Started a new Small Furnace.

[Jammer]

Here's some pictures. I didn't get a shot of the flask. It's a vertical pour flask like a Brazier flask. I made it a couple years ago and never tried it out. I'll start a thread on it.
The Orange tape on the blower helps me to avoid tripping over it.

[dallen]

glad to hear someone around here is pouring metal, I'm still stuck with no blower thats big enough to melt iron with, but I do need to cast up a new gantry end plate so I can move the stepper that drives the Y Axis.

looks like your back in business.

DA

[Jammer]

I re-poured the little plaque in 85/5/5/5 brass. I got it a little too hot and some of the zinc burned off before I could pour. I let it cool down a little and added some 70/30 brass to bring the zinc back up. Poured pretty nice and the pieces came out better. Sure left a mess in the crucible but it came out.

The first is as cast, very thin copper that brushes off. The 2 plaques are both of the ones I cast. The top one is Silicon Bronze and the bottom one is the Brass.

[mite5255]

I re-poured the little plaque in 85/5/5/5 brass. I got it a little too hot and some of the zinc burned off before I could pour. I let it cool down a little and added some 70/30 brass to bring the zinc back up. Poured pretty nice and the pieces came out better. Sure left a mess in the crucible but it came out.

The first is as cast, very thin copper that brushes off. The 2 plaques are both of the ones I cast. The top one is Silicon Bronze and the bottom one is the Brass.

looks good What is 85/5/5/5 brass Jerry

Mike

[Jammer]

It's pretty common brass, 85% copper, 5% tin, 5% lead, 5% zinc. It pours well but sure flames up white, if you get it too hot.

[mite5255]

It's pretty common brass, 85% copper, 5% tin, 5% lead, 5% zinc. It pours well but sure flames up white, if you get it too hot.

\
Is that the brass they use for taps, pipe fittings and such, and yes it sure does flame up white if you over heat it

[Rasper]

Yes, most common plumbing valves are poured from that stuff. It's called red brass, ounce metal, 85 three five, among other names. It's a good casting alloy and for sculpture it takes a beautiful patina. It doesn't weld very well due to the zinc and the lead.

One thing you want to avoid it melting red brass (or any leaded bronze) in a crucible and then melting silicon bronze. Just a tiny amount of lead affects the casting qualities of silicon bronze—lead + silicon = glass.

Richard

[Jammer]

Well, I'm glad I melted the Silicon Bronze first. It's a mulite crucible and it came out pretty clean. I had a little trouble getting the Silicon Bronze to melt. It was the first melt with this little furnace. I think I wasn't putting enough air in. What temp do you take your bronze to Richard?

[Rasper]

I pour Everdur, which is 95% Cu, 4% Si, 1% Mn. I pour at around 2050 F to 2100 F. I am pouring in plaster/sand investment molds. I have found (the hard way of course) that the investment material can't stand more heat than that. The recommended pouring temperature in sand is 2150 F. for Everdur and about 2250 F for red brass. That's for thin castings. (My sculpture is 3/16 to 1/4 inch thick.) Heavy stuff such as your plaques probably can be poured at somewhere around 1950 F.

Richard

[dallen]

Jammer
take a bucket and fill it with sand then just ram a muffin pan into the sand to make cups in it, fast easy way to ingot your leftovers.

DA