kaowool and furance cement

Home enthusiasts discuss their Foundry & Casting work.

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tony
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2003 7:13 pm
Location: mass.

kaowool and furance cement

Post by tony »

will this work. instead of making refactory for the inside of freon bottle why not use kaowool and fuirance cement
MikeC
Posts: 1613
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2003 11:05 pm
Location: Birmingham, AL

Re: kaowool and furance cement

Post by MikeC »

I doubt this would hold up. A home-grown furnace can get REALLY hot. I used my furnace as an incinerator to burn up some termite ridden pallets and boards the previous owner left in my barn. I have the old 20 gal garbage can furnace, with a blower. It consumed three large pallets, a 4 ft 2x4 and some other stuff in about 1hr. The nails were a solid mass in the bottom of the furnace and pieces of the top chipped off and formed a glassy slag. I feel sure that koawool would also form a glassy slag... that's really all it is.
18x72 L&S, Fosdick 3ft radial, Van Norman 2G bridgemill, Van Norman #12, K. O. Lee T&C grinder, Steptoe-Western 12X universal HS shaper, 16spd benchtop DP, Grob band filer, South Bend 10L
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Harold_V
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Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2002 11:02 pm
Location: Onalaska, WA USA

Re: kaowool and furance cement

Post by Harold_V »

That's a rather impressive report. I can't help but think that a part of the "success" in melting the nails was the burning of the carbon in the wood, however. Temperatures the likes of which you achieved in a crucible furnace, gas, propane or oil fired, are difficult to achieve otherwise. Burning carbon (coke) is the source of heat in a cupola, so the idea makes sense.

Did you have to rebuild the furnace, or was the damage minimal?

Harold
Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.
MikeC
Posts: 1613
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2003 11:05 pm
Location: Birmingham, AL

Re: kaowool and furance cement

Post by MikeC »

I think it was basically making its own charcoal by burning the wood so fast that it formed a carbon shell on the outside and cooked the inner part sans oxygen. This was also 98% hardwood, so it got seriousy hot in there. The (near) 2"x3" oak runners were completely consumed within five to ten minutes.

The lid is shot, but it was on the way out. It's not really the heat that did it, it was me pushing the boards down through the hole that caused the damage. I built this furnace about ten years ago, so I guess I can justify rebuilding the lid now;-) I have fireclay and sand on hand, so I can fix it really quick.

This is a crucible furnace, BTW, and burns charcoal with little tiny furnace blower (4" dia) for forced induction. I have a 6" dia x 14" tall steel pipe crucible for now, but I wil eventually get a carbide one. This furnace will melt a full crucible in about 25 mins and costs about $3.00 a run (half a 20lbs bag of charcoal).

I have two little 120lb grease drums in the truck right now, so I will soon start the crucible. I also had a guy drop into the museum last week who works at a VERY big foundry supply house and is willing to help out.
18x72 L&S, Fosdick 3ft radial, Van Norman 2G bridgemill, Van Norman #12, K. O. Lee T&C grinder, Steptoe-Western 12X universal HS shaper, 16spd benchtop DP, Grob band filer, South Bend 10L
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