Melting Brass with my New Electric Furnace
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- Опубликовано: 16 окт 2024
- Melting Brass with my New Electric Furnace
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Excellent pour video okie. I just got my first furnace as a gift for Christmas as mine is identical but the brand is different. Max temp 2100 degrees f (1150c) perfect for Aluminum, Copper, Gold and Silver. I especially like the fact that you mentioned the fact that you had to temper your crucible to 300-500 degrees centigrade of all the videos I've seen you were the only person to mention that fact thank you for that. By the way I will be melting Placer beach fine gold dust with mine.
nice, I thought about doing some prospecting when I retire, thought about joining the GPAA. I have watched a lot of the Dan Hurd videos He does a lot of prospecting in Canada and teaches a class at a local school
I have only melted aluminum so far but other metals are coming so I am learning by watching. I would have to say raise your temperature 50degrees and try again. I have been watching VOG and he uses a foundry like that one. I saw yours and thought to myself that you must watch him as well. He did a pour a while back and it came out lumpy like that as well at the end. Also, a moment for safety. When melting brass, the zinc in it gives off the white smoke which is called zinc oxide. It is a poisonous gas and you should where a respirator with the proper filters. I am not sure which filter it is. I am also needing filters because I intend to start melting brass.
Thank you for the video and have a great and safe day.
Subscribed, liked and saying hello. 👊 Good luck with your channel and your pours.
looks like most of my brass pours! If you're going to do brass or anything with zinc, either make sure it is well ventilated (with breeze) and/or make sure you get a good respirator. Breathing in those fumes isn't good on you. Enjoy the new electric furnance.
yes I know, this area of the shop the doors are north and south, this is the north door as the wind is from the south in the summer, here I have shade and electric if needed for a fan
why not to remove the slug? really bad melt ...
Greetings from Oregon!
I too recently purchased an electric melt furnace. Same model I believe. Unfortunately I had an insulation burnthrough on my first melt, which actually melted the power switch. Replaced it with another, slightly more expensive one, and have been enjoying melting down farm scrap of decades ever since. (Did my grandfather REALLY need a dozen identical aluminum plant misting wands?)
I've really been enjoying it. One of my projects is trying to recreate historic alloys. (Byzantine gold, Bell metal, Speculum, etc) I've found that BBQ gloves work much better than welding/forging gloves, at least for insulation purposes. You can barehand the crucible when melting Tin or Pewter.
Anyhow, subscribed. I'll be watching now that the RUclips ghods have introduced me to your channel.
Thanks for the sub. I hope to get more time to melt metal when I get retired, my day job get's in the way of my scrapping and project time. thanks for stopping by
Is a model like this worth it if I want to cast jewelry like rings?
@@michaelcandido2824 Possibly, as with many things, "it is more complicated than a simple yes/no can convey." With mine I got 15-25 copper melts before I'd have to replace the heating element. This meant tearing the whole furnace apart and replacing the central bit. A PITA, but a predictable one. Once I burned out the thermocouple, I retired the forge. (I still have it, but need to get a new thermocouple installed and tested)
If you don't need the "3kg" capacity (Not sure if they're measuring off gold's density or what, but it is more than enough for a LOT of rings!) then things open up pretty significantly. You could get a 1kg "jewelry" forge that is more thermally efficient than the big 3kg ones, and still be melting enough copper, gold, or silver to make several rings at a time. Or you could just make a simple torch+melt dish and melt a single ring's worth of metal at a time. I've done both, and really like the small, efficient electric furnaces. Over Xmas I upgraded to a Quikmelt 120, which is far more thermally efficient than the type shown in this video. The downside thus far is the cost of the Crucibles. ($72 vs $30) Quikmelt makes even smaller sizes, that would work even better for jewelry. Good luck!
Okie Scrapper- love your channel!
Thanks so much, and it's good to have you along
A steady, continuous pour will make your ingots look nicer. It takes a bit of practice. I’ve poured some copper ingots that came out well. My first furnace didn’t last long before failing so I wouldn’t advise anyone buy one of these unless you’re just interested in having some fun.
yes I need the practice, the paper work I got with mine shows how to trouble shoot problems so I take it you can get parts. looks like it will just get hot enough to melt copper a few hundred degrees more would be helpful
Darn, wish I knew about the preheating to drive off moisture. I just turned mine onto full power and the top ceramic piece cracked. Anyway, good furnace but it didn't last long. However, I was using it in the snow and it started zapping me before it quit working.
Sorry to hear that. they work good for what they are, the crucibles break down fast at high heat, melting brass and copper, the ring around the top where you pick the crucible up will widen out and get thin there, and be unsafe
That white smoke from the brass u don't wanna breathe that in its very toxic smoke.....just a heads up....also when u add borax mix it around dont let it fully melt it as it hits the metal it grabs the impurities quick u can scoop out
Great video my friend
thanks for the tip
clean off grind off on the pouring side, and keep it. early pours are just as cool as perfection. hand poured will always have features. Okie, you got a yard full of stuff, more perfection in bars are coming.
yeah I am just learning and experimenting, I was thinking more heat and myfordboy took his furnace up to 1070 C much hotter then where I was
That was very cool to watch the pouring process
Thank you
Very cool! LOVE the sound of the quench!!
I need to start making Ice blocks to set the ingot on
@@Okiescrapper Those are fun, too. Do you know/have you seen Street Copper 11? He lives just a couple of hours north of me. he has done that as well as throwing his ingots into a snowbank on snowy days! LOL!!!
Just a question, why did you put Borax in there? You might have said and I missed it. Thanks for another great video
it works as a flux to catch the impurities
Borax flux also lowers the melting temp and melt your material faster. For gold its 1 teaspoon borax flux to 1 ozt gold. Also helps to keep your material from sticking to the crucible while pouring.
Like alot of your other friends stated practice , practice and more practice . If anyone said they did it the first time they are pulling your leg ! Keep your videos coming !
a few have said that brass is hard to get a nice ingot, and that copper is much easier, think I might move on to copper
i have type the same mine is called goldburn, but i can recomend not to melt brass in that, and you can only melt about maximum 6-8 times before the crucible get wasted, so choose whisly what you melting, other whise its gona cost more to by more crucible then you can melt,
just an tip,
btw great video
so silver or gold I take it
@@Okiescrapper yes best way to use it, copper well some time, but gold and silver yes,
cheers
You got the furnace with the crappy crucible tongs. You'll find out really fast they're awful when you have nearly 2lbs of molten metal in the crucible and you're trying to pour it. The tongs will twist and you think you're going to drop the thing. Look on ebay for the modified pliers version of crucible tongs. They look like Needle nose pliers with long steel arms welded to the tips. those type won't twist on you when holding a heavy load in your crucible.
I will check into them , thanks for the tip
good ~~
I .m a fan of yours.
Thank you very much! I am glad you like what I am doing
What do you do with your ingots
If I can ever get some that look good I plan to sell them on eBay
Does it fit a soda can
Pays to preheat your scrap before adding to molten metal, retained moisture can cause a reaction.
True I need to start doing that, thanks for reminding me.
Like the new electric furnace, dose it run on 120 volts
yes it does, so I can melt a little as I break down scrap
@@Okiescrapper you get it off amazon?
Great video again. How hot is the round, black lid while it is heating? Can you preheat the molds on top of the round, black lid? I want to know what the surface temp on that lid is while heating. Thank you.
I am not sure but I can open the lid and place the mold over the crucible
How long did it take in total to melt
about an hour or so, it takes a long time to heat up,
How much electric does it use?? Seems like electric may be expensive.
electric is fairly cheap in Oklahoma the unit is 1400 watt, about the same as a small microwave
I see a lot of room for improvement but you did a whole lot better than I would have. Thanks Okie and say hello to peanut butter for me.
ok will do, I was thinking more heat, watched myfordboy and he took his furnace up to 1070 C much hotter then what I was at
@@Okiescrapper well you just practice making ones that ant that hot brother im sure you know better than me ... baby steps. Slow and steady does what?
Cool! Looks fun!
it is fun, but you have to watch the crucible around the top if melting copper or brass, the graphite will get thin after a few melts and could break. better to melt metal with lower melting points
Did you have to glaze your accusable before using it
no, just heat it up to about 300 degrees F for a few minutes, It is in the directions if I remember right
@@Okiescrapper okay, thanks. I wanted to know before ordering mine. Been about six months thinking about it.
Pretty neat stuff buddy
Thank You
Why do you have to add borax?
it helps to bring the impurities to the top
@@Okiescrapper Thanks! Good to know
Do you get a better price when you melt it down
no most yards won't take ingots but you can sell the ingots on eBay for more
Will aluminum cans fit in the crucible?
no they are a little to big, toauto sells this one and a few propane furnaces, the propane ones cost less this one
Good video. Keep them coming. Needs more heat. About 1680 ° F should give a better pour.
Yes I agree brass melts at 1700 and I had it at about 1800 so thought about going to 1010 C which would be about 1850 F then I watched myfordboy melt some bras for a sand cast and he took it to 1070 C which is about 1950 F
Take care with borax. I spilled a tiny amount in my furnace and it destroyed the ceramic lining!
thanks for the tip
Add your borax with your material before you put it in the furnace so not to spill into your furnace and to melt your material faster
Very interesting I hope you are wearing a resperattor and face shield also maybe welding sleeves in case of accident or something causes that molten metal to pop, I had hot lead pop while pouring sinkers once it was no fun, I think I had it too hot on the Coleman stove or maybe the molds weren't clean enough. Good luck. Stay safe Cheers from Jacksonville Florida 🌞
I need to get the sleeves, and I would like to get the shoe covers
Could be you needed to heat your mold.
Is some weight lost through evaporation? Awesome video
a little may stay in the crucible and some in the dross. some may be lost by evaporation not sure
I run mine at 975C to melt aluminium cans into ingots
I think I like the one you built better the electric was prob a little safer in the shop
my thinking on it was I can melt a few lbs. while I scrap out items in the shop, I did some repair on the blue furnace and plan to do a few mods on the melting pot
@@Okiescrapper the electric is much safer for in the shop
You need a crucible big enough to ladle off slag. That one is rather slim.
yeah that the one thing that I don't like about this furnace, I need a teaspoon to skim it off and the crucible will have to be close to full, I think I will try about 2 to 3 lbs. and see if that works better
Very interesting .How long did it take to melt?
it took a while, but I did melt a lot. it will take about 30 minutes if you only fill it halfway. I kept adding to mine,
Stamp that ingot #1 and save it!
good idea
Can you use the same crucible for different metals please
only if you get all the other metal out before you melt the new metal, best to have a crucible for each metal you melt
? Just because I don't know, why do you have to heat the molds?
The main reason to heat up your molds is to remove any moisture in them. When you pour your molten metal into them, any moisture in the mold will cause a steam explosion and will shoot molten metal up in your face
The main reason to heat up your molds is to remove any moisture in them. When you pour your molten metal into them, any moisture in the mold will cause a steam explosion and will shoot molten metal up in your face. If you're pouring multiple ingots, Just leave your first ingot in the mold until you're next pour, The previous bar will keep your mold warm until the next pour. There's really no other reason to heat up a Graphite mold.
another great tip thanks a lot, most guys that do melting don't talk so it's a little hard to learn from them,
Basic Brass is 33% Zinc and 67% copper. So yes there is copper in there.
nice to know, I knew there was copper in brass, just didn't know what else was in the mix
where can you buy the Ingot bar molds ?
amazon or ebay and this guy has tons of coin molds artbyadrock.com/
@@Okiescrapper can you buy these furnaces in person if so were can you buy them ?
@@exploringwithdonald8444 I got mine from amazon, you can do a google search and see if any stores near you carry them.
@@Okiescrapper Alright I will thanks for the reply
Seems like a very small crucible for you to be using.
I’d be more interested in the larger size for these instead. Or just build an oil burner like you use more often
that's the biggest one they make for this thing. think this would work better for silver.
I’m interested in scrapping on a small scale,but was wondering if you have any Chevy small blocks for sale or if you come across any let me know
I don't have any at this time that I know of. yeah good to start small it's not for everyone
That's not fair.....Not fair at all. Why do you get all the cool toys? (...Hot toys...)
something to play with while I scrap and clean items
@@Okiescrapper One of the scouts was melting aluminum over a camp fire a few Memorial Day weekends ago. It was fascinating....opened up a whole new activity we could do with the scouts....until everything closed up.....Now we wait.
i need to buy one of them furnace looks like a good one
this is the one that I got www.ebay.com/itm/392898177447?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
The borax when did you add that in? And how much?
about a teaspoon near the end of the video, I used the long knife
red brass is copper alloy. yellow brass is copper alloy. Im told to be a copper alloy it must be above 86% copper.. melt all together will still be an alloy of copper. the other alloys include tin. more copper, harder brass less tin. and heating molds keeps moisture away, as it's an bad idea to trap moisture while pouring.
my scrap yard doesnt care if its yella or red they buy brass for the same price
The UNS terminology for Brass is a Copper Alloy where Copper is the base element but less than 96% and Zinc is the major alloying element.
Brass is copper and zinc, plus trace. Add a little aluminum (1 or 2%) and you have ASM Copper Alloy 687 or Aluminum Brass.
Bronze is copper and tin, plus trace. However, UNS describes bronze as a Copper Alloy where Copper is the base element but the major alloying element is NOT Nickel or Zinc.
Gunmetal, Admiralty Brass, and Naval Brass include copper zinc and tin in the respective alloy. "Manganese Bronze" is categorized as a Brass by UNS since the major alloying element is Zinc.
What is the borax for
the borax is a flux and helps to get the impurities out
You use borax flux to lower the melting point of your material, oxidize the impurities from the material and keeps your molten metal from sticking to the crucible for a complete pour
Lost wax sculptures next
yeah going to try a few coin molds and a few ingots, then try sand casting
@@Okiescrapper maybe Dentistry ?
Very interesting video keep them coming
Thanks, will do! going to try and see if my blue furnace will get hot enough to melt copper
Do you do any gold recovery from e-waste?
not at this time, I may research it after I retire
An 4 way valve i prosume....?
yeah could have been, now a chunk of brass
I think a face shield will help . Moisture is a big concern when pouring metal . Tito4re had some copper splash on him . I am no expert , I like your videos and want to keep watching them .
I do have a cheap face shield, leather apron, I need to preheat any metal that I add to the melt
Very interesting.
Glad you think so! I think I needed more heat, I watched a guy do a sand cast with brass and he heated the brass to 1070 C so I may try that
Using electrical furnace is harder than gas keep at it you will get better two thumbs
too early in the game to give up, I have heard the brass is hard to work with. so I may try one more time make it hotter. if that don't work then I will move on to copper,
@@Okiescrapper watching big stacked D his is moving and rolling thought you might want to see thank you
He can learn alot from Big D
brass is terrible to melt i dont bother anymore just scrap it copper cast iron and aluminum make great ingots and i do all them with just propane and a simwool lined homemade furnace i can reach temps of 2600 and the ingots come out beautiful
nice, I watched a guy melt brass and he took it up to 1070 C much hotter then I did, so I am thinking more heat and more metal in the crucible may help, I may try it one more time and if a failure then go to copper, the electric furnace will just barely melt copper, I am going to try to melt copper in my oil burner furnace
Yeh keep playing with it me thinking more heat for a good pour.
yeah more heat, I was at 9 hundred and something, I was thinking of going up to 1010 then I watched a video of myfordboy melting brass for a sand cast and he set his at 1070 so 1070 it is next time
Maybe put your molds in your little shop oven to preheat while doing the melt.
that would keep them at 400 F
If you have one of those small toaster ovens you could keep the molds in there. Not sure would it be worth it lol
I have one in the other room not sure if a hot mold will help I think it might. the main thing is to heat it up to remove moisture, I need to take the brass up to 1070 C, I watched a video of a guy do a sand cast with brass and that is the heat he used
@@Okiescrapper Ouch
I bet that makes your electric meter spin!!
not any more then the microwave
set the molds on top of the lid to preheat
that's what I was thinking, will give it a try next time and see how hot they get, will be easier then using a torch
Лайк
love iT
thank you, and thanks for stopping by
Where did you get the melter from?
www.ebay.com/itm/392898177447?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
What does OG&E charge you lately for that? This year (2023) is the highest electric bill I have ever seen! I decided against electric because the electric company is getting seriously over paid already. Enid.
I have not had a bill from og&e for over 20 years. I have OEC out here, the furnace is a 110 volt it may pull 1500 watts while heating up. about like an electric heater on high. or a little more then the coffee pot. the electric one's don't melt very much at a time, and it takes about an hour for it to get up to temp. the toauto propane furnace works great for aluminum and brass, It may work good for copper too, I just haven't tried it with copper yet. I use the devil forge for copper and it get's plenty hot for that
😁
Thanks for watching
time to tart burning the insulation off copper wire then throw the burnt copper wire into the crucible for huge profit