Very Simple Aluminum Furnace
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- čas přidán 8. 07. 2024
- YES I KNOW I SHOULD HAVE WORN SHOES. Any shoe-related comments will be deleted so don't waste your time.
In today's video I'll show you how I built a very crude aluminum-melting furnace. I generate a lot of aluminum soda can waste (as you may have seen in my video on making Alum), and I've always wanted to have the ability to melt them down into ingots. Why? No real reason, I just thought it would be cool!
I was actually making another video this weekend, but ran into some problems at the end. So instead I bring you the aluminum forge :) Once I figure out what's going on with my other experiment, I'll certainly be posting that as well.
Since I've gotten this question a lot, I'll post this here: Soda cans are made from two different alloys of aluminum. I did some digging and found what these alloys actually are:
Aluminum alloys used for the walls of the can
3104-H19:
www.matweb.com/search/DataShee...
3004-H19:
www.matweb.com/search/DataShee...
Aluminum alloy used for the lid
5182-H48:
www.matweb.com/search/DataShee...
(this is for H32 - all 5182's appear to be same composition) - Věda a technologie
Al melts @ 1220 F. Good job. I did this once, with my Dad's brand new grill and a shop vac/blower. Bad idea, since the grill was made of thick cast aluminum. Not only did I blast furnace a hole in the back of the grill, I set the back yard on fire to boot. However, it did guide me towards a career. I have been a firefighter now for 28 years. I fixed Dad's grill with a piece of metal road sign and some self-tapping screws. He was still awful pissed off at me though. There is just no pleasing some guys. Cheers from Texas.
Very cool crystals on the aluminum. I really like your videos. I hate all the people worried about safety... Just a bunch of unadventurous people scared of their own shadow!
I totally agree!
Hey it’s the back yard scientist
Safety is good for dirt biking and stuff like that but not all
Wait till you spill on your feet
No we just like making fun of stupid ppl. We would love for u to keep talking too.
I've just gotten interested into melting metals and making ingots and a lot of the videos I've seen have made it look really hard. This video on the other hand, made it look very easy and actually possible, so thanks!
Amazing - never thought about it with the amount of cans we use at my house. Thanks I am going to give this a try!
Nice try ;) I've worked in aluminium casting industry, it's pretty fun^^. For safety, I strongly recommend to dry the cans before melting them. a single drop of liquid in the crucible can make it explode (it happens at my work once in a 40 tons furnace, over 6 months of maintenance stop for the furnace, the loading machine and some equiments around. 14 years after the accident, you can see some marks on the walls and the ceiling of the foundry, but fortunately no one had been injured).
Yikes! Sounds like a fun job.
mrhomescientist I am a maintenance tech, so I don't work directly in the process. heavy industries like this are heaven for techs, even with the risks. these accidents are very rare, they happen usually when somebody unaware of safety directives throw an empty can, but still wet, into the dried scraps boxes just before the loading. If you like big machines and technologies and if you have the chance to visit an aluminium industry plant, take it, you can learn a lot^^
Same thing happened at a Alcoa plant in AZ. Blew the whole building up.
Learned that one the relatively hard way. I have a tiny bucket forge and was melting a can that still had some soda in it. It was cool at first, until a tiny bit of the hot liquid landed on my forearm. Never again.
Did you wear shoes there?
Nice work. You should mention that aluminium melts at 660.3°C or 1220.54°F
This the best CZcams video. Who would of thought something this simple
could cause a riot, must be all the positive energy.
Keep up the good work.
In my experience if you sorta skim off that slag periodically you get a better ingot at the end, I used a steel spoon for that. However, that stuff is protecting the rest of the molten metal from oxidation, so leave a layer on there until it's time to pour. Fortunately it floats.
I NEVER do this because I HATE safety dinks, but brother, you gotta wear some shoes. Sometimes it pops and little (or not so little) bits of molten aluminum go flying, and if that hits bare skin you'll be very unhappy. And sometimes you dont see where the drops land, and then you step on them in the grass, and well, it hurts.
Ask me how I know this.
It's late but how do you know
How you know this?
If you use the metal tubing and the silicone hoses and hose clamps from a front mount inter-cooler setup for a turbo car as the pipping it will be a lot more secured to the hair dryer, and a lot more reliable. Other than that good idea, it seems to work really well. As for what shoes to wear, Mack Boots are awesome, and I've had the pair I'm wearing now since 2008. They still have plenty of rubber grip left, nearly like new actually, and I did security in them for 5 years. They breath very good, and I never get sweaty white spots on my feet from them, but as soon as I wear cheap sneakers for a day it's another story. I love my Mack Boots. Totally worth the $140au I paid for them.
How the hell did i get here?
@Brad Hissman I never chose to be born
Ask your doctor! 😂
CZcams is one hell of a drug
man what a cool video you have here, thanks. As soon as I leave this apartment, Im going to be doing this for sure. Dont worry bout the shoes man, people get to excited over any little thing these days. Take care!
Well done capturing this first experiment on video and achieving some melt. I love how every back yard melter invents a slightly different setup based on what's lying around😁. I've been using an air mattress inflater with limited success, I need a hair dryer!
Ever since the beginning of the human race, we have been fascinated by fire...
Wow 5 years ago how you doin now
azz boi fr
How are you doing
When making a fire hot enough to melt aluminum always wear shorts, sleeveless shirt and bare feet. :)
Lol ^
Yolo
Bare feet plus molten metal = hot foot.
I know u
que saben ustedes!!!!! se hace la fundicion de aluminio en verano, totalmente desnudo!! no arruinar la vestimenta jajajaja
For just slapping some things around the house ya have, it worked surprisingly well, I love things like this where its barebones but effective for some experimentation
i find it hilarious that this man has been looking for comments about shoes and deleting them for almost a decade
03:13 His happy Evil Genius laugh... Lmao...
Wife- Honey what happened to my hair dryer.
Husband- nooooothing
that's exactly what happened with me :)
It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.
By far more dangerous than the "clothing issues"
As kids, we had many regular campfires into which we'd toss our soda cans and watch them melt. We always thought that was super cool.
Im with you lot, I'm so making one of these on the weekend!!
me in summer : Im gonna do this
me back from summer: What a minute..... i forgot to do something
Also be careful with the fumes. Aluminum Oxide is not something you want getting into your lungs! That, plus the other unknown fumes from the surface of the can - paint, plastic, etc.
Also, try this with copper and see if you can get an ingot. I suggest getting strands of wire from any nearby construction project.
Cheers!
copper's melting point is quite a bit higher than aluminium.
3:14 his laugh made me smile...lol..great video sir.👍🏿 will try it out myself
I love the shoe disclaimer/warning in the description :) I like your style.
Thanks! It's a shame almost nobody reads it.
every time we go camping (every once or twice a year) i get all the soda cans in a pile and feed em one by one into a steel soup can and when it cools i usually find that its just a stack of crushed cans that can be pulled apart with a tiny bit of melting going on at the very bottom, I'm thinking about taking an air mattress pump and a steel pipe and feeding it some air, bellows would be way cooler and wouldn't need batteries or be loud as shit, lol I'm the type of guy who will hand make my own bellows out of whatever, car tires and stuff, that should get that camp fire aluminum ingot i wanted all along
you are so creative by using a hair dryer. AWESOME!!!!!!
As you said at the end, I really enjoyed your video throughout. Thank you very much.
Next time I would suggest having two furnaces. One for meltdown, the other for the mould. After each melt, I'd suggest transferring the molten aluminum into the 2nd preheated mould furnace held at a higher temperature so that it will stay molten. I was aircraft metals tech in the Air Force. One thing I can say is that what happened to those cans is a reaction called eutectic melting. Basically, 90% of applicable aluminum is an alloy called copper aluminide, or AlCu. The aluminum is trapped inside a matrix of copper which is what gives it its strength. Kind of like microscopic honeycombs or a cobweb. Now what you're seeing when you quenched it is an uneven and rapid cool down. If you insulate the 2nd furnace with firebricks somehow, you'll get better results with the finished metal, especially if you can control the cooling more gradually by turning down the air supply for several minutes. It won't be perfect but it'll be better. By quenching the aluminum, the copper and aluminum rapidly trap in place. The copper has a lower melting point than the aluminum, so if you cool it gradually, the aluminum will set in and harden and allow the molten copper to re-matrix, and you'll end up with a better, more consistent product throughout. Happy moulding!
Cody Terrill Great info! One correction though: copper's melting point is higher than aluminum. Maybe they behave differently in an alloy. From my research, though, beverage cans contain very little (if any) copper in their construction.
mrhomescientist right! It's been a while since I've had my nose in the books. Sorry if I let off some inaccurate information. However it doesn't take too much copper to create that alloy. It's less than 3% in base form I believe. Usually pure aluminum is only found in lab-grade specimens when being tested for other applications. I'd say the majority of other aluminum alloys is AlCu. Since copper is expensive, I believe they may add other alloys into the AlCu, such as tin, in order to create a cheaper cost to produce. Which in turn, will lessen the percentage of copper in the alloy. Now that you mention it, those flakes could be solidified tin. I believe tin is slightly more dense than aluminum which would explain why they sank to the bottom of the melting pot. Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't have my periodic table available :p
If you pour the aluminum while it's still hot you get much more turnout. What you said was slag looks like it's mostly cooled aluminum
Thats what i thought
Technically it's dross, aluminum that's oxidized in the air. There was a lot of metal still stuck underneath it, though, so a higher temperature and skimming that stuff off would definitely help.
Reluctant Couch I done this once and I got lots of cooled down aluminium wich I thought was slag
but was pure aluminium
I have been looking into metal smelting for some time now, and your video has helped me out a lot. Even giving safety tips and precautions (like shoes). Also have you considered cast iron cup in place of steel?
Thanks so much for the help I went and bought every thing I needed for this design and made it then I went to the local school dumpster and food a TON of cans so far I have about 8oz of aluminum Thanks again bro!!!
+Gavin branch Great work!
That giggle was worth watching the video alone.
your feet will heal, if you burn up a good pair of shoes, that's a hunnert bucks.
I do everything barefoot
May*
Well when you work with melting lead that isn't a good idea lol proper foot wear is always key even if it means throwing them away after constant use
uh no if you get burned the scars won't heal
uh no if you get burned the scars won't heal
Actually burns can be way worse if plastic melts on your skin...
You'd better get your skin to touch lava directly.. Counter intuitive but clothes dont' protect from burning except clothes that are specifically made for that.
Safety 3rd
Yea dats meh rul
Na I think 153rd
Thats what michael says
No, 4th
By far the best smelting video I've seen and u also said how it was made
Thank you!
I'm amazed that this worked because without any refractory your furnace has zero insulation, most of the heat is probably wasted leaving little of the energy to actually melt the aluminum.
As far as safety goes, I'd suggest long handled tongs to keep the heat away from your hands, thick gloves, a full face shield, maybe a welders helmet with a good dark visor to protect your eyes from the glare, and that makes it easy to see how the melt is going on. Perhaps a leather apron (like a blacksmith might use), well you get the idea.
Oh, make sure your mold is sitting on dry sand. If any molten metal falls on a wet surface the resulting steam explosion will send hot molten metal flying, that's when that leather apron will come in handy!
I made something like this at home and it works. computer hard drives melt down well in this setup.
Try building a rocket stove out of some cinder blocks and put your charcoal chimney on top of it.You may get enough draft through the rocket stove and you may not need the hair dryer.Or you may be able to eliminate the charcoal chimney altogether and melt the cans right on top of the stove.
Hey man. I love how simple your thinking. Spot on with the hair dryer. heres a vid that I used to make this Furnace last longer :) Blacksmithing Part 18 Making a Brake Drum Forge
probably the most simplest method I've seen thanks M8
don't forget to inhale this stuff.. aluminium particles is really really good for the brain
It'll mainly be carbon and ash since the aluminum doesn't expel into the air. Still not good for you.
Bernardo Buttler Haha and I always shake my head at people who wrap fish or meat in aluminium foil and cook it on bbq, all that toxic going into the food.
Shame Shame Shame. smh.
I'm talking about how breathing in the smoke isn't good for you.
I'm talking about how aluminium in everything is just bad in general
I donno if anyone has said this yet but you really need to wear a filter mask when doing this aluminum fumes are very toxic I know this because I am a welder and I have worked with aluminum for years. Go to a hardware shop and ask for a mask that is raited for aluminum welding.
Glad I found your video! I am doing the same thing, just a little different setup. What got my attention was the camping cup. I wasn't sure it would be thick enough but bought it anyway just to try. I know now it will work. Thanks for sharing!!
Good luck! Mine didn't last all that long, though. It became perforated after just 3 or 4 aluminum melts. It goes with the 'cheapo' theme of the video, but there are definitely better crucibles to be found/made!
Robin IsRobin I would recommend you to make something like Grant thompson did, with the sand and plaster of paris.
MrAmpuja I tried making that refractory mix but I didn't get it to work out. It just cracked and crumbled on me!
mrhomescientist Did you try to add more plaster of paris? Cement is also pretty good as a substitute.
MrAmpuja Nah I just tried the one time. Definitely worth revisiting.
nice and simple experiment, good results! I want to try it...
You should cover the top of the device. It will melt your aluminum faster by trapping heat.
would make it less simple
I like the cobbled together nature of your little foundry. Screw the safety Nazi's, i get them all the time. the reality is the safest thing you can do is NOTHING at all. Your feet, your choice. keep up the good work!!
+Ray Pena Thanks! I sort of regret that this has become my most popular video. It was really a last-minute thing that I shot only because the video I wanted to do didn't pan out, so I didn't think things through as well as I should have. I plan on making another aluminum-related video in the future to address the safety issues that 80% of people comment about.
that's awsome man!
Nice job.
I can't believe the PVC elbow didn't burn up more! I love it. Simple.
+Scott Wolford Yeah it was actually a fair distance underneath the coals, blowing up into them from below. I don't think the video made that very clear.
goo job
when i was doing this i messed up and had my tongs touch my elbow and left a pretty cool burn mark
Battle scar
The laugh is the best. Love the video. I have tried this before and I can tell you it works better than you think. Aluminum has 1221F melting point which you can easily accomplish with oxygen force. Anything above that I think you would need other chemicals to get to higher temps.
Love your approachable style bro.
Thank you very much!
Ah, molten aluminum. Perfect for pouring into ant nests.
And onto Madagascar cockroaches
Bad waste of metal if you ask me
You wasted my time! I wanted back! No design, no creativity, nothing useful.
4:30 - but you forgot to spray the the cookie sheet with Pam!
lol
The video itself is awesome. But I think that what it made if better were your giggles xD
Why is it so satisfying to watch aluminum melt
imagine how much aluminum foil is in land fills.
8.1% of the Earth's crust is aluminum.
3:13 the can spat on you for putting it there!!
Thanks for telling us about those alloys! I was always wondering what the crap I kept getting from my aluminum was. And you really don't need shoes for this, I think that you'd burn right through them if you touched any of that stuff! Water soaked rags work WAAAY better.
Wicked Cool! Thanks and well made video!
You have the crystals because you didn't remove all the slag.
nuuuuuuuuuh not the mtn dew m8
he proved to MLG for the mountain dew m8 but my question is, where are the doritos?
ikr m8
+_Fallout_Legend _ The DORITOS don`t have much MLG.
I like it, even without your shoes. very easy and rewarding, thanks
I've ordered a hair dryer. I've been trying this for months. I understand your happiness
The plastic gloves you are wearing are a bad idea is is the idea of no shoes. If you splash aluminum on those gloves, they will melt and stick to your hands, causing a much more severe burn than if you had no gloves on. You should stick to all leather gloves for handling aluminum. No shoes is probably better than laced up shoes. Metal down the laces can really burn you because you cannot get the shoe off easily. You will get a better yield on you aluminum if you crush the cans first. The method you are using exposes the surface to the air as it melts and allows it to oxidize. Crushed cans will allow you to put several cans in at the same time. A top on the melt pot would help keep oxygen out. It would be a good idea to use a refractory coating on the steel pot you are melting in. That will stop the aluminum from sticking to the steel and eventually eating a hole through it. Lacking real flux, you can use table salt on top of the metal to slow down oxidation, just skim it back before pouring or use a skimmer and remove it first. The salt is lighter than the metal and will float.
Lol i was just about to comment "Man you should really have worn shoes" but then I noticed OP will delete shoe related comments
Thanks for actually reading!
Hey man ya didnt burn your feet so its all good, if you ever make a video and you want to know if you did anything wrong just put it on youtube. People on youtube love to point out mistakes, yet look at them they are sittin on their computer, NOT making an aluminum furnace which I think is really badass btw
Jason Wright Yeah no kidding. Nobody reads descriptions or turns on annotations either, which I use all the time to update videos when people point out things I could have done better. Appreciate the comments!
Id like to make a furnace after making a clay mold so I can make an aluminum paintball gun, didn't think it was this easy so I'm stoked to try it!
It was still shoe related oh shit I mentioned shoes
This is the simplest melting video I have seen that worked
I'm glad to see you sharing your knowledge on how to make hotter fire, etc.. I'd highly recommend some PPE in the future. A face shield, an apron, and at the very least- boots. Mama don't cook bacon naked for a reason.
+kenairockband Thanks for the kindly-worded comment. Most people are real jerks about it. Yes I should definitely wear safety gear, and I mention that in the description and annotations. It was a lapse of judgment when I made this video last-minute, and it won't happen again. I sort of regret that this has become my most popular video.
I'm gonna try it naked.
Like HOW TO BASIC?
Gabriel Machadi
Exactly.
Why not just crush the cans first. One at a time placed in to gradually soften and collapse, seems inefficient.
for the dramatic effect of course
IT WORKED!!!!
awsome thanks for sharing it
Just wat I was looking for great vid
I weld barefoot in my shorts. No problem that keeps you safer anyway. Lol.
The Hillbilly Home Coffee Roaster yeah its actually safer without shoes because if the molten metal hits your foot it will burn you and also roll off but if there is shoes it will get trapped and cause a major flesh wound
i use safety boots and get zero burns.
Leidenfrost effect
Yes I agree, I've seen very bad burns from welds that when down into your safety boots.
The hair dryer was free!? Good find :)
Yeah he stole it off his Missus bahahahah
@@firefox00-7 only fair, she nicked his shoes for one of her dumb arse projects!! 😁
Great test of the low cost, simple concept. I’d like to do some smelting and casting for machining.
Thanks for the simplicity. keep it up.
its a good thing it didnt splash out of there or POP and burned your bare feet. Safty first dude.
No one cares
you should have had a lot more aluminum, keep the fire going longer next time
Pretty cool man!!
That pop at 0:27 made me think it was coming from outside of my window xD
brah get some shoes nah just joking good video keep it up subscribed ;)
I think it would work much better if you used a ceramic crucible and it fit closer to the size of the opening so not as much heat got past the crucible
If it fits closer to the side I think it would allow less air flow which is feeding the high temperature.
Why so many haters!if he choses to lose his eyebrows in the process of making a CZcams video that just increases ratings anyhow! Nice video!
cool test run. thanks for the tips. keep it up.
and this video is sponsored by Mountain Dew
Seems you are well protected incase accidents happen
y u bein sarcastic. thats rude.
awesome .. I loved this work .. keep goin
to reduce slag, add common table salt. I found that it reduces the slag tremendously.
I am about to rebuild my furnace ( old 20# LP Gas tank, past its last fillable date) with 1-inch thick fiber fire blanket (2600F) from amazon cost $7.00. cannot wait to start casting stuff ... and who care what people say about YOUR SAFETY. its YOUR SAFETY not theirs !!! you want to wear shorts, or be nakid so be its YOUR FREEDOM to do so !!! OOH RAH !!!!
Your idea of the hair dryer is pretty good, I will have to add that to my rig! (thank you for the idea)
just curious, what would be the purpose of doing this? thanks.
Some people cast scrap aluminum into useful parts. I just did it for fun! Now I have a sweet brick of metal that used to be 40 soda cans.
+mrhomescientist lol that's awesome!
+mrhomescientist how much time please tell me
+kate jackson I don't know the exact time because this was a few years ago, but it wasn't very long. Things started melting within minutes of turning on the air supply.
+Jeffrey Dan Aluminum is super easy to tap and work. Plus alloy some copper in there and you have pretty close to aircraft grade aluminum. Be nice to be able to lost-wax cast a custom bike part... like I need a camera and/or LED light mount to my rockshox because the handlebar stuff gets in the way.
i like burning thing too 0o
Great video. Liked and subscribed!
Excellent and inspiring video. Primitive but effective.
Thank you!
how much mounten dew do you drink man
Seth Powell dude why be a dick maybe he drank them on that day
Jamie McCullough
good for you
Very cool now how can we make moulds to make things. I love youtube and people who try to keep ingunity alive instead of using computers all the time.
Barefoot might well be a bad idea but in most countries they do far worse barefoot a glass of whine anyone?
Interesting video, well done.
I've seen several of these furnace videos ... what do you do with the aluminum once its melted?
the 2015 ford trucks will be made out of aluminum maby you can melt a ford truck in 2015.
wouldnt be worth anything 2nd hand after the depreciation, so he could definatley
And the funny thing is, the melted goo will be worth more than the truck.
The planes you ride on are made of aluminum and plastic too
Luis Valenzuela The are made from tempered stell lol
Tace Sinclair Steel*
I'm not sayin' wear shoes next time, but.........wear f*ckin shoes next time!
So you are saying wear shoes next time •_•
+Cameron Damon What made you think that?
+Cameron Damon No he's not. He just said he's not saying that! ;)
ha!
+Mark EM Ban him)))
One thing i can suggest is changing your setup so that your blower goes into the side of the can instead of the bottom. That way if your crucible fails you wont have bits of molten aluminium spraying into the air. Its also a lot less messy, i used to have mine set up like that and there would be flakes of wood and other stuff flying everywhere.
this worked great! going to practice a little more but I was able to make almost a full muffin. stopped though cause I started late so it started getting too cold to do it outside. thanks for the great post.
+David Yuill Great job! I'm glad it worked for you. This design can definitely be improved if you'd like to.
Yeah, going to have to get an actual graphite crucible. My stainless steel cup got a hole in it. Thank you for this fantastic video.
+David Yuill Mine too! It only survived 3 melts, a total of about 75 cans.
+mrhomescientist I saw the king of random´s video when he builts the foundry, will a chimney do it aswell?
+DjMaster Keks It's probably good enough to forge iron, but not hot enough to melt it.