Tools/castingcrucible

CM450PB Safety Tilt Crucible Furnace

This tool requires induction

Owing to it's dangerous nature, delicate nature, or expense, this tool requires that you be inducted on it's proper handling before use.

Introduction

The casting crucible in use with aluminium. The molten metal is being poured into a lost-PLA sand mold

Our casting crucible can melt up to a maximum 2 litres of brass, bronze or aluminium which equates to about 10Kg of copper alloys or 2.9Kg of aluminium and pour it into a variety of molds to form cast metal objects. It's rated for a maximum temperature of 1100C which is sufficient for aluminium, brass, bronze, lead, zinc and tin, but is not suitable for any type of steel, The high-temperature thermocouple from the Forge can be used to check what temperature it's operating at and make sure that it is not over-heated. Owing to the obvious safety needs when working with large ammounts of hot metal, this tool requires induction. The crucible is normally kept in the main workshop, under the workbench on the west side of the the hackspace, and some of the sand and accessories are kept underneath the storage shelves in the lobby area. The casting tray is kept outside behind the rear fire escape door. The manufacturer's instruction manual for the casting crucible can be found here

Current Status

Date	Status	Comment
10th September 2018	Fully Functional	No reported issues.

Costs

There's no official charge for using the casting crucible, but it does have some costs when it's in use. It consumes gas at the rate of approximately 1Kg/hr, which at 2018 prices is about £2/hr. The crucibles cost approximately £100 and last for a few dozen casts. If you're using scrap metals from around rLab for casting then scrap Aluminium is 75p/Kg (July 2018) so a full crucible would be about £2.25, scrap brass is around £2.80/Kg (July 2018) making a fully charged crucible worth £28. We ask that you consider these costs and think about an appropriate donation in the downstairs honesty pot.

Casting Caretakers

Inductions

Ian-P provides inductions on the casting equipment

Workshops

None yet, want to start one?

Maintainers

Ian-P and Steve-R maintain the casting equipment and should be contacted to report any issues.

Recent Changes

None found - Casting equipment fully functional and no immediate changes planned or expected

Image Gallery

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  Forming a conventional impression sand-mold using a 3D printed former

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  Ian(left),Rupert(centre) and Steve(right) positioning the mold and preparing the pour

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  Ian's completed casting of a candlestick, ready to remove sprus and risers

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  Steve packing down sand around a PLA mold of a burr for lost-PLA casting

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  Burning out the PLA in a lost-PLA casting of a burr

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  The finished burr cast in aluminium, the dull grey surface is a result of contact with burning PLA during the casting

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  Aluminium beginning to melt as the crucible heats up