Ghetto Foundry: Melting Aluminum in my Backyard.
Posted on October 11, 2009
I decided not to compete on the final day of Tempest in a Teapot (stay tuned for a writeup), and I woke up before football was on. I ate some breakfast and finished up an episode of Star Trek that I had started the night before, but it was still 12:00. How ever was I going to kill an hour? Melting aluminum. So, a couple of weeks back I made myself a foundry so I can melt aluminum into interesting baubles to please the natives. My rig is really ghetto. I got some Quickcrete and a popcorn tin (whcih I had previously used for cooking bamboo). I drilled a hole in the popcorn tin to put an airflow tube (1 inch PVC strapped to my girlfriend’s hairdryer). Honestly, do not try to copy what I did, check out Backyard Metal Casting to get a much better idea of what legitimate operations look like. Anyways, I mixed up some Quickcrete, and then poured it into the popcorn tin, until it was about half an inch underneath the hole I made for the airflow tube. Then put a paint can in the middle of the popcorn can, put the airflow tube into the hole, and then dumped the rest of the Quickcrete around the can. Honestly, I really didn’t get it as much height out of it, because I was afraid of the paint can getting stuck.
Unfortunately, this was the day that I busted up my knee, but luckily I covered it up with a tarp, so it could cure for a week or so. At this point I didn’t happen to have a crucible to melt anything in, so I just fired it up without anything in it. Luckily, Veronica was around to capture it on film:
The briquettes were soggy, so this was kind of tough. Notice the absolute lack of safety gear. I wasn't even wearing close toed shoes. Don't do this.
My landlady's dog came to help. I'm not sure where her face is either.
This is the basic setup. There are hot coals in the thing to the left. Veronica's hairdryer, with the cool button taped down, provides airflow over the coals, making them very hot.
Another angle of the foundry. That is actually the crucible off to the left, more on that later.
Thanks Veronica.
Another angle. This bad boy could turn the end of some rebar red hot in about 30 seconds.
So to melt aluminum I needed several things: a crucible to melt the aluminum, tools so I don’t burn my hands off, aluminum and a place to dump the aluminum. The crucible was fun. I emptied out a 16 oz camping propane bottle, and using a hacksaw cut holes in each side just under the top. I then filled it with water to make sure that all the propane was out and then used my dremel tool to chop the top off. Then I drilled holes in opposite sides, and stuck some bolts in there to use as handles. Then I smacked out a lip for pouring. I crafted some tools out of steel rods, some tweezer-like tools to hold the crucible in the foundry, and a hook, for pouring. I took the cat litter tray that I mixed the Quickcrete in, and dumped some sand in there. My buddy Sam helped me out with my first melt, but didn’t take any pictures because Veronica took my camera. Anyways, these are pictures I took today, hopefully they will enlighten and entertain.
Top view of foundry before lighting and the crucible.
The airflow. That's Veronica's hairdryer masking taped to a PVC pipe, with the cool button taped down. Its propped up on bricks so the airflow goes down into the foundry.
The cans I melted. The aluminum used in cans is very pure, but a lot of the gunk has to be burnt off. In addition to this I added a rod I got at the hardware store to the melt.
The poured aluminum. Sorry I didn't get any action shots. A) I wear gloves, so fine motor skills are limited. B) I don't have time to grab a camera when I am dealing with fire and molten metal. I just dumped the aluminum into some grooves I made in that sandbox. It didn't work out that well, but it doesn't really matter. I wanted to melt down the cans to purify the aluminum.
Aftermath. This may be the best shot of the foundry that I have up. Also, check out the crucible. Yeah, I need to upgrade.
Anyways, these are just the first steps. I’ve got a good amount of aluminum melted down, so next step is to start making things to cast. If you have any ideas for things to make, go ahead and post in the comments. I have a couple ideas, but yeah. Also, Mom, if you’re reading this, I am wearing safety gear now (close toed shoes, eye safety wear, long pants and long sleeves). Also, this whole operation took me an hour, from leaving my room, to coming back inside.
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4 Responses to “Ghetto Foundry: Melting Aluminum in my Backyard.”
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Bob says to make sure you are wearing a mask.
Yeah, part of this process involves upgrading my safety gear. A full face protecting mask is definitely the next step. I also need to work out a better pouring setup, right now it is really shakey.
Funny enough, the word ‘ghetto’ comes from the word for foundry. The first ghetto officially designated as such was in 16th-century Venice for Jews, and it was built on the site of an old foundry. Ghetto actually means “foundry” in Venetian-Italian dialect.
Whoah. That’s amazing. Thanks for stopping by!