Cincinnati Shaper

[dallen]

whats your secret F.C. I already have a gas line plus blower plus air pump, and my air compressor isn't big enough for what your suggesting.

The problem I have isn't burner capability, its my inability to remember what I was doing when I was melting iron a couple years ago, now I get to play the getting back on the curve again. This furnace reline isn't something that has just popped up I had planned on doing it a couple years ago, but do to work and getting laid off and a few other things it got shelved and now that I am back to casting the one day I had a really good day playing with iron I pretty much screwed up the lining so that I have to do it now.

but your secret will be safe with me.

its back too the barrel still have about and inch to dig out in a couple of places, need two inches of room for the new stuff, luckily the 2700 is pretty much like pumic or gas blown volcanic rock full of air pockets and pretty soft and easy to dig out.

DA

[Jammer]

That Frank is such a tease!!

[mite5255]

That Frank is such a tease!!

I agree

[dallen]

I agree with the tease, he must be out moose hunting for winter provisions, I could of used that secret this morning when I put in the new wall liner.

Anyway things been a little slow around here what with me doing the reline on the big furnace and not really having anything important to pour, plus I got a little disgusted at the pattern I was making for a new transmission pulley so I have slowed down on finishing it, and I have to run up to Tulsa tomorrow to SVSeekers and help him with a couple of things on the boat.

hope to fire up the furnace first of next week to see if the lining stays in, probably do a couple of aluminum pours and if I can get the NiBrAl maybe a bronze crankhandle before trying to do iron again.

DA

[Jammer]

Hope your reline comes out OK. I need to build another small furnace, mine fell apart. It had a thin hotface of 3200F refractory. I hope the bag I have left is still good. It's been sealed up.

I'm about to the bottom of the boxes and I haven't come across the drip oiler. I'll check a couple other places before I give up. I did fins a glass bowl from a John Deere fuel filter. I don't know why I have that.

[F.C.]

I discovered this purely by accident. The second furnace I made it needed about two coffee can fulls of castable refractory to fill completely the cavity it was to be cast into. The ONLY thing I had available to me fine enough to mix with the castable to increase its volume was metal filings that was contained in a bucket beneath a horizontal band saw in the shop I was alowed to work in. I figured what the heck... so the mixing began I added the filings, made the cast and smoothed it at the brim. Looked perfect. The shop had to close for a long holiday weekend so the furnace lining sat curing for 5 full days. When I returned and looked at the furnace the entire lining was rust pink due the filings having reacted with the chemicals of the refractory (3200 deg, castable). So what, I thought. Anyway, I hooked up the propane, lit'er off, kept it at idle for about 30 minutes, then increased the temp in increments each additional 30 minutes apart till I had reached an inside lining color of bright lemon yellow. Then held it like that while I went to the head to take a crap. My friend was supposed to watch it. Instead, he wandered off. I come out of the can, buckeling my belt, opened the shop door and saw the intake wall of my furnace glowing bright yellow, and my furnace sounded like it had taken on a life of its own and was going full throttle. I instantly shut it down and pulled the mixing tub out of the furnace intake (out of fear it might have welded itself to the exterior wall). When the tube slid out a big wad of steel flowed out as well. The inside of my furnace wall was white hot!!! The steel that flowed out was my crucible base ring stand I had cut from 1" thick stainless steel ship mast and packed with refractory. 75% of the steel had turned to liquid and flowed like mercury. When the furnace cooled enough to open the lid and inspect, the inner wall was glazed a dark carmel brown, the crucible refractory base crumbled like sand and glass chips. Otherwise no other damage. Years later, and several hundred casts past, I thought I'd grind out the inner wall to widen the throat by just a 1/4 inch for a better set of tongs and a larger crucible I wanted to use. I destroyed 8 steel grinding disks, wore them down to dust, trying to grind on that furnace wall. Never phazed it one bit. That furnace has had at least a thousand melts and shows no sign of wear. Something happened to the chemical composition of that refractory when it reacted with the metal filings. The filings melted in to the refractory and the refractory melted into the filings and combined to make a material that is tougher than steel itself. if you want a furnace that will outlive many generations of use, there's your secret.

[F.C.]

And no.... I missed out on the hunting (AGAIN) this year. Damn work load with my day job was too intense and demanding. Plus, my middle son surprised me and the wife yesterday by walking in right at supper time ask'n what's for dinner!! We hadn't seen him since he was on leave fresh out of basic training. He had been deployed over in teh sandbox for the past year and we've been worried he'd be redeployed now with Syria kick'n upa stench. Instead, he purposely tricked us and didn't announce he wasn't goingn to re-enlist and, instead, got permission to take what leave he has left and apply it as terminal leave and come home. His mom and me about choked on our dinner when he waltzed in through the front door. Was a VERRRRRY HAPPY evening for us all here at the White House, for sure. Our boy is home safe and sound and far wiser and immensely more mature than he was when he enlisted. We are a family again......

I think he and I will be head'n out to the bush this Saturday and see if we can ferret out a nice black bear to bag and cut a rug out of. Them blacks make some fine sausage, chilli, and stew meat, too..... Moose will have to wait till next year unless they open a spike fork hunt this winter somewhere near here.

[mite5255]

And no.... I missed out on the hunting (AGAIN) this year. Damn work load with my day job was too intense and demanding. Plus, my middle son surprised me and the wife yesterday by walking in right at supper time ask'n what's for dinner!! We hadn't seen him since he was on leave fresh out of basic training. He had been deployed over in teh sandbox for the past year and we've been worried he'd be redeployed now with Syria kick'n upa stench. Instead, he purposely tricked us and didn't announce he wasn't goingn to re-enlist and, instead, got permission to take what leave he has left and apply it as terminal leave and come home. His mom and me about choked on our dinner when he waltzed in through the front door. Was a VERRRRRY HAPPY evening for us all here at the White House, for sure. Our boy is home safe and sound and far wiser and immensely more mature than he was when he enlisted. We are a family again......

I think he and I will be head'n out to the bush this Saturday and see if we can ferret out a nice black bear to bag and cut a rug out of. Them blacks make some fine sausage, chilli, and stew meat, too..... Moose will have to wait till next year unless they open a spike fork hunt this winter somewhere near here.

While your out there hunting Frank, wife would like a new rug for the floor Thats great about your son, we're lucky both our children live within one hours drive from here

Mike

[mite5255]

I discovered this purely by accident. The second furnace I made it needed about two coffee can fulls of castable refractory to fill completely the cavity it was to be cast into. The ONLY thing I had available to me fine enough to mix with the castable to increase its volume was metal filings that was contained in a bucket beneath a horizontal band saw in the shop I was alowed to work in. I figured what the heck... so the mixing began I added the filings, made the cast and smoothed it at the brim. Looked perfect. The shop had to close for a long holiday weekend so the furnace lining sat curing for 5 full days. When I returned and looked at the furnace the entire lining was rust pink due the filings having reacted with the chemicals of the refractory (3200 deg, castable). So what, I thought. Anyway, I hooked up the propane, lit'er off, kept it at idle for about 30 minutes, then increased the temp in increments each additional 30 minutes apart till I had reached an inside lining color of bright lemon yellow. Then held it like that while I went to the head to take a crap. My friend was supposed to watch it. Instead, he wandered off. I come out of the can, buckeling my belt, opened the shop door and saw the intake wall of my furnace glowing bright yellow, and my furnace sounded like it had taken on a life of its own and was going full throttle. I instantly shut it down and pulled the mixing tub out of the furnace intake (out of fear it might have welded itself to the exterior wall). When the tube slid out a big wad of steel flowed out as well. The inside of my furnace wall was white hot!!! The steel that flowed out was my crucible base ring stand I had cut from 1" thick stainless steel ship mast and packed with refractory. 75% of the steel had turned to liquid and flowed like mercury. When the furnace cooled enough to open the lid and inspect, the inner wall was glazed a dark carmel brown, the crucible refractory base crumbled like sand and glass chips. Otherwise no other damage. Years later, and several hundred casts past, I thought I'd grind out the inner wall to widen the throat by just a 1/4 inch for a better set of tongs and a larger crucible I wanted to use. I destroyed 8 steel grinding disks, wore them down to dust, trying to grind on that furnace wall. Never phazed it one bit. That furnace has had at least a thousand melts and shows no sign of wear. Something happened to the chemical composition of that refractory when it reacted with the metal filings. The filings melted in to the refractory and the refractory melted into the filings and combined to make a material that is tougher than steel itself. if you want a furnace that will outlive many generations of use, there's your secret.

I'll give this a try, I'll make a new plinth and I'll mix some iron filings into it and see what happens after firing, any idea roughly what percentage by weight Frank, maybe 10% for starters

Mike

[dallen]

F.C. you were a little slow getting back to me with the secret ingredient, and I already had what I was going to replace done, will hold that info in my filing cabinet for when I have to do this again, with refractroy at 40 bucks a bag I'm not digging it out. Actually after seeing how far the bag and a half went that I actually put in the furnace I had enough to redo the wall with removing all of it. but hopefully this will last for a spell.
Only problem I see with adding the metal cuttings and getting the same results are a person is going to need the same equipment as F.C. has and do the exact same thing, well almost the same no reason for the library break that I can see a rugby game an a couple of cold ones could replace that.

That slag is some tough crap as they say in Texas, the slag that I had in mine once I broke it was black as sin and really dense. I really wouldn't of wanted to have to try to grind it out. but thats slag for you,
DA