10-16-2016, 04:33 AM
(This post was last modified: 10-16-2016, 04:34 AM by Pete O.
Edit Reason: spelling
)
I have been making some more progress on the furnace, only thirteen and a half months on from my last post.
I've been working on my first actual pattern to cast a real part, so needed to bring the furnace up the priority list.
I did a test run not long after the last post on here, where I actually melted some aluminium scrap and poured some ingots. The furnace floor did not stand up to that burn very well, it was a mix of vermiculite and fire cement, the surface eroded badly and was not flat enough to stand the crucible upright. I broke the base out and re-cast it with my leftover castable refractory, did this before our trip to the UK in August so it has had time to cure.
The leaf blower was clearly unsatisfactory for an air supply; I've been looking out on auction sites for one of those jumping-castle blowers but have not spotted any near me. A mate has been clearing out his dad's shed and found this blower unit that was used to keep a domed swiming pool cover inflated.
The size might not be apparent from the photo, that inlet port is 12" diameter. One more bulky item to find a home for.
It was just the bare fan and housing, I had to build the plywood outlet business as well as adding a motor and mounting frame. I used a 3hp 3-phase motor that I had spare, with a VFD that used to be on my lathe. I'm thinking I'll use the VFD to establish the ideal running speed for the blower, then fit a single-phase motor with appropriate pulleys to get the desired speed. I got to use the shaper for cutting the keyway in an aluminium pulley for the blower, worked a treat.
Whilst I had some momentum up, I built a needle valve to control oil flow into the burner.
I gave the furnace a test firing with it's new fittings last night, the VFD coupled with the air control valve makes for good air adjustment during warm-up and the oil control valve worked very well indeed in controlling the fuel supply.
I still need to do something better to mount the oil container but this is workable. I'm hoping to be able to do another test melt tomorrow, unfortunately the weather has turned wet so it might get delayed again. Hopefully not for thirteen months this time.
I've been working on my first actual pattern to cast a real part, so needed to bring the furnace up the priority list.
I did a test run not long after the last post on here, where I actually melted some aluminium scrap and poured some ingots. The furnace floor did not stand up to that burn very well, it was a mix of vermiculite and fire cement, the surface eroded badly and was not flat enough to stand the crucible upright. I broke the base out and re-cast it with my leftover castable refractory, did this before our trip to the UK in August so it has had time to cure.
The leaf blower was clearly unsatisfactory for an air supply; I've been looking out on auction sites for one of those jumping-castle blowers but have not spotted any near me. A mate has been clearing out his dad's shed and found this blower unit that was used to keep a domed swiming pool cover inflated.
The size might not be apparent from the photo, that inlet port is 12" diameter. One more bulky item to find a home for.
It was just the bare fan and housing, I had to build the plywood outlet business as well as adding a motor and mounting frame. I used a 3hp 3-phase motor that I had spare, with a VFD that used to be on my lathe. I'm thinking I'll use the VFD to establish the ideal running speed for the blower, then fit a single-phase motor with appropriate pulleys to get the desired speed. I got to use the shaper for cutting the keyway in an aluminium pulley for the blower, worked a treat.
Whilst I had some momentum up, I built a needle valve to control oil flow into the burner.
I gave the furnace a test firing with it's new fittings last night, the VFD coupled with the air control valve makes for good air adjustment during warm-up and the oil control valve worked very well indeed in controlling the fuel supply.
I still need to do something better to mount the oil container but this is workable. I'm hoping to be able to do another test melt tomorrow, unfortunately the weather has turned wet so it might get delayed again. Hopefully not for thirteen months this time.
Lathe (n); a machine tool used in the production of milling machine components.
Milling Machine (n); a machine tool used in the production of lathe components.
Milling Machine (n); a machine tool used in the production of lathe components.