Newbee to gas forge & Furnaces

[jobrla]

I just purchased my first forge. Devil's forge. It has a 10Kg capacity. Was wondering if I need to purchase separate crucibles for each type of metal I forge?

Or is it possible to get reed of all the let over dried material out of the crucible for a different type of metal.

Thank you

[jobrla]

Afternoon all, new to this wonderful pass time. Just purchase a new 10Kg Devil's Forge to start this activity.

Just one beginners question..... Do I need to purchase individual crucible for each type of material I will be melting (aluminum, lead, copper) or is it possible to get all of the left over material out the crucible.

 

Thank you

[Frosty]

Yes, you need to use separate crucibles for different metals. That's covered in the most basic casting books. You might want to do some research other than asking vague questions on the internet before taking up such an extremely dangerous pursuit. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Frosty]

Posting the SAME question more than once will only get you noticed and spoken to by the moderators. Of course you may have just double tapped the send key, it happens to everybody now and then. We won't have the boys visit and break your legs. Honest. It's just part of the learning curve.

Frosty The Lucky.

[George N. M.]

Welcome aboard from 7500 feet (2285 meters) in Southeastern Wyoming.  Glad to have you.

It would be a help if you added your general location to your profile so that we know where in the world you are.  This is a world wide forum and you could be in Tasmania, Siberia, or California.

I suspect that you may not be a native English speaker from some of your language usages in your post, which is still good English but not quite how a native speaker would use the words.  So, that may be an issue with what you have said.

First, a person does not use crucibles to forge metal.  You get the metal hot enough to be soft and them use tools, often a hammer, to form it into the shape you want.  Crucibles are used for holding metals when they are heated to a point where they melt to a liquid and then are poured into a mold to form the shape that is wanted.  This is called "casting" and is a different process from forging.

I would use a seperate crucible for different metals to avoid cross contamination.  It doesn't matter much for some metals, say copper and brass or bronze, but I wouldn't want to mix, say, silver or gold and lead.

I see Frosty is posting at the same time I am and I bet he is saying about the same things that I am.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

PS  I will add to what Frosty said about casting:  It can be a VERY dangerous process because liquid metal can cause VERY bad injuries if you spill it or something else goes wrong.  It is MUCH more dangerous than forging and has the potential to kill or maime you for life.  Make sure that you know what you are doing, follow safety procedures to the letter, and wear all necessary Personal Protective Equipment.

GNM

[jobrla]

7 minutes ago, Frosty said:

 "That's covered in the most basic casting books"

Thankyou for you thoughtful reply. ONCE again, I have not started casting yet. This is new to me and I am reading, researching and trying to purchase only what I need. It will be a LONG while before I start. Oh, sorry for the VAUGE question. I thought I posted under Forge 101

[jobrla]

Thank you sir, I will update my profile, but for now. I am in Las Cruces, NM

[George N. M.]

OK, cool.  There are a number of IFI posters in NM.  The New Mexico Blacksmith Association is an active group and has great folk in it.  It appears that you are a native English speaker.  Perhaps you are not quite as accomplished at writing out your thoughts as some other folk.  Are you, perhaps, a younger person?  Anyway, my apologies if any are needed.

GNM

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Welcome from the Ozark Mountains.

I believe you have confused the terms Forging and Casting. What you have purchased is a Furnace for melting metal. As others have said melting and casting metal is a very dangerous endeavor.

What type of experience do you have melting metal? Have you looked in your area for classes that you could take? What kind of PPE do you have? Do you have anyone that can stand by as a safety in case of an accident? Have you read through this sub forum to get an idea of what you are getting into?

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.
Semper Paratus

 

[Frosty]

Sorry for getting on you for posting the same thing twice, seeing as both my of replies show up in this thread too. It's just a glitch in the site's OS.

Casting metal is inherently explosively dangerous. Yes, it can explode if you make a mistake, just one slipup and you can empty a 10lb. crucible and splatter molten metal maybe 30'. That's about how far it splattered in my metal shop class when a class clown sabotaged a mold. 

Any moisture contacting molten metal, even low temp metals like lead expands thousands of times in volume INSTANTLY. The minimum being 1 gallon of 212f water will become 1,600 gallons of 212f. steam upon phase shift. Lead melts generally around 600f, think around 4,800 gallons of steam and so on. 

Aluminum is still a low melt metal at around 1,100f, imagine around 9,000 gallons of steam. 

The class clown who caused the steam explosion in shop class by sabotaging a mold topped his idiocy a couple weeks later by dropping a piece of cold aluminum down the exhaust hole in the lid of the melter. Unfortunately the cold aluminum condensed moisture from the exhaust and carried it into the crucible. The steam explosion blew the lid on the melter open letting about 20lbs or so of molten aluminum out. The aluminum hit the fume hood over the shop's hot area hard enough to be heard in shop classes two doors down and across the walk/drive way. 

The only reason the aluminum didn't spray farther in our room was the hood that covered the hot area. It was designed to contain and deflect explosions and it worked like a charm. The al still spread over the entire hot area and about 10'-15' beyond the hood. 

Fortunately nobody was badly burned, worst were a few 2nd. degree burns. It was a hot day in S. Cal and the hot area is HOT so we were all pretty sweaty. What hit bare skin rode steam as it slid off. 

I tend to be a little adamant about safely handling molten metal but I was standing under that hood, saw the idiot drop the broken casting in the melter and had molten aluminum make a steam sled out of my backbone. I kept the splat it mad on the floor as a good luck charm largely because it didn't go down my pants too.

It it had been molten copper in the melter it would've blown the lid OFF completely and maybe broken the melter. How far it would've splashed even under that oh so excellent hood gives me the willies.

I'm not trying to scare you off but casting is anything but a trivial pursuit one slip up can result in permanent disfigurement, crippling injuries, burning building or the ultimate bummer.

Please PLEASE do NOT try to figure it out yourself, take a college extension course or hook up with a caster willing to give lessons. We have a bronze caster here in the valley who teaches for reasonable, he'll even let folks work off lessons.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

I don't think it's a glitch in the forums OS, seeing as Mod 30 changed the title he/she probably combined both threads and moved it to the right sub-forum.

Frosty has given some very good advice. Hope the OP takes it to heart. We always stress safety.

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.
Semper Paratus