Mayonnaise Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I'm thirteen. I have thrown together a small forge that only takes up a 1 foot by1 1/2 foot area. It's made out of regular bricks, and I know it won't last. It has already proven that it can very easily melt lead, but it's having trouble with aluminum. Another thing is that it just works off of regular charcoal, and has a 4 inch fan for air regulation. I was wondering if there is a simple inexpensive design to make a brick or easy to get material forge that can melt aluminum? I am hoping that I can stay at charcoal too, I don't want to use propane or natural gas, maybe some other time if this isn't possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 If you get it hot enough for steel you may find out the hard way, that those bricks can explode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Lodge Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Well, if you can melt aluminum in a fire pit I can imagine you should be able to melt it in the forge. The problem sounds like your setup is not allowing the heat to be concentrated in the area needed. Why not bury your air supply in the ground and make a pit forge. You'll need a lot of wood or charcoal to build up around the crucible that you should be using to contain the melting aluminum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 OK, let's what the different melting temperatures are for the two metals, first off lead is around 600+F and aluminum is twice that some 1,200+F. This shows you how much hotter your fire has got to be to change the state of the aluminum from a solid to a liquid. You don't say what your using for a crucible but I'm going to assume that it's a section of pipe with a cap screwed on tight, not the best crucible but still serviceable for aluminum. You can melt aluminum with a wood fire but you need to add a draft to it to get it to burn hot enough to melt the metal. I have accomplished it with a fire with a deep bed of coals and the crucible well embedded in them, this isn't for a large pour but a modest one you understand. A hole in the ground is a more traditional way of melting metal and the use of wood too, this is one of the reasons that the great forests disappeared, folks melting and smelting metals. Yeah, and common brick just ain't the best brick to use, it holds too much moisture. You should heat it real slow to drive off the moisture first and then line it with clay to protect it from the fire or just dirt from the yard as long as it has a low amount of organic material in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayonnaise Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 I already know this, I was just mainly looking for a good small brick forge design since mine was just thrown together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 Perhaps looking at a site dedicated to "backyard metal casting of Aluminum" would profit you more that here where it's more of an adjunct to our main focus. You can make a usable melting furnace out of vermiculite from a garden center and *cheap* clay based kitty litter if I recall the time I spent on the "backyard metal casting of Aluminum" BBS The Gingery books on building an Al melting furnace running off charcoal and using it to cast and build your own machine shop... are available from Lindsay www.lindsaybks.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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