11xray

They are, and that'll be changed out too. I have some other suggestions already about using 1 1/2" inlets instead of 1". I stand corrected, after checking the bucket, it is castable refractory. I appreciate the clarification, I bought the right thing by dumb luck or someone else's smart link.

Hello all, I'm the blankety-blank of the day, I suppose. Don't know blankety-blank about blacksmithing, but I do a lot of melting and casting. This community has been a wealth of knowledge as I have been working with my foundry for 2 years now. During business hours, I am an IT Professional, currently involved with Information Security. However, I have a long career involving Desktop Support, and prior to that, I owned a brick and mortar computer repair shop. If I can be of assistance in that capacity, don't hesitate to ping me. Have a great day!

I just got my bucket of refractory cement this morning, so that's on my to-do list tonight. Regarding the can, I'm always looking for good stainless alternatives. In the meantime, I do an initial burn-in (running it outdoors, without crucible) to cook off much of the hot spots and all future melts are done outdoors with a fan. I'm well aware of zinc and fumes, I've done many alloys, many brass melts, copper, I'm familiar with chromium and various other dangers while melting certain metals. When dealing with zinc in any way melting-related, I use my P2 rated 3M 9322A+ welding respirator, that is rated for welding galvanized metal. I'd love to have one of the belt mounted units, maybe one day. Stainless steel fumes are known to contain chromium which is a carcinogen. It's always going to a trade-off in one way or another. I appreciate the concern, I really do. As I commented on another thread yesterday, I had a steam explosion one time while pouring brass. I'm all about that safety now.

Hey all, I took a design from 1000s of internet foundries and added a couple features to it. I added a port to the side that the chase can directly connect. And, I relocated the top handle (ala Devil Forge) by welding it to its new location, and added a hinge to the lid. Also cut the vent in the center which was AWESOME for melting cans tonight. I didn’t get any temperature readings during first use like a dunce, but I will next time. Oh, I also added “throttle” plates to the intake ports for easy choke. I realize this is less necessary with this burner, but consider it personal flair. The can is galvanized, but it had a burn-in outdoors prior to the first melt. The surface of the can doesn’t exceed 200F mostly, with a few known hot spots that cooked off well-away from me. Hope y’all like it!

I have had plenty of luck with pouring brass from scrap, thrift shop stuff, etc. I had one accident, but that was me, not the material. However, I do believe I had it too hot when I poured that time. Here’s one example of a green sand molded punisher logo, it weighs about 1lb. Lol!

Early noob mistake for me was pouring brass into a cast iron ingot mold that I had not properly preheated. The result was an explosion that ruined my face shield (thank god I had that on) my glasses underneath the shield (thank god for those too), brass went through my foundry gloves and between my wedding band (titanium) and finger, went through my Apple Watch and onto my skin, turned my shirt and undershirt into Swiss cheese. Total damage to me was about 30 pencil-eraser sized 3rd-degree burns on my torso and shoulder. For anyone that hasn’t enjoyed this experience, it sounded like a hand grenade went off. Took me two weeks to even consider melting again. I’m glad these folks survived. Y’all stay safe and ffs preheat your molds properly.