Building my first furnace

[Drbobski]

I have made myself a mission to build a furnace capable to melting up to bronze for casting and forging. Being that I am on an island, the cost of shipping anything here is pretty high so I am trying to source whatever I can locally.

 

First hurdle was fire clay for the refractory mix, after some research I found a beach cliff which had collapsed to reveal white clay, so off I went.

Once I had collected a bucket of it and got home, I quickly fired up the blowtorch to see if it was the right stuff, seems ok.

Once I had done that started drying it all out and sieving it into a new bucket and ended up with this. 

Next I turned my attention to the burner to make sure it was working ok.

Once that was checked, I picked a 47kg propane bottle, de-gassed it and threw it on the fire to remove the paint.

I then cut the bottle in half (I do not know if I am going a bit too big here for what I need but I thought better go large and not have to make a bigger one later)

I then cut some 5" heavy pipe and the corresponding hole in the side of the bottle.

The jury rigged the burner to test it for fit, I am hoping to be able to vary the heat by moving the burner in and out of the furnace on a rail.

That is where I am up to so far, and comments or criticism appreciated ;)

[Parrothead]

Are you using waste oil for fuel? Curious about your burner design. I've thought about something similar, forge and furnace combo. But was worried about too much volume to be an efficient forge. Please keep us updated with your progress.

[Drbobski]

Heating oil from a recycling place and filter it myself. I know what you mean about volume, been looking at Crucible measurements and will probably chop it down about 4-5 inches.

[grimme]

look for artful bodger on you tube, i made his waste oil furnace, hes a really helpful guy