My primitive charcoal furnace

Where the metal submits. Metallurgy to Melt point.
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geoff_p
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2012 9:14 am
Location: Aranyaprathet, Thailand

My primitive charcoal furnace

Post by geoff_p »

When I joined this forum, Harry asked to see pictures of my Thai-style cooker. So here goes:

Luckily, I don't have a car, there's no room for it.
My foundry/workshop/storage area
My foundry/workshop/storage area
The cooker was intended for use with a wok
The cooker was intended for use with a wok
The steel 'rim' lets me raise the fire up around the pot
Ex hairdrier-motor, good on 6Volts, brilliant on 12
Ex hairdrier-motor, good on 6Volts, brilliant on 12
In the background are some wheels ready to be sawn into usable pieces
A bag of charcoal is enough for several melts, and costs about a dollar
A bag of charcoal is enough for several melts, and costs about a dollar
Smashing the 'natural' charcoal to usable small pieces is much cheaper than buying fancy briquettes
Smashing the 'natural' charcoal to usable small pieces is much cheaper than buying fancy briquettes
I'll try to put some more pictures in another post.

Geoff
geoff_p
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2012 9:14 am
Location: Aranyaprathet, Thailand

Re: My primitive charcoal furnace

Post by geoff_p »

As promised, a few more pictures
At 6V on the fan it is hot enough.  I go to 12V just prior to pouring
At 6V on the fan it is hot enough. I go to 12V just prior to pouring
A melt of about 1/2 kg (1 pound) takes 15~20 minutes, and uses about a quarter of a bag of charcoal (25 cents-worth.)
It does get quite hot
It does get quite hot
My moulding box is only 6-inches square, for which a 1/2 bowl of sand is more than adequate.
My moulding box is only 6-inches square, for which a 1/2 bowl of sand is more than adequate.
And what it is all about
An experimental cast-aluminium crankshaft
An experimental cast-aluminium crankshaft
And the engine so far. It is all aluminium except for ball-race journals and M3 cap-head screws. The prototype (single-cylinder) engine ran well enough to convince me to try this one.
DSC_3948 (Medium).JPG
More to come when I've finished a heap of woodwork. Among other things, I'm making a bed on which to rest my weary bones.

Geoff
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Jammer
Posts: 1487
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:04 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: My primitive charcoal furnace

Post by Jammer »

That looks like a good set up Geoff. It could easily get to Bronze temp. Natural charcoal is the way to go, to much crap in the briquettes. Around here it's considered Gourmet so it costs more that the bricks.
quando omni flunkus moritati 8-)
Rocco
Posts: 98
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2011 8:35 am

Re: My primitive charcoal furnace

Post by Rocco »

Thanks for sharing Geoff.

I love seeing low tech set ups like yours, sometimes we tend to over complicate things, your set up is a great reminder that things don't need to be complicated to get great results, well done!
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Harry
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Re: My primitive charcoal furnace

Post by Harry »

8-) Geoff

I would imagine that using charcoal since it is clean compared to say oil you could toss the wok on and do up some stir fry with the latent heat after a melt.

I like the little engine, they are always fun. Like Rocco mentioned about your setup the engine shows how simple it can be done compared to the complexity of what most of us see in modern engines.
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints the sinners are much more fun...
Muller
DavidF

Re: My primitive charcoal furnace

Post by DavidF »

Very nice, my furst furnace was nothing more than a pipe that i would burn wood in until i had a nice pile of coals then i would hit it with the blow dryer.
Nice engine too. For a paddle wheeler?

My first furnace, sitting ready to run at all times.
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Jammer
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Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:04 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: My primitive charcoal furnace

Post by Jammer »

David, that looks kind of like xlchainsaw's furnace. I wonder how he's doing? If we got him on here that would be great, we can always use another from down-under.
My first one was a refractory burner tude that I fired charcoal briquettes in, it worked fine but took a long time to heat up and then it started getting cracks in it.
This is when I melted lite salt to make some flux chunks.
Image
I melted Aluminum and brass in it and had it hooked to my little woodgas generator.
Image
quando omni flunkus moritati 8-)
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