confused

[oldskoolron]

ok so you know i have a furnace an have done some melting an casting of ally but yest i thought id try to melt some brass for fun an also to learn but my son said to me [reminded me ] that itll take alot of heat to melt brass so all good ..what to use as a crusible i didnt want to use my ally one so found a cast iron camp bowl i put it in with the brass an waited for 50 mins the bowl was glowing orange an so were the walls of furnace but brass still sitting there solid .i did notice alot of yellowish stain in furnace also a small bit smoke from the peep hole in top when heating .is it wrong to melt the brass in cast iron an would there be a reaction between both
cheers in advance for ur opinions

[Pete O]

The benefit of my vast experience: This site has a chart of the melting point of various metals
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/meltin...d_860.html

Yellow brass 930 C as opposed to 660C for aluminium, 1127 or so for cast iron. You might need a carbon graphite crucible.

[Dr Stan]

(11-07-2016, 11:51 PM)Pete O Wrote: The benefit of my vast experience: This site has a chart of the melting point of various metals
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/meltin...d_860.html

Yellow brass 930 C as opposed to 660C for aluminium, 1127 or so for cast iron. You might need a carbon graphite crucible.

Good cite as the Engineering Toolbox is a wealth of information.

IMHO all aluminum, brass, and Fe melts should use a carbon graphite crucible.  I'll plead guilty to occasionally using a steel crucible for aluminum as it was all I had available.  Rest assured if I decide to build another small foundry it will 1) be fired with natural gas (not coal) and 2) use graphite crucibles.

Lead is a horse of a different color.  I've known people who melted lead using their gas stove.     Like soldering it puts off lead fumes and as George Carlin said, "It's not good for ya".