Was running the foundry tonight to cast the block for my engine project.
Ran into a little snag.
The bottom fell out of my crucible during the melt. NO INJURIES!!!! Just loss of about 3lbs of fine aluminum straight to the bottom of the furnace.
Wrapped everything up, brought the flask back to the shop after shutting down Ol' Lucifer (the pit furnace) and had a smoke and a beer.
Just ordered another crucible, and some other supplies that I am running low on.(to the tune of $180) Thinking that when my bonus check comes in; I should order a couple or three more for later. Like everything else in this economy, they are going up in price and they aren't cheap to begin with.
The last crucible was actually a 1Qt cast iron dutch oven. I am happy that I managed to get as many melts out of it as I did. While not optimal for casting, it worked and in a pinch works just fine.
Funny, I am a frugal being to begin with, but this economy is making frugality just a tad painful to boot. I would hate to be someone that has to have the latest and greatest with no mind to cost. They are going to be going hungry real soon.
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5 comments:
Dio, good to hear you didn't get hurt, I used to work over AL furnaces and lost a tool or 3 to them. Nice to hear someone actually making things though, best of future luck.
gee have used a soup can or cheapo small steel pot to melt metal.
Wildflower
Bet it made your heart skip a beat !
Musta been damn cheap ass Chinese cast iron lol.
Wish we was neighbors...bet all kinds of projects might get dreamed up.
Yup, that kinda heat tends to eat tools and make one VERY patient. WF: I have used cast pots, a soupcan(for melting and as an ingot mold. With the amount of casting I have been doing, I decided that ' the real stuff' is a good investment.
Spud: I think putting yourself, Mayberry, William and me in the same area would scare hell out of TPTB. LOL
Naw I'm harmless. They leave me alone and I don't break no laws. After all They are the ones that the public elected. I have mucho patience, another tribe of crooks will get put into office to follow the current ones...
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