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Casting Iron - Just seeing if I could actually do it, things turned out better than expected.  The first attempt failed, trying to melt wrought iron instead of cast iron.  This stuff melts at a much higher temperature than cast iron, and resulted in a lot of propane going up in smoke and minor damage to the furnace lining.  Attempt #2 was much more fun and is pictured here.

Shown below are some video clips, click on any one of them to download the video (2720kb).

	7-Sep-2003: It's getting hot in here...  1260 deg C is only scratching the surface, around 1350 is needed for a good melt and to stop the stuff solidifying while you pour.
	You can't look too close at this one.  The scrap iron is soaking up some BTU's and will soon be starting to melt.
	Melting iron makes the propane disappear a lot quicker than melting aluminium.  The 19kg bottle shown here will do over 20 aluminium melts.  I don't think it will do more than 4 or 5 iron melts, time will tell.
	Still picking up temperature, the inconel probe is only good to 1300 deg C, but it has been run hotter than that today.
	This is the iron after pouring into the mould.  The mould is simply a hole in the sand formed by an aerosol can.  Note the iron all over the place - whoops.
	Clicking the pic on the left will show a bigger one, not the video.  Just tried machining the iron to see if it's OK, seems to machine OK.  Plenty of holes and other faults in it - these were caused by bits of charcoal falling into the mould.

These pages are maintained by Duncan Munro.  All content on this site is Copyright ©2002-2024 Duncan Amplification.
Warning: These pages consist of images and descriptions of equipment which can reach high temperatures creating hazardous and potentially dangerous situations.  These pages should not be taken as a step by step guide on how to construct any items or carry out any particular procedure, nor should any references to safety contained herein be taken to guarantee safety in all situations.