Building A Gas Fired Crucible Furnace

Now that you have established your metalworking shop and progressed in the various skills of the crafts you may want to expand your metal casting operation. Build this gas fired crucible furnace so that you can turn out castings for your projects faster and easier. Designed especially for the home shop foundry. Very quiet in operation. Easy to light and simple to operate. The body and lid raise for safer crucible handling. Operates on natural or bottled gas. Costs only a fraction of the price of a commercially built unit and it will melt aluminum, brass and even gray iron. This unit will really upgrade your shop and you will enjoy the convenience of gas fired melting.

Detailed description on how to make clay crucibles for the home shop. Clay crucibles are used to melt and contain molten metal.

Charcoal Foundry, the first book in the "Metal Working Shop From Scrap Series", gives you plans for building a metal melting furnace and instructions on basic pattern making and molding. All the information needed to set up a foundry in your work shop can be found in this book. Simply stated, if you can build a sand castle or make a mud pie, you can make a sand mold to produce castings for your metal shop projects. The main ingredient in these projects is scrap aluminum and pot metal. The only tools you need to get started are ordinary home shop hand tools, many of which are probably already in your possession. Much of the remainder is found as salvage or cast-off and little expense need be involved. The charcoal foundry is simple to build and operate and the initial cost is so low that it can be in the reach of nearly anyone. And the fundamentals of pattern-making and molding are easily understood and mastered. Once you have built the charcoal foundry and the metal lathe in book 2, there is little beyond your reach by way of shop equipment. Build as large or small as you wish and you are your own parts supply company. If you already have some machine shop equipment, you will find that adding a foundry to your shop greatly expands your capacity. Being able to produce your own castings for accessories and equipment is a great advantage. Design your own, make a copy or follow a plan. It's easy when you're in control and can produce your own castings.