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Some info, hints, and tips I've learned by doing.

Special note: I type fast and furious, saddly my finders and brain are not always in synch so spelling suffers. Even worse this sites site builder software has NO SPELL CHECKER.... Hear that People PC...... so DONT laugh to hard at the spalling errowrs.

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Casting aluminum in your backyard, and making a metal lathe from scratch is a lot of FUN!!! Well at least to me it is. I'm a tinkerer and few things make me happier than building things.

However.....Most of this "hobby" is fairly safe, making patterns, copes & drags, filing, scraping, molding sand, and many other activities. But using a lathe can be very dangerous, people have been killed by both wood and metal lathes, even small ones. Just imagine getting a neck tie tangled up in a lathe. For that matter any power tool can be very dangerous. Most of the carpenters I've known are missing one, or more, or a part of, or tip, of fingers.

Casting can be just as dangerous. Molten aluminum is around 1400 degrees and is capable of vaporizing flesh on contact. Pouring a mould runs the risk of it exploding showering molten metal all over the place even on you.

The point is "Safety First". Wear appropriate clothing and protection. Work carefully and do careful work.

This site is about one of my hobbies and the risk is mine, if you choose to cast aluminum, then the risk is yours and yours alone. If you don't think and work safe, or for that matter get hurt in any way, It is your own fault. There is not such thing as an accident.

That is true. All accident are preventable, so next time you get in your car, turn off your damn cell phone, and avoid an accident. In the last year I've had to swerve or slam on the brakes a dozen times because some IDIOT was on the phone. I don't own one. The same is true of lathe and metal casting, if you don't pay attention to what you are doing..............."^%^ *&^% *&^*^&* **^^^%^%!!!!" ....Very bad things can happen in the blink of an eye......

Crucible making welding tips.

You can make your own crucible as I did using 1/8" walled steel pipe and 1/8" mild steel plate (flat). The diameter of pipe you use depends on the inside diameter of your foundry furnace. My furnace has an I.D. of 8" and 4" dia. pipe works very well, leaving plenty of room for charcoal around it. Actual pipe diameters are a lot like wood measures a 2" x 4" (2by4) really measures 1-1/2" by 3-1/2". So 4" pipe has and O.D. of 4-1/2" and an I.D. of 4-1/4"

When you make your crucible you cut the pipe to proper size, and cut a plate to fit the bottom. When you join the two by welding proper welding technique will impove the result and avoid crucible failure. The secret is to bevel the edges to be welded. Something like this "===\/===" being two pieces to be joined. The goal is to weld so as to fill the "V" formed by the two beveled edges. You can then overweld the previous weld for added strength, but if done properly no over weld is needed. The crucible can be test by filling with water, and re-welding any leaks.

Aluminum scrap.......

I've tried lots of things, and read a lot, visited most of the sites. For some reason lots of folks want to use soda pop cans... Why??? It takes a lot of them, makes a lot of dross and is inferior... So why?

Other than that there are several types of aluminum, but mainly you'll find "CAST" and "EXTRUDED" aluminum. Extruded aluminum is what you'll find in screen doors, window frames, lawn chair that sort of stuff, it works but is not the best stuff for casting. Cast aluminum if commonly found in engine and auto parts, as well as other things. I've found little boxes at the scrap metal yard that are cast, they look like they came from the cable or phone company. Cast scrap works the best. Think about it. The alloy was made for casting, it was cast once and can be cast again.

The local scrap metal yard treats aluminum scrap in different ways. Extruded aluminum is put in a shreading machine and turned into little bits and hauled of in dump like trucks, and is not worth much. Cast aluminum is divided into two catagories, Generic cast (stuff like valve covers, small engine cases, etc.), and cast engine Pistons. As far as I know all engine Pistons, both small, and auto, even desiel are cast aluminum. They seperate the genric cast and put into one bin (16'x8'x4') and the pistons into another bin. The piston aluminum is worth almost twice the generic cast.

I've tried both the generic cast and the Piston aluminum, I've had problems with the shrink cavities in the generic stuff but have never had a shrink cavity cast out of piston aluminum. So old pistons appear to be superior for casting, is very good stuff.....