating doing this, it should only be carried out with full fire suits, face shields, and safety boots. Molten metal burns are serious, and can easily be fatal. Take care, all.
I liked the way you were able to seat the forge lid with that push-leverage-lift system. Forge on a cart, nice idea to move it around easier for storage.
Both of those blokes DEFINITELY have the wrong footwear for that job. Any spillage means that their shoes will melt/dissolve and they will be in big trouble. They also should use leather gauntlets for any high temperature operations. Hands and feet are important to you, protect them.
I was thinking the same thing. The guy with leather shoes would have some protection from small splatters, but the one wearing nylon sneakers is just asking for it. I was also waiting for the bare hand cleaning the crucible to get a zinger, but he was lucky this time.
This was our first time melting anything, we were a little too excited for safety. We now have Kevlar elbow gloves and booties for our shoes, aprons and face shields.
Those of you who think wearing safety gear is silly, and are making fun of those who advise taking precautions--I encourage you to just go ahead and do whatever you want.
Tip: add boric acid (you can usually get it at the dollar store labeled as cockroach killer) since brass is a mixture of copper and zinc and some zinc boils right out of the molten metal an it will leave you with molten copper
You guys did a good job. Don't pay attention to the safety police they just want everyone to think they are smart . I really like your lid mechanism. Good luck!
Dayton, a good place to go is Budget casting supply. They will have everything and was great resource to get started. Once you get there use cast iron pan for your ingots. The ingots will pop out easy. Making ingots is good way to practice your new skill. This video was our first melt. We were eager to get started and were a little clumsy and not as safe as we are now. Be safe and let us know if you have questions.
watch out for gasses being released... Some can cause serious lung damage very quickly. I furnaced large quantities of copper. Copper is a lot safer than bronze or brass. I am impressed with your operation.... A mold had a pin size hole in it and shot liquid copper 20 feet across the room then made a splash arc up the wall 20 feet. Be safe guys..I have 200 lbs of brass shavings. Lets make some big dough..
Kathleen, I didn't have a plan, but scratched my head and figured it out. I took the best ideas I found out there and I put my own spin on it. I am working on a how to guide for the beginner. It is about six weeks out. It will cover all the questions that people ask. Useful info and where to go to get started plus a plan on how I built mine Thanks for the interest.
I used to pick up small crucible molds at 2100 degrees using insowool. It is rated at 5000 degrees. Ceramic insulation zero heat transfer unless it gets wet. We covered the inside of the furnace top and side fire bricks with it. Think the smallest was 1 7/8 ($2600) wholesale largest 14 3/4 ($354,000) wholesale/ A few modifications to your furnace might net you a new car every month, week..day ... Seen it, been there got the T-shirt...
The lack of safety gear made me cringe but other then that great video. I'm glad there were not accidents and your both burn and metal free. When you were pouring the metal it reminded me of how Genghis Khan killed Inalchuq. He poured molten silver in his eyes.
What material is your crucible? It looks ceramic but I can't tell for sure. I have done two pours of aluminum this week and looking to continually improve. Ceramic would be ideal
We used a layer of ceramic fiber blanket between our steel barrel and refractory concrete and over the rubber wheel by the torch, we have to cast metal wheels. we just did a copper this weekend and topped out our pyrometer at 2400
whats the yellow colored condensing stuff on the crucible when your cleaning the dross and the yellow flames when your pouring if in the molds? is it the zinc burning? after few times remelting brass do you loose some percentage of zinc from the alloy because of the high temperature or...?
The safety concerns have been covered, and are significant, but the main issue I have with this video is the misleading title. You aren't shown melting brass. You're pouring already melted brass.
Ya, the boxes have ceramic tiles in them :). The temperature of the brass when it is casted is around 2100 degrees iron starts melting at 2800 degrees. The brass pops right out.
bob maki graphite crucibles are good to a bit more than 2900 degrees and a 900 cc crucible could take like slightly less than 15 lbs of brass if you didn't top it off. My 900cc graphite crucible cost like $50 shipped to my door.
DruidicRifleman I don't want to sound like spam, bought on an online auction and mine is a bit smaller, other wise it looks identical to theirs. If that's a 55 gallon drum, the drum O.D. is about 585mm, by scale, theirs is around 200mm across so they may have a capacity of 1500cc crucible. That said, looks like they got an A12 size and holds 18 kilos of brass and price is about 3 times what I paid for an A5 size that I have and mine holds only 6.8 kilos of brass.
It always makes me sad to see counties where they have such blurry possessions. Makes you a little patriotic to know that everything in America has sharp detail.
Question begs to be asked, but why are you transferring the crucible high up on the boxes instead of on a more stable surface, like the ground? When I did metal casting at a foundry, we always just set it on directly on the concrete.
It wasn't that high. But the reason was that I made the pouring shank with off set handles. So one guy could finish the pour operation when the other bottomed out.
That is some awesome protective footwear. Seriously though it would be a good idea to wear some heavy steel toe boots next time. That ladle was pretty unstable while trying to get the tongs off. If that were to fall over, one or both of you wouldn't have to worry about foot wear for a while. Seen it happen. Just an FYI. But that furnace is great what did you use for a liner?
What we are melting in this video is brass candle sticks, figurines and fittings. Pretty much anything we can find at garage sales and secondhand stores.
alex couple i have a forge and cast things usually in aluminum. i want to expand to copper and brass and my question is where can i get large quantities of brass or scrap brass
Nice well thought out equipment but if I could make a suggestion: Do your skimming when the crucible's still in the furnace, you will lose less heat. Raise your ingot mold or your flasks to a higher elevation so your not pouring so high, and for brass, you really should choke the flow. I made a pouring table next to my mold table so I'm not bending over while trying to pour. And I can do my shake out there too right next to my muller.
Thanks always improving. Did you build your muller ? I have been researching design and have a idea but good input on this one would be appreciated. Thanks Lyle...
+Steve Copley I made a muller using a truck rear differential with the swingarms bolted to the lug wheel lug studs. I slip rolled a 30" drum, that slips over a 30" dia. x 3/8" thick plate that the rear end goes through. Then I a cast my own swingarms with homemade wheels. small gas engine powers it with a bevel drive gearbox that was I bought on ebay for some auger. If you google my name +muller there ma still be some photos of it's construction on some other guys website. Since then however, I bought a 24" Mifco and a smaller Mity mull. I gave the homemade one to my friend as well as some of the furnaces I made so he's doig foundry work too.
Thanks Lyle, You are very inventive sir nice job. I've been to this site before and will probably purchase a motor gear drive for this project. Was Mifco reasonable ? might go that rout do to time. Thanks, Steve
+Steve Copley I paid $900 +$200 shipping for my MIFCO. Bought it used on ebay. They show up from time to time. I wouldn't buy anything less than 24" dia. as that's the smallest size that will let you mull a 50 lb bag. The homemade one was just too big for my shop and it had a gas engine and was better for my friends. It's still "mine" but it's on a long term loan. Same with all the other junk he gets as I update my foundry.
ive been having a bit of a melt the last couple of days, i had a lot of slag/dross at the bottom of the crucible, is this normal? i will add im smelting extruded aluminium, cans and parts of an old greenhouse so not the best stuff to start off with, thanks
Go to budget casting supply.com They can help, you need to seal your melt. For example I use copper shot for bronze. A little bit starting the melt and a bit later. This will leave me with a small amount of dross and a gleaming pool of molten bronze. Good luck
I was thinking that you were going to make a cylinder so to machine the brass... or perhaps some other sort of castings... what could be done with the shapes coming from the molds used in this video?
this may be a stupid question but how do you heat the crucible? do you just put charcol around the crucible and then provide air, or are you heating it another way
I could tell that this was your first time melting metal. So many safety issues I think you know what I mean, also I don't know what the purity of the metal and the crucible but those bars looked kind of ugly but maybe you cleaned them afterwards I don't know. I do hope you learned more so that you can make better quality bars.
Great video! Please wear gloves guys!! :) also to take yourself money next time don't buy 11 bags of castable that would of broke me! Get yourself some 3000f IFB and ceramic blanket 2" thick and 8 lb sqft and some 3000f mortar the brick cut with a wood saw very easy and they last a lot longer I am lucky and live 12 miles from a place that makes the brick and castable the brick size I used is 2 1/2 x4 1/2 x 9" I paid 6.00 ea and I got 50 of them and still had 12 left over. Petrobond is the way to go for your molds also build a muller.. Great set up for the first go at it!!
why is it that no youtuber has ever mixed different metals together and see what they get... i think it would be pretty cool if you could mix like copper and aluminum... or steel and copper
The pouring shank, picking tongs, burner and oven I made. What I couldn't make I bought at budget casting supply and legend mining supply out of Sparks Nevada. If your looking for something specific please ask and I will try to point you in the right direction.
I want to melt & cast a small amount of brass with acet/oxy torch to cast a piece approx. 1/4" X 1" X 3". Can I met it in a tin can and pour it onto a piece of tile? Any help appreciated.
John, what were you making? We have just been making ingots so far. We would be very happy to make money with this hobby or at least make our money back. What was 1 7/8 and 14 3/4 and I don't understand why they are so much money. We are fairly new to this and any advice on how to turn a profit ( or break even) would be greatly appreciated.
Good stuff but have you ever wondered what could happen to you feet if you had a spill? You need leather up to your knees, at least if you cannot afford foundry protection stuff. Please be careful.
In this video we melted brass candle sticks and figurines and condensed them into ingots which are more easily stored and remelted later when we are ready to forge a brass cannon.
Nice! Those tools you used too take out the crucible - was those home built? I have a furnace, but my problem is that the intense heat radiation makes it hard to take things out and put them in (cast anything hotter than molten aluminium as almost impossible) - such a tools is hard to find in a standard ware house
The tools are home built and I agree it becomes very hot. I found some good ideas on the web and not being any sort of welder but creative. I found the parts needed and used a wire feed welder to assemble it. This project really was my first welding project as well as melting anything. As you can see safety wasn't first but now is. Careful when you step up.
Steve Copley Yeah - nice work! My furnace is heated by electricity and can reach 1280°C in about 35-50 minutes (depending of how much stuff I put into it). Maximum temperature that I can reach is about 1300°C (2372°F) and just limited by what the heat resistance wire used for the heating elements can handle without melting. That's well enough to melt cast iron - wich has a little lower melting point than pure iron and steel, due to it's carbon content. I also got a small piece of iron plate from a transformer core to melt - it's also some alloy with some silicon and other stuff in it. So far I have mostly used it for experiments (where I can let the furnace cool down a bit before take things out) - and to clean stuff but pyrolysis, wich only needs about 430-600°C but is very useful (I never need to scrub dirty grill grates and such "pain in the ass" work anymore) The only problem that I run into if using it for casting is just to take out the crucible in a controlled manner without "burn the ass off" and run a risk of dropping it. I cant afford a house with a garden, so I live in an apartment and run my furnace indoors (wich is no problem as it's running by electricity, so there is no exhaust) - but I really don't want to take the risk of drop things or spill molten metal as that will totally ruin the floor. Of course I will not melt that amount of metal you have there and handle it indoors - that's dangerous. But i can do small castings if I have the right tools
No gloves, no face shield, no aprons, and wrong shoes; it's an accident just waiting to happen. Was that one guy wearing sandals or are those just funky shoes?
+John Ferguson Agree about the lack of safety equipment and awareness. When they set the crucible on the box it rocked back and forth a bit. This could have been a video about the guy who was permanently maimed.
I have no problem reaching beyond my pyro meter limits of 2400 F. Research the venture effect and understand it.This is what I came up with. A fan for velocity ( I regulate power to the fan by a reduction dial ) entering two inch pipe followed by propane insert. I used a 2 inch tee fitting and capped one of the ends. Reason being the gas and air is mixing at this point. I then reduced to a one inch nipple then flaring back to the two inch nozzle. The one inch nipple you will have to drill holes in for atmosphere pressure, this will draw in oxygen rich air. I use stainless steel for my nozzle because I melt steel pipe. Go to alexcply100 our you tube site. Look at set up to get the gist. This what works for me since day one. Hope this helps, let me know how it goes. One more thing use a pressure regulator and pressure dial. I start at 8 psi and super heat when the melt looks close turn regulator up to 15 psi for five minutes then pour. By the way I have invested in heat proof gloves face shield respirator clothing etc. BE SAFE not like me out of the gate. I was just excited to see the thing work and it did. 50lbs of brass first time.Steve...
+Steve Copley forgot to say thanks! ok ill navigate over and have a look, the brass is building up and i want to get rid, hows it been going anyway? ive done no casting since i commented last as its been too cold and wet here
No gloves, unacceptable footwear, no face shields. There were a number of clumsy movements. The holder change and skimming of the dross took place WAY to high, do it on the ground. The crucible was allowed to cool. Lots of ugly scenarios could have happened.
Well, like I've said to every other critic on this website. It was our first time firing up the furnace and our first time melting anything. It was a successful melt and pour despite how "clumsy" we were. Thanks for the concern.
I agree with everything you had to say. We moved the crucible back to the furnace afterwards for the cool down. The whole thing was clumsy and unsafe. Today a different game safety and fluid motion. Any advise is welcome.
I sir do not like you its not your problem and people do much stupider things so shut up yeah i told him
2000 yrs ago they didn't have no PPE when they was casting bronze swords and implements of war. Reminds me of the good ole days yea.
N8ZU
slaves were only 300 dinari then 3 for the price of 2 sometimes
UGHHHHH.... AGAIN!! Another great youtube video that is incomplete!!! You go thru all this work, record it, and leave the details that everyone wants to know, up in the air!! What kind of brass were you using? Yellow Brass? Red Brass? Were they pipe fittings? How many pounds did you use? What was your final weight after melting? What did the final product look like after cooled and buffed?
Wonderful video. I am glad neither of you were hurt, despite the complete lack of safety equipment and casual technique. To anyone contemplating doing this, it should only be carried out with full fire suits, face shields, and safety boots. Molten metal burns are serious, and can easily be fatal. Take care, all.
I liked the way you were able to seat the forge lid with that push-leverage-lift system. Forge on a cart, nice idea to move it around easier for storage.
I'm all about that brass, 'bout that brass, pure metal.
Both of those blokes DEFINITELY have the wrong footwear for that job. Any spillage means that their shoes will melt/dissolve and they will be in big trouble. They also should use leather gauntlets for any high temperature operations. Hands and feet are important to you, protect them.
I was thinking the same thing. The guy with leather shoes would have some protection from small splatters, but the one wearing nylon sneakers is just asking for it. I was also waiting for the bare hand cleaning the crucible to get a zinger, but he was lucky this time.
This was our first time melting anything, we were a little too excited for safety. We now have Kevlar elbow gloves and booties for our shoes, aprons and face shields.
Alex Copley
so, what did yall make the (forgot what its called, sorry people of the comments section) smelter out of?
Alex Copley
New melting wardrobe! Thank God, now maybe the safety sissies can sleep at night.
Those of you who think wearing safety gear is silly, and are making fun of those who advise taking precautions--I encourage you to just go ahead and do whatever you want.
looks like an exercise in how not to do it.
I love your furnace. it's a big step up from the coffee can/dirt/hair dryer thing I use to melt aluminum.
Tip: add boric acid (you can usually get it at the dollar store labeled as cockroach killer) since brass is a mixture of copper and zinc and some zinc boils right out of the molten metal an it will leave you with molten copper
One piece of brass pie please.
XD
Amazing! Great work guys!
If you heat up the metal plates before you pour the metal you'll get a better pour.
you know what'd be cool to make? a friggin crown
Agreed
You guys did a good job. Don't pay attention to the safety police they just want everyone to think they are smart . I really like your lid mechanism. Good luck!
+Micscience You have probably never worked with molten metal. One drop would burn it's way half way through his foot.
Dayton, a good place to go is Budget casting supply. They will have everything and was great resource to get started. Once you get there use cast iron pan for your ingots. The ingots will pop out easy. Making ingots is good way to practice your new skill. This video was our first melt. We were eager to get started and were a little clumsy and not as safe as we are now. Be safe and let us know if you have questions.
watch out for gasses being released... Some can cause serious lung damage very quickly.
I furnaced large quantities of copper. Copper is a lot safer than bronze or brass.
I am impressed with your operation....
A mold had a pin size hole in it and shot liquid copper 20 feet across the room then made a splash arc up the wall 20 feet.
Be safe guys..I have 200 lbs of brass shavings. Lets make some big dough..
Y'all made less of a mess pouring molten metal than I do making cupcakes....
Hahahahahahaha loool
LYNX HQ
Preheat the pans first
Great job y'all. Well made video. Did you make another video of the finishing process?
Clinton
Of all the safety tips that can be given, a more stable base is right up there.
very impressive setup!
Kathleen, I didn't have a plan, but scratched my head and figured it out. I took the best ideas I found out there and I put my own spin on it. I am working on a how to guide for the beginner. It is about six weeks out. It will cover all the questions that people ask. Useful info and where to go to get started plus a plan on how I built mine Thanks for the interest.
I used to pick up small crucible molds at 2100 degrees using insowool. It is rated at 5000 degrees. Ceramic insulation zero heat transfer unless it gets wet.
We covered the inside of the furnace top and side fire bricks with it.
Think the smallest was 1 7/8 ($2600) wholesale largest 14 3/4 ($354,000) wholesale/
A few modifications to your furnace might net you a new car every month, week..day ...
Seen it, been there got the T-shirt...
Great video..and im glad you didnt get hurt smelting the brass :-) Please make a video about how to make the furnice..
The lack of safety gear made me cringe but other then that great video. I'm glad there were not accidents and your both burn and metal free. When you were pouring the metal it reminded me of how Genghis Khan killed Inalchuq. He poured molten silver in his eyes.
Great video, where did you get your crucible? I would love to get a large one like that.
What material is your crucible? It looks ceramic but I can't tell for sure. I have done two pours of aluminum this week and looking to continually improve. Ceramic would be ideal
The green is copper sulfate created from melting the copper in the brass.
We used a layer of ceramic fiber blanket between our steel barrel and refractory concrete and over the rubber wheel by the torch, we have to cast metal wheels. we just did a copper this weekend and topped out our pyrometer at 2400
Is anyone else disturbed that they destroyed grandma's antique cast iron cookware?
This metal was so molten hot that it gave me eczema for 2 months just by looking at it
This is very interesting to watch!
That is some industrial stuff-- huge crucible, holy.
WTG on your product. Hope your PPE has improved since your first batch. I've worked in a casting department safety first though.
My goodness that's A LOT of brass!!!! Where'd you find the ingot bar tray?
What kind of brass and where did you get it? What are you planning to do with all that brass?
How many minutes does iron sit in the oven to be melted?
whats the yellow colored condensing stuff on the crucible when your cleaning the dross and the yellow flames when your pouring if in the molds? is it the zinc burning? after few times remelting brass do you loose some percentage of zinc from the alloy because of the high temperature or...?
That was awesome!
The safety concerns have been covered, and are significant, but the main issue I have with this video is the misleading title. You aren't shown melting brass. You're pouring already melted brass.
So cool dude. I wish live in a ground where I can do the same. Do alloys and stuff like that. Good video.
Ya, the boxes have ceramic tiles in them :). The temperature of the brass when it is casted is around 2100 degrees iron starts melting at 2800 degrees. The brass pops right out.
Where did you get your crucible?
Could a home made steel cruciple be used or is a ceramic one necessary?
bob maki graphite crucibles are good to a bit more than 2900 degrees and a 900 cc crucible could take like slightly less than 15 lbs of brass if you didn't top it off. My 900cc graphite crucible cost like $50 shipped to my door.
N8ZU
Shipping costs change depending on where a persons from also
Where did you find that cruciple and is it similar to the one in your video?
DruidicRifleman I don't want to sound like spam, bought on an online auction and mine is a bit smaller, other wise it looks identical to theirs.
If that's a 55 gallon drum, the drum O.D. is about 585mm, by scale, theirs is around 200mm across so they may have a capacity of 1500cc crucible.
That said, looks like they got an A12 size and holds 18 kilos of brass and price is about 3 times what I paid for an A5 size that I have and mine holds only 6.8 kilos of brass.
Good teamwork!
It always makes me sad to see counties where they have such blurry possessions. Makes you a little patriotic to know that everything in America has sharp detail.
what did you use for your foundry. concrete, or a plaster mix? etc
raise your hand if you could smell the muffins burning off.
Excellent video, what is your crucible made from?
Can you use the same crucible for melting aluminum or does it have to be used with brass from now on?
Question begs to be asked, but why are you transferring the crucible high up on the boxes instead of on a more stable surface, like the ground?
When I did metal casting at a foundry, we always just set it on directly on the concrete.
It wasn't that high. But the reason was that I made the pouring shank with off set handles. So one guy could finish the pour operation when the other bottomed out.
That is some awesome protective footwear. Seriously though it would be a good idea to wear some heavy steel toe boots next time. That ladle was pretty unstable while trying to get the tongs off. If that were to fall over, one or both of you wouldn't have to worry about foot wear for a while. Seen it happen. Just an FYI. But that furnace is great what did you use for a liner?
great video, though I couldn't help but make like the extras in Monty Python's quest for the Holy grail thinking to myself "get on with it"
This is a one man job not a under funded spec ops mission
Where could I find plans for a furnace like your's. Thanks for the video !
That beginning part made me nervous. It looked like you all were right on the verge of spilling it on to one or the other's feet.
Too bad we didn't the finished produc. Was curious to see how those igots turned out!
What we are melting in this video is brass candle sticks, figurines and fittings. Pretty much anything we can find at garage sales and secondhand stores.
Where did you get that large crucible? How much is one that large?
alex couple i have a forge and cast things usually in aluminum. i want to expand to copper and brass and my question is where can i get large quantities of brass or scrap brass
Brass muffin, that funky muffin
Nice well thought out equipment but if I could make a suggestion: Do your skimming when the crucible's still in the furnace, you will lose less heat. Raise your ingot mold or your flasks to a higher elevation so your not pouring so high, and for brass, you really should choke the flow. I made a pouring table next to my mold table so I'm not bending over while trying to pour. And I can do my shake out there too right next to my muller.
Thanks always improving. Did you build your muller ? I have been researching design and have a idea but good input on this one would be appreciated. Thanks Lyle...
+Steve Copley I made a muller using a truck rear differential with the swingarms bolted to the lug wheel lug studs. I slip rolled a 30" drum, that slips over a 30" dia. x 3/8" thick plate that the rear end goes through. Then I a cast my own swingarms with homemade wheels. small gas engine powers it with a bevel drive gearbox that was I bought on ebay for some auger. If you google my name +muller there ma still be some photos of it's construction on some other guys website. Since then however, I bought a 24" Mifco and a smaller Mity mull. I gave the homemade one to my friend as well as some of the furnaces I made so he's doig foundry work too.
+Lyle Landstrom Found a link to my muller. There's other designs on the same site:www.angelfire.com/tx5/hite/muller/muller.htm
Thanks Lyle,
You are very inventive sir nice job. I've been to this site before and will probably purchase a motor gear drive for this project. Was Mifco reasonable ? might go that rout do to time.
Thanks,
Steve
+Steve Copley I paid $900 +$200 shipping for my MIFCO. Bought it used on ebay. They show up from time to time. I wouldn't buy anything less than 24" dia. as that's the smallest size that will let you mull a 50 lb bag. The homemade one was just too big for my shop and it had a gas engine and was better for my friends. It's still "mine" but it's on a long term loan. Same with all the other junk he gets as I update my foundry.
We bought it at Legend inc. Reno Nevada. Found them on line a great resource.
nice work!
Y'all have some really great equipment. Could you melt iron and steel with this rig?
After you Are done and the crucible is cooled how do you clean the remnants of the metal out.
I just come here to read all the safety police comments
what are you using as your insulation. concrete or some other mixture
ive been having a bit of a melt the last couple of days, i had a lot of slag/dross at the bottom of the crucible, is this normal? i will add im smelting extruded aluminium, cans and parts of an old greenhouse so not the best stuff to start off with, thanks
Go to budget casting supply.com They can help, you need to seal your melt. For example I use copper shot for bronze. A little bit starting the melt and a bit later. This will leave me with a small amount of dross and a gleaming pool of molten bronze. Good luck
+Steve Copley thanks, and brass the same?
How did the burner on the forge turn out. Where you able to melt brass? If it was orange you were about 200 degrees from a melt.
+Steve Copley still havent got back round to it, probably needs a whole redesign of the foundry even i guess, need to put some time into it
very cool brass muffins
what is the green thingy what came out of the bucket or whatever it is?
It's like as if you're making the one ring of mordor!
I was thinking that you were going to make a cylinder so to machine the brass... or perhaps some other sort of castings... what could be done with the shapes coming from the molds used in this video?
Where the hell did you get that much brass? Wow!!
Who's going to lick the spoon?
Samuel Garcia That is not logical, Mr Spock. Or should I say, impostor. DUNT DUNT DA.
Samuel Garcia Okay
yr a brony xD
MisterMcold English is clearly not your first language.
Pinkie Pie
its not but i did nothing wrong :P
OK, so I want to order 3 slices of pepperoni brass~
this may be a stupid question but how do you heat the crucible? do you just put charcol around the crucible and then provide air, or are you heating it another way
I use a propane torch system. you can view our setup on my profile.
have you thought about making a little cannon out of the brass?
Nice stuff, what is the pot made out of ? the one in which the melted metal sits :) ...??? is it ceramic?
silicon carbide
thank you :)
I've got piles of spent .22 rimfire brass. It would be neat to cast that brass into custom built belt buckles
I could tell that this was your first time melting metal. So many safety issues I think you know what I mean, also I don't know what the purity of the metal and the crucible but those bars looked kind of ugly but maybe you cleaned them afterwards I don't know. I do hope you learned more so that you can make better quality bars.
Great video! Please wear gloves guys!! :) also to take yourself money next time don't buy 11 bags of castable that would of broke me! Get yourself some 3000f IFB and ceramic blanket 2" thick and 8 lb sqft and some 3000f mortar the brick cut with a wood saw very easy and they last a lot longer I am lucky and live 12 miles from a place that makes the brick and castable the brick size I used is 2 1/2 x4 1/2 x 9" I paid 6.00 ea and I got 50 of them and still had 12 left over. Petrobond is the way to go for your molds also build a muller.. Great set up for the first go at it!!
We do now this was our first time. Today we have high end gloves. Thanks for the comments and insight.
Yes, brass is generally 60% Cu and the remainder Zn and A small amount of Sn
why is it that no youtuber has ever mixed different metals together and see what they get... i think it would be pretty cool if you could mix like copper and aluminum... or steel and copper
+Jasper Dicks Brass is an alloy. Its made of copper and zinc.
It's called castable refractory cement
please share where u got your gear in very impressed with your crucible I wish I had one that huge
The pouring shank, picking tongs, burner and oven I made. What I couldn't make I bought at budget casting supply and legend mining supply out of Sparks Nevada. If your looking for something specific please ask and I will try to point you in the right direction.
Is there aluminium or magnesium on your dross spoon?
What does the brass look like in the bricks after words
I want to melt & cast a small amount of brass with acet/oxy torch to cast a piece approx. 1/4" X 1" X 3". Can I met it in a tin can and pour it onto a piece of tile? Any help appreciated.
John, what were you making? We have just been making ingots so far. We would be very happy to make money with this hobby or at least make our money back. What was 1 7/8 and 14 3/4 and I don't understand why they are so much money. We are fairly new to this and any advice on how to turn a profit ( or break even) would be greatly appreciated.
Good stuff but have you ever wondered what could happen to you feet if you had a spill? You need leather up to your knees, at least if you cannot afford foundry protection stuff. Please be careful.
In this video we melted brass candle sticks and figurines and condensed them into ingots which are more easily stored and remelted later when we are ready to forge a brass cannon.
Nice! Those tools you used too take out the crucible - was those home built?
I have a furnace, but my problem is that the intense heat radiation makes it hard to take things out and put them in (cast anything hotter than molten aluminium as almost impossible) - such a tools is hard to find in a standard ware house
I always wear long thick leather gloves. I use basic iron tongs that are about 3 feet long. I had a black smith make the tongs for me. Works great.
The tools are home built and I agree it becomes very hot. I found some good ideas on the web and not being any sort of welder but creative. I found the parts needed and used a wire feed welder to assemble it. This project really was my first welding project as well as melting anything. As you can see safety wasn't first but now is. Careful when you step up.
Steve Copley
Yeah - nice work! My furnace is heated by electricity and can reach 1280°C in about 35-50 minutes (depending of how much stuff I put into it). Maximum temperature that I can reach is about 1300°C (2372°F) and just limited by what the heat resistance wire used for the heating elements can handle without melting.
That's well enough to melt cast iron - wich has a little lower melting point than pure iron and steel, due to it's carbon content. I also got a small piece of iron plate from a transformer core to melt - it's also some alloy with some silicon and other stuff in it.
So far I have mostly used it for experiments (where I can let the furnace cool down a bit before take things out) - and to clean stuff but pyrolysis, wich only needs about 430-600°C but is very useful (I never need to scrub dirty grill grates and such "pain in the ass" work anymore)
The only problem that I run into if using it for casting is just to take out the crucible in a controlled manner without "burn the ass off" and run a risk of dropping it. I cant afford a house with a garden, so I live in an apartment and run my furnace indoors (wich is no problem as it's running by electricity, so there is no exhaust) - but I really don't want to take the risk of drop things or spill molten metal as that will totally ruin the floor.
Of course I will not melt that amount of metal you have there and handle it indoors - that's dangerous. But i can do small castings if I have the right tools
yay! cupcakes of death!
How about a thin layer of molten aluminium icing on top of those brass cupcakes. Yum!
No gloves, no face shield, no aprons, and wrong shoes; it's an accident just waiting to happen. Was that one guy wearing sandals or are those just funky shoes?
+John Ferguson Agree about the lack of safety equipment and awareness. When they set the crucible on the box it rocked back and forth a bit. This could have been a video about the guy who was permanently maimed.
thought you were gonna freeze off as long as it took to set up to pour.
hahaha nice!!! I have the same cast iron muffin pan!! dude That was a shit ton of brass all at once. nice work!
عمل رائع وجميل من لشخاذ ذوي خبرة احسنتم العمل . احلى لايك .بالتوفيق .
Sad That You Didnt Take A Photos Of HowThe Mold Is Lookin
Toom I Don`t Type Like This.. !
couldnt get my foundry hot enough for the brass to melt, it was all glowing orange but it just wouldnt melt, have you got any advice for me? thank you
I have no problem reaching beyond my pyro meter limits of 2400 F. Research the venture effect and understand it.This is what I came up with. A fan for velocity ( I regulate power to the fan by a reduction dial ) entering two inch pipe followed by propane insert. I used a 2 inch tee fitting and capped one of the ends. Reason being the gas and air is mixing at this point. I then reduced to a one inch nipple then flaring back to the two inch nozzle. The one inch nipple you will have to drill holes in for atmosphere pressure, this will draw in oxygen rich air. I use stainless steel for my nozzle because I melt steel pipe. Go to alexcply100 our you tube site. Look at set up to get the gist. This what works for me since day one. Hope this helps, let me know how it goes. One more thing use a pressure regulator and pressure dial. I start at 8 psi and super heat when the melt looks close turn regulator up to 15 psi for five minutes then pour. By the way I have invested in heat proof gloves face shield respirator clothing etc. BE SAFE not like me out of the gate. I was just excited to see the thing work and it did. 50lbs of brass first time.Steve...
+Steve Copley, Auto spell. Venturi effect...
+Steve Copley forgot to say thanks! ok ill navigate over and have a look, the brass is building up and i want to get rid, hows it been going anyway? ive done no casting since i commented last as its been too cold and wet here
Brass. It's what's for dinner. We do the same thing, but we make lead cornbread.
no protection? one small pop and your in for a treat