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Sand casting aluminum tree steps pt 2 (first melt)

D

dennism

Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2014
Messages
67
Location
S.E. Michigan
Well it came down to doing some scouting or melting some metal, I chose the metal! :twisted: I have to say this part was a lot easier than I thought it was gong to be, and seeing that bright liquid silver pouring like water was awesome! I got some pictures.


This is what I used to feed air to the bottom of the caveman style rig. Just some 3/4" black pipe, some left over 3/4" pex (I used red for hot :lol: ) and a 3/4" pvc ball valve shut off to regulate the air flow.



Here's the hole I dug with the piece of black pipe sticking up. Next time I have got to dig a deeper hole. I also had some metal tape over the opening to block any dirt that might fall in.



At the other end I've got a pump for an air mattress.



Put 2 layers of charcoal down, next time It's going to be 3 or 4.



There's my crucible made out of an EMPTY propane tank. It's hot as heck in there! :D



I couldn't wait to pour as soon as I thought I had enough to get an ingot.



About 3 lb's of aluminum. I should be able to get 2 tree steps out of them to test out and make sure that the pattern I made is going to work. Now I just need to make the green sand. I have all the ingredients just gotta get the time. Going to my in-laws in Ohio tomorrow but I can't wait to keep moving forward!
 
Looks like fun. What were you melting down to make your ingots?
 
I was using an old aluminum ladder. I've read that useing extruded aluminum like the ladder, aluminum pipes and sheet aluminum has a tendency to shrink after it's in the mold and that using aluminum from motors or other stuff that has been cast is best due to shrinkage . But all I had was the broken ladder. Another thing I should mention is some stuff like car part sometimes have magnizum mixed with the aluminum. Magnizum melts at a lower temperature than aluminum but can catch fire and burn at like 5000 * f. Plus it is very hard to put out. It will steal oxogen out of water and just burn hotter.
 
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