Saltyrad

oh wow, 3 years! that it is a lot better than I would initially guessed. I Will definitely check that section of the forum out.

Yeah the furnace I bought came with the blanket already installed in the container. I'll try to remember it needing to be 2" for when I replace the blanket. thank you for the tip. based off your experience with the stuff, how long does the refractory coating usually last?

I got my furnace in today and noticed That the fiber blanket they chose was actually not rated for the 2700F they claimed it can reach, not to mention they didnt include any coating to go over the fiber. so I did some looking around and decided to go with ITC100 HT Ceramic Refractory Coating. It is rated for 5,000F. The reviews seemed good and it was affordable... will this be sufficient for the coating over the ceramic fiber blanket? ill be melting most metals, just not steel. I know temperature wise its fine, but my main concern is life span and safety.

thanks to yalls replies so far, I've learned some things. I would like to record my steps through the process when i start so i can get some critique along the way. my main saftey concern would be that the refillable tanks are not exactly pure so I was thinking about a flash back arrestor for the propane line too. is it really needed though?

your right, it definitely is different practically. I know I wont be able to just be one and done with it per say. It will take some tinkering and learning some hands on experience to get the feel for it. I just like to take in as much info as possible because I always have questions. I do plan on starting small because similar to what you said, every auditory and visual que is something to take in and get the feel for. which I think I could grow a passion for and collect material along the way. the orifice meter is appealing, but it cost so much. I would definitely have to invest in one of those in the future though. For now what I would have to do is rely on some math to get by for my propane line. I can use the Psi and the density of the gas (2 known values) to get the velocity. once I have the velocity I can use the cross sectional area of the line and velocity values to find the flow rate. probably wont be the most accurate thing, but better than nothing I suppose. at least with propane I feel better about using those formulas since the gas is mostly pure. As for the blower I think what you mentioned for the blower with a known curve is perfect. those curve charts give a lot of info that I could use. thankyou, i took the time to read up on things you mentioned here. like the orifice meter, I did not know it was named that. lingo is something im going to have to learn here too. do you think a Venturi meter would be a suitable replacement for a orifice?

awesome, thankyou very much for that. I saved the website to my favorites. I would imagine not all flux is created equal? is there some brands I should stay away from? also I changed my profile like you mentioned.

so when I say basics I mean chemistry, physics, etc.. that's why I ask for advanced info, because I don't pretend to be a metallurgist but as mentioned I have enough background in these other subjects including being an engineer myself to fully understand what might be told to me. that's why I asked to basically skip the logistics part about warning me and go straight to the info that you would believe I need to know to do it right. i hope that makes it a bit more clear what I meant. so with that said i would be glad to learn what i can here

Your right, I know the means to look it up, but I also value others experience too so thankyou for your reply. so atm it may not seem economical, but I also am starting small so I can get experience myself and work out a good process that I can scale eventually. I was going to build my own large forge, but as I mentioned I want to work out the process first in a hands on way. so for the stoichiometric ratio, starting with the blower I was going to measure the air velocity and take the diameter of the pipe which would give me the 2 variables I need to get the air flow rate via this formula. Qair = uair * π. D2/4. then take 21% of that to get the amount of oxygen moving through the pipe. then convert the PSI measurement from my control valve on the propane tank, convert it to flow rate as well to get the the other variable. with 2 of the same units of measurement (cubic feet per minute) I can dial what I need from there. that would be my first approach. as for the logistics of it, I'm not too concerned about it until I get more experience to create a better process that works for me. Also I don't plan on making money now, but plan on the future of changing market conditions, which they will and I'm a patient man thankyou for the reply, I live in the US in good ol TN. sorry for the typo though there was meant to be a g there so kg. is there a chart you know of that relates the metals reactivity to oxygen at specific temps? so that i can gage what is good measurement for the amount of flux I would need for a certain material.

I appreciate it, but there is no need to show me this. I realize what im getting into. please assume I know the basics of what I would need to know. I am looking for more advanced information about the process. dont get me wrong though i thank you for taking time out of your day to find something for me that you thought would be helpful

yes, but they will pay more for pure aluminum and I plan to purify the metal myself. I wont be selling to a scrap yard if I can help it, I would save up enough to to sell a ton at a time since pricing for aluminum on the market is usually looked at per metric ton. I wont be mixing the 2 different metals. I have a home made electro magnet to separate the metals. my concern with steel though was when I melted the steel cans to keep it from oxidizing while its being melted. my first guess was using the stoichiometric ratio, but that ratio being 15.67 of propane to 1 of oxygen makes me feel like it would use way too much propane. though I'm not going to rule it out till I plugin some numbers, because while 15.67 times the amount of oxygen sounds like a lot i realize it is only 21% of the air being blown that needs that ratio.

Hi all, I am glad I came across this forum as I saw a lot of people had some good info in certain sections. I have been studying up on it for a while and judging by the post I've seen, I have just scratched the surface. So I wanted to ask for some good tips. To explain where I am starting, I was wanting to order a forge kit with a 12k crucible. I wanted to start small with scrap metal, but what I am doing right now is trying to recycling some cans to start. So a few questions if ya'll wouldn't mind teaching me some are... since some cans are steel with a tin coating, will the tin burn off in the high temps needed for steel? (I Will be using a forced burner with propane in a mostly closed container. there is a small hole on top of the lid to let air out) would that small hole be small enough to slow down oxidation? (I would assume in a semi closed space not much oxygen would be left over from the propane burning) If its still not enough then would using the stoichiometric ratio of propane to oxygen be a solution? (just using air so to achieve that I would think first I would have to know the amount of air moving from my blower, then take 21% of that for one side of the ratio. for the other side of the ratio I would need 15.67 of that 21% in propane.) what are the most cost efficient ways to strip the impurities off the can before melting? (preferably no acids since aluminum cant be recovered from its salts, at least from what I know) would the slag reduction be worth it since it would technically result in less aluminum being mixed with impurities? if there is anything besides these questions in tips yall can be give me, I would love to hear it. I do plan on using a face shield for this as well as a leather cover for my front. I definitely value my safety so no need for too much concern. in fact safety tips from your experience will be welcome too. if you've taken the time to read all that and share some info with me then thank you ahead of time.