Hi all! And in this video, as promised, we will build a furnace for aluminum smelting. For those who have not seen, a detailed video with the manufacture of this burner can be found on my channel. And you can go to it by the prompt in the corner of the screen. I will assemble the stove from fireclay bricks ShB-8. The dimensions of this brick are as follows: 250*124*65 mm. The combustion chamber decided to make a hexagonal shape. To do this, I put markings on the brick. To remove everything superfluous, I use a grinder with a diamond disc. If necessary, the cut can be trimmed with diamond turtles. By the way, I bought them on Aliexpress, where they are not at all expensive. If anyone needs a link, I'll leave it in the description. When all the bricks are fitted, you can start gluing them together. For this, I decided to use a mixture for laying stoves and it was a big mistake, but more on that later. I knead the mixture according to the instructions. Bricks are soaked in water. I apply the solution and assemble the structure. At the time of setting, I decided to pull the bricks with a rope. When the mixture hardens, I wind the rope and additionally grease the corners. For greater reliability, I decided to tighten the bricks with wire clamps. I will make a frame for the lid from the 20th corner. For a snug fit, I chamfer the brick with a file. So that the seal of the lid was brick by brick, and the metal did not come into contact with the hot gases of the forge and did not burn out, it was decided to make a sample under the corners. I expose the corners and start welding. The lid is ready. I will also make the main frame from the 20th corner. The bottom will be made of sheet metal 2.5 mm thick. For the sake of 3 holes in a brick , I did not want to buy an expensive crown for concrete, and I decided to make a homemade one. A piece of pipe of a suitable diameter was machined to size on a lathe. I welded the teeth by welding, and then sharpened them. In the beginning, everything looked promising. But without going through even one brick, the homemade crown ended. In general, as you understand, I had to go to the store and fork out. The hole in the lid was ready. Now I make a hole in the bottom of the forge under the burner. And then another surprise awaited me. As it turned out, this oven mixture glues bricks together so powerfully that if I glued them with mud, the connection would turn out to be many times stronger. And if it weren’t for the wire, the bottom 6 bricks would most likely have fallen apart in the same way. All this kiln shit mixture had to be removed and the bricks re-glued, but with the use of high-temperature silicate sealant for chimneys and furnaces. If you suddenly decide to collect a forge, then I recommend that you use such a sealant with a rhinestone. For reinsurance, for the lower bricks, I also decided to make a strapping from the corners, as well as to drill into the bricks that form the walls of the hearth, hammer the reinforcement there and fix everything by welding. On the side I make another hole for the burner. I make a hole in the base using a bimetallic crown. To remove sharp edges, it is convenient to use a scraper with replaceable blades. I took it to Ali. Who needs a link to it, as well as bimetallic crowns, I will leave in the description. I mark, drill holes and weld nuts for fastening the wheels. I install the forge bowl on the resulting platform and weld it. I take dimensions from the frame and cut the body panels from a steel sheet 1.2 mm thick. I cut a hole in the top sheet . As mentioned earlier, in order for the metal not to burn out, the connection between the lid and the hearth bowl must be brick by brick, and for this the metal panel must be sunk below the surface of the brick. I will also make a sample with a grinder and a diamond disc. For precise alignment of the frame, I temporarily grab the top plate with a hole to the frame from the corner. I cut off two pieces of pipe, I bore the inner hole so that the shock absorber rod freely enters there. I used a stem with a diameter of 20 mm. I make a markup and use a stepped drill to make a hole. I accurately expose the stem and guide bushings, and then weld them. I mark and drill holes for the rivets. I make handles for lifting and moving the forge from reinforcement and a corner. I drill a hole in the side wall and weld a tube there to fix the burner. In the lower part, under the burner, I weld a 90 degree bend. Finally, I remove all the panels and prepare for painting. For better thermal insulation, I will fill the cavity between the fireclay brick bowl and the metal walls with basalt wool. Unlike conventional mineral wool, basalt wool does not contain binders based on phenol-formaldehyde resins, which release harmful substances when heated. In order for the insulation to work properly, it does not need to be stuffed tightly. I used heat resistant paint. Horn is ready. Its mass turned out to be almost 60 kg. But thanks to the wheels, it is very easy to move it. I made holes for the burner flame in two places in order to be able to experiment and determine its optimal location for the fastest possible melting of aluminum. An unused hole for the duration of melting can be closed with a plug made of gas block or fireclay bricks. The mechanism for opening the lid turned out to be as simple and reliable as possible. To whom it does not inspire confidence, for demonstration I will load the lid with a vice, the mass of which is 24 kg. I made the opening handle removable so that during storage it does not protrude beyond the dimensions. Installing a burner. I set the gas pressure to 0.1 MPa or approximately 1 Atm. It is recommended to ignite such injection burners with the air supply damper closed. So the probability of cotton or explosion will be less. By rotating this damper, I adjust the flame. There is a forge and a burner, but a crucible is also needed to melt aluminum. I will make it from a 2 liter carbon dioxide fire extinguisher. I cut it in half. A cylinder from a powder fire extinguisher will not work here because of the thin wall, it will quickly burn out. If you brew the neck, then 2 crucibles can be made from one cylinder. For stability, I made 3 legs from nuts. For lifting and moving welded 2 bolts. And also made a grip with hooks. To better control the flow of molten metal during casting, I welded a spout from a corner. Enough chatter, let's try to melt something. I decided to carry out the first melting with a flame from below. I will melt mainly automotive parts. To protect against rapid burnout, I covered the crucible with liquid glass; when heated, it foamed. Whether it should be so or not write in the comments. I will use tin cans as forms. Before casting , I calcinate them to remove paint. Since I melted fairly clean aluminum parts, there was no slag as such, and therefore I did not add any fluxes. Approximately 45 minutes passed from the moment of the first laying of the metal to the casting. Whether it's a lot or not, I can't say yet. It was about -3 degrees outside at that time. While the first casting is cooling, I will make another melt, but with a burner installed on the side. I will also melt auto parts and spare parts from Soviet washing machines. The next heat went faster, probably because the forge was already well heated. By the end of the smelting, the outer skin of the hearth was warm, but not scalding, which means that the thermal insulation made of basalt wool is fulfilling its function. Here are the blanks that were cast during the first launch of the forge. The alloy turned out to be quite free-flowing and is perfectly processed on a lathe. Personally, I was satisfied with the result. No matter how, a few kilograms of useless aluminum scrap turned into some wonderful turning blanks. Looking ahead, I want to say that I have already put some of them into action and made parts from them for future projects. A few words on the quality of the resulting blanks. The casting turned out to be quite homogeneous, but there are a large number of very small pores. Perhaps they could be avoided by adding a flux to the melt for degassing or something. I am new to foundry. And therefore, if you have experience in this matter, be sure to write your comments and advice in the comments under the video. By the way, for those who are also interested in the topic of casting, I recommend subscribing to the Folk Craft channel. There, the author of the channel Andrey, shows this process in all its beauty and in the smallest details. In general, I personally recommend really good content. This is what the combustion chamber looks like after several heats. As you can see, everything is in order with fireclay bricks , but the plug from the gas block began to crack. The complete cooling of the forge takes about 20 hours, perhaps this information will be useful to someone. With this, I will end this video. If it was useful to you, then be sure to like and subscribe to the channel. Also be sure to write your comments, comments and suggestions. All product links will be in the description. In the meantime, I wish you all peace and good!
