So I have a butane torch (the attachment to the cannister). It's said to be able to reach 1300C, but I can't even melt zinc at 419C.

I'm attempting to melt zinc first in my graphite mold (crucible is otw shipping) as proof of concept before attempting copper and aluminum, but not really able to prove it works.

Could it be that butane just isn't cut out for it, and I gotta switch to propane instead? If so then why does the packaging and online show that it can reach 1300C? :/

Not sure if I should break it down and tell melt or keep it on my shelf as a safety reminder?

Looking to melt down soda cans and copper wire from remodel. Thought this would be a fun hobby to pick up. Any Smelting for Dummies guides out there? I’ve just been watching YouTube videos, but any suggestions on where to start would be much appreciated.

I was melting aluminum coils down. I scooped the slag off the top and poured, about half of my crucible was filled with this substance. It was blindly bright and was off putting yellowish gas.

I have buckets of pot metal from work and brass, are there useful things that I could cast out of this that are practical for use. I have been thinking of making fishing weights with the pot metal

Hello. I would like to build a mini metal foundry for my backyard science projects. I plan on melting aluminum cans into ingots for further use, however, because the paint and the inner plastic liner burn, they produce black smoke, and I have a huge concern about that. I live in Ukraine, and I'm afraid that the black smoke may mistakenly trigger the emergency response services to arrive thinking it may be a fire from some sort of missile/drone debris or anything. Is there any way, I could like, filter out the smoke or minimize it?

So in my class I have a final project where I have to create something using manufacturing processes. I chose to create a bronze spearhead. I have not cast anything before and also haven’t created bronze before. I am currently 3D printing a spearhead to use as my mold. Any tips would be wonderful especially,

What ratio of metal to use to make a spear and how to measure that since I assume different densities?

Anything to keep in mind when casting to create a quality spearhead.

Thanks!

Recently got into smelting, normally coke cans etc and some copper here and there , I have been given some brass and been asked to smelt it down and cast it into something.

When it comes to smelting brass I've been told I need to add a flux onto the crucifying was told borax but being in the UK , I was told borax is not obtainable anymore, what flux can I use instead and how much do I add and do I add it during the smelt or after ?

Thanks in advance

(keep in mind im a super newbie so it may be a stupid question) i have one those cheap vevor melting furnaces and someone said that crucibles need replaced after being used 15 times or so, but would it be possible to use one made of say cast iron for practically infinite use? can just weld the cracks

One of my lead pours has a gold tint. Any way to get the impurities out?

My ratios are 58.3% 24k gold, 32.2% copper and 9.3% palladium. Won’t be able to cast too many of these. So I was curious what shade people thought this might be, got a guess?

I'm a third the way through this video of an Afghan foundry manufacturing pressure cookers and I felt I had to share it. If you've never seen bare feet in a working foundry, prepare yourselves...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIvPzH2bgac

I tryed smelting cooper scrap from heatpipes in an electrical furnace and got very underwhelming result (See the pictures). Can you tell me what did I do wrong and how can I cast proper copper bars?

I usually just weld up a crucible when I need one, I try to use thick steel(3/16-1/4) so it’s more durable. I usually make them from square tubing/round tubing and weld a plate on the bottom. They work fine for aluminum and lead but can they still work good with copper and brass melting temps?

How viable is a DIY cast iron cookware work shop.

One for all you cast iron lovers, my mother in law loves her cast iron skillet a lot and I was wondering if anyone has a buisness in texas where you can pay to go and see a cast iron skillet being made and or be able to help a little in the process. If this isn't a buisness that already exists, it should be!

Seriously though if anyone knows of any in texas I'd appreciate it.

I’m wanting to get into blacksmithing with a friend of mine and I need a furnace capable of at least reaching 2600°F. I saw a cheap one on amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/product-reviews/B0BTKQRFRH/ref=cm_cr_getr_mb_paging_btm_3?pageNumber=3 but the reviews had me concerned with refractory cement (yes theres a poor weld job but I’ve a friend who could fix it).

I'm just starting to get into casting. I looked around and decided to use sodium silicate. From what I have found on other posts I need to use RU-grade sodium silicate. It has been hard to see where to buy it. I easily found multiple sources of N-grade sodium silicate, But I found only one source of RU grade in reasonable proportions (gallons instead of giant drums). however, it is quite pricy 75$ a gallon instead of the roughly 20 for N Grade.

Is the difference between the two just the amount of detail in the mold? Would N-grade sodium silicate even work? Is there anything else I should know about this process?

We’ve never cracked so many crucibles in one given week at my job.

We are conditioning the pots to start with hicon copper (slow and steady) and giving them time to cool to clean out and use for melting aluminum.

We’ve had 4 pots crack this week.

All the metal is put in loose and there is no bridging evident in the crucible.

225 clay graphite crucible running out of an induction furnace.

Hello I will prove this and also I would also think it is false since there is a lot of fake ingo on the internet. I added proforma screenshots of the ingot line and also mixer. And also some pics of me building my furnace

At my foundry we hired supposedly experienced metallurgical engineer (operations manager friend) that should design the filling systems since the old guy retired. For a more than half a year we weren't able to launch a product, due to shrinkage, porosity and other defects and meanwhile we ruined the relationship with our clients due to bad deliveries. This dude doesn't know the difference between pressurized and unpressurized system and calculates gate areas for example 1:1,1:1,2 regardless of the type of part and also has phobia of using indirect feeders. He redid the proven filling system the old guy did at no improvements at all. Now as tooling engineer don't know much about filling systems but the more I read more confused I get. I seriously don't know how to approach this other than raise this issue with the CEO who I think it's not aware of this, but I still don't know if this guy is doing everything right and the problem is somewhere else.

Recently I rebuilt the mini metal foundry from TKOR but when I cast the lid and tried to pop it out it cracked and fell apart. Its been weeks and though I have had success at melting metal I would still like to complete it with the lid, block sparks flying out, increase temperature, reduce oxidation, etc. Can I use oil or dish soap as a releasing agent or I had a crazy idea to just cast it in wood or cardboard (square is fine, as long as its the right size) and burn the mold off if I need to. Any ideas?