Aluminum is a versatile metal, many interesting things can be made from it, including parts for homemade. In addition, it has a relatively low melting point, which allows casting to home conditions.
Of course, for melting aluminum, you will need to make a small furnace, it can even be made from coffee cans, as the author demonstrated. It took him only $ 23 to create a homemade product, not counting the cost of the necessary tools. You can see how this oven is made and make yourself similar by example.
Materials and tools for homemade:
- two tin cans, one more, the other less (it is highly recommended not to use cans with zinc coating);
- household hair dryer (will blow air);
- a piece of metal pipe (adapter to a hairdryer to supply air to the furnace);
- adhesive tape;
- scissors for metal (ordinary ones are also suitable, if not sorry);
- pliers with long handles (for gripping the crucible);
- gloves;
- coal as a fuel, ignition fluid, and more.
The process of making a mini-stove:
Step one. Making the stove body
The body of the stove is actually taken ready, as it is a large can of soup, canned goods, etc. You need to choose such banks in which the metal is thicker. In the lower part, the author made a hole, to which then a hairdryer is connected using a pipe. The hole must be made along the diameter of the pipe. It is easiest to make it square, but it is best to tinker a bit and make a round hole along the diameter of the pipe.
Step Two Installation of boost
An ordinary household hair dryer is used as an air blower. It must be equipped with an air supply system and have at least two operating speeds. A piece of metal pipe is wound onto a hair dryer using tape, and its other end is inserted into the hole previously cut in the bottom of the can. The author fixes the cold air supply button with tape, it must be on all the time.Before starting the stove, you must turn on the hair dryer and make sure that there is no air leak at the place where the pipe joins the hair dryer. If there is, you still need to rewind the tape.
As a pipe, you can find a piece of a water pipe, a pipe from a vacuum cleaner is also suitable, and so on. If the furnace is large, the pipe must be taken more authentically, since it can become very hot and heat will reach a hairdryer. However, the cold air from the hair dryer should cool it well.
Step Three Crucible furnace
The author’s crucible for the oven is also ready, it’s a small can of coffee or the same canned food. It is important to remember that such a crucible can be used only once, according to the author, with repeated use it will inevitably burn out. And this will entail the fact that liquid aluminum will flow into the furnace, which is not very pleasant.
Step Four Furnace Testing and Conclusions
That's all, now the stove is ready to start. It is necessary to install a crucible in the center, and lay coal in a circle. Then, pouring liquid on the coal for ignition, you need to wait until it is completely burned. After this, turn on the hair dryer at low speeds. It is necessary to carry out tests in the open air, otherwise a spark may fly out of the furnace and a fire will occur. Besides, at the first start there will be a lot of smoke from a can.
As a source of aluminum, aluminum cans from drinks are suitable. But, according to the author, due to the fact that the metal in them is very thin, they do not melt, but burn, as a result, there is too little aluminum to pour, in general, such a starting material is not very suitable.
If nevertheless it is decided to melt the cans, then they must first be crushed.
With 12 cans, you can get about 150 g of aluminum.
2 cans will produce about 300 g, and from 36 cans 450 g of aluminum can be mined.
After starting the furnace, the crucible should turn red, this indicates that the furnace is ready and aluminum can be placed in the crucible. When aluminum is completely melted, it can be poured into molds to form ingots, which is very convenient for further work with metal.
The author recommends warming up the furnace before putting aluminum there, because an oxide film forms on the tin can, which protects the metal from overheating. If aluminum is placed before heating the furnace, it can burn metal and spill out. You always need to work in thick gloves that do not burn or melt, as the oven heats up to very high temperatures.
The casting molds must in no case be wet; otherwise, when casting, liquid hot metal can explode and fly in different directions.
The author does not fully insert the hair dryer pipe into the oven, since even at low speeds there is too much air supply. By adjusting the distance between the pipe and the furnace window, it is possible to achieve the desired air supply, and as a result, the temperature.
Important!
During the construction of such furnaces, zinc-coated cans cannot be used. The fact is that zinc, when heated, emits toxic fumes that will be harmful to health. If cans with a different coating are not found, then you need to work in respiratory protection and do not heat the oven to high temperatures.
In addition, this oven can be used as a small forge. When steel is heated, a crucible is not installed in it. As a result, it is quite possible to heat the file and then make a small knife or other product from it. For example, you can make small souvenir swords from nails.