How do they do it? I was always interested in how they recycle it and get the round stock and blocks like they do?

-garrett

Melt the scrap down into ingots, and form the same way they form virgin aluminium.

how do you melt it down? What do I have to buy? then how do I form it?

http://www.host33.com/casting/

how do you melt it down? What do I have to buy? then how do I form it?
You need to shop for some books by Dave Gingery (gengery??) How to books on; home made furnaces for melting scrap aluminum, green sand casting, building metal lathes and milling machines from that scrap.

You need to shop for some books by Dave Gingery (gengery??) How to books on; home made furnaces for melting scrap aluminum, green sand casting, building metal lathes and milling machines from that scrap.


is there any companies that makes these furnaces and not home made?

There very well may be, however, it's so easy to get started. example: I welded tohether a cube (just the edges) from angle iron and fitted the floor and walls with fire brick. (available at a masonry supply) and then a matching sized picture frame for a lid also fitting the brick in that. I cut a vent hole in the top and one side with a hole saw.
Then used propane weed burner to supply heat. A cast iron "lead pot" made a cruciable.
NOW! Go buy the books to get a good grounding in safety proceedures and an understanding of the dangers involved. Molten aluminum os HOT! AND must be handled with caution, to say nothing of the fumes created!! Good luck, have fun....BUT.....BE CAREFULL!

There very well may be, however, it's so easy to get started. example: I welded tohether a cube (just the edges) from angle iron and fitted the floor and walls with fire brick. (available at a masonry supply) and then a matching sized picture frame for a lid also fitting the brick in that. I cut a vent hole in the top and one side with a hole saw.
Then used propane weed burner to supply heat. A cast iron "lead pot" made a cruciable.
NOW! Go buy the books to get a good grounding in safety proceedures and an understanding of the dangers involved. Molten aluminum os HOT! AND must be handled with caution, to say nothing of the fumes created!! Good luck, have fun....BUT.....BE CAREFULL!


thanks but I rather just buy an oven

The quality of the aluminum when remelted and recast may be a surprise for you, and maybe not a pleasant surprise. Without controlled atmosphere, and so forth, extra alloys are often added to sand castings which help the flux and flow of the metal.

The nice stuff we typically use for cnc machining is electrodeposited, I believe, but I could be mistaken. This is why power stations are built for aluminum smelters.

The quality of the aluminum when remelted and recast may be a surprise for you, and maybe not a pleasant surprise. Without controlled atmosphere, and so forth, extra alloys are often added to sand castings which help the flux and flow of the metal.

The nice stuff we typically use for cnc machining is electrodeposited, I believe, but I could be mistaken. This is why power stations are built for aluminum smelters.


I kinda get what your sayiing. So I would need a controlled atmosphere to melt it down without getting the extra alloys?

Also I heard about smelting from alcoa. What exactly is it?

-garrett

I kinda get what your sayiing. So I would need a controlled atmosphere to melt it down without getting the extra alloys?
-garrett

No. You can recycle old castings. Don't user other aluminum. Don't let melted aluminum come in contact with iron! (So a steel melting pot is no good). To get good fluidity and avoid porosity use degassing briquets. Not Tetrachlorethane, the ones used now are much less harmful.

Don't let aluminum "stew" in the furnace. Melt, degas, skim and pour as soon as you get up to casting temperature.

Old automobile heads and pistons are fine. Try not to mix them, the outcome is unknown if you mix different aluminums.

In my furnace there are two holes the same size, about 3" diameter, one at the bottom on one side for the burner and the other in the top a a chiminey. By controling the thru flow you can make sure that all the oxygen is burned by the torch. Very little oxidation of your metal. I use parts from old lawn mower engines and the like so the alloy is tough!

There will be some inclusions and bubbles, but if you have ever worked in industry, especially with cast iron castings, you know that this isn't unusual. As a "home brew" casting the quality of appearance won't be "factory" but then neither is the price.

I have built working metal lathes (9x24), milling machines and surface grinders. All looked at least as good as some of the home brew machines shown on this site.

Check out some of the books on this web page, especially the one on the charcoal foundery. http://www.lindsaybks.com/dgjp/

The gasses produced are deadly so make sure you are outside with good ventilation, Stay up wind as much as you can and remember ................molten metal is HOT!!!

No. You can recycle old castings. Don't user other aluminum. Don't let melted aluminum come in contact with iron! (So a steel melting pot is no good). To get good fluidity and avoid porosity use degassing briquets. Not Tetrachlorethane, the ones used now are much less harmful.

Don't let aluminum "stew" in the furnace. Melt, degas, skim and pour as soon as you get up to casting temperature.

Old automobile heads and pistons are fine. Try not to mix them, the outcome is unknown if you mix different aluminums.


I get you about not mixing the aluminum with other metals. I only machine aluminum t6 6061. What material can I mix it in?

Also do you know where I can just buy one? Where does the business that are already doing this for a living getting their machines from? I am just curious

I personally like remelting can aluminum, lawn chair aluminum, extrusions but I mix a little copper in the melt.

I've been told that cast aluminum is better and I have done much of that too, but really I've never seen a difference.

With that said I also haven't tried machining any of my castings ether other than sanding and polishing.

I belive I found a machine online. It is probably to big for me but see how much it costs. I hope they can give me some assistanance on how to use it. here is a picture of it.

Well last time I checked commercial smelters / refinerys used electric arc furnaces for Aluminum....hobbyist use propane, natural gas, or charcoal fired units.

Well last time I checked commercial smelters / refinerys used electric arc furnaces for Aluminum....hobbyist use propane, natural gas, or charcoal fired units.

How would that make a difference?

What does everybody think of the machine I posted? I want to go to a place that actually melts metal and see what they do

Commercial furnaces can control their atmosphere since it is not part of the combustion process. Furnaces that use anything that burns have a harder time in controlling their atmosphere which leads to contaminants entering the melt chamber.

Think of a commercial furnace as one large welder with an atmosphere like a TIG welder....you don't see too many people welding aluminum with acetylene....

There is a big diffrence between smelting aluminum and fournace casting aluminum. The big smelting companies use induction fournaces to meld the raw ore and then add diffrent metals to get the apropriate alloys. I've been melting aluminum in my backyard for years and have built myself Dave Gingerie's lathe mostly complete, motorcycle and car parts, as well as a slew of other parts. A gas operated fournace is fine for anything most common people will make. The foundery near were i live uses natural gas fournaces. No controlled environment and no induction. From talking to these guys there is no need as long as you don't use a metal crucible and degass the melt before you pour. I have used a metal crusible and have not had any problems. Look at the many sites on the internet if you don't believe me. But don't think its complicated or a mess, i find casting to be one of the best hobbies i've had, deffinitly one of the most productive and satisifying. You can buy fournaces for home size use but they are very expensive and the electric ones are pricey to operate. I built mine for less then $100 dollars and $20 worth of propane lasts me a few melts. If you wanna see the process, wip open the phone book and go for a drive, the foundry out here was more then happy to show me what they do on a daily basis. Also if your thinking of getting into casting look into using lost foam casting. Check out Franks site. He has a good site of what to do and not to do when casting.
www.theworkshop.ca

I contacted furnace engineering and they seemed like that would be the company to go to but they said they don't do business in the USA. Does anybody know of a company like thiat here in the states?

For those who have done it, how does the quality of cast al. alloys rate? Such as final strength compared to original, machinability and general porosity? Can you forge (compact I guess) cast al., maybe in a hydraulic press?

If you don't intend to machine the part or it is a stuctural component, getting it in contact with steel is no big deal. But if machining it, it will kill your tools. And if not degassing, it may look fine on the surface, but it will not after machining. And it will not be strong, so not good for structural parts.

But if making plaques and other purely decorative items, don't bother. If it looks good, it is good. If you get blow holes or visible pososity, degas. If you don't get a smooth surface, try oil sand, at least close to the part.

For starters I suggest casting Pewter parts. It involves fairly low temperatures, can be cast in steel crucibles and will allow you to learn some basics. Use oil sand to make it easier to progress to Mazak and aluminum and even cast iron if your furnace can stand the temperature.

pyroracing85 .... ummm.. that looks like a $million machine .. that you would need a warehouse/factory for .. ... i think it's beyond your needs ---
perhaps if 50% of the members pooled together here, we could have a community melter .. but this picture is a joke of sorts .. this is the kind of
melter you see when you go on a tour in a large factory ...

A few points I would like to make on this subject.You don't need a controlled atmoshere furnace.If you burn gas,set the blower to give you an oxidizing atmosphere.Aluminum oxided will form on top of the melt,protecting the metal below from further oxidation.The size of the furnace should match the size of the castings you wish to make.There are several manufacturers of crucible furnaces in the U.S. if you do not wish to roll your own.Try johnsongas.com or mifco.com.Another source is E-Bay.I bought a Johnson Model 900 crucible furnace that retails for $3100 plus shipping and paid $250 for it.Can't buy the parts and refractory for that.Uses a #16 crucible for 16 pounds of molten aluminum per melt.Anyway....take your time....do the research.....be carefull....and above all......have fun.

I found a great place to buy a "start-up kit" including the furnace at Foundry101.com. My total cost delivered was $500. I will be receiving it on friday