Member postings for Derek cottiss

Sorry to say, but most modern-day cartridge cases will be magnetic, so probably hard luck on that one. Caps may be brass, at least on the outside. Many bullet cases will be brass, but not checked any recently.

Let's get the terminology right, it's a furnace that melts metal, a blacksmith would use a forge.

This waste oil burner uses a low cost nozzle..

Edited By Engine Builder on 01/01/2021 12:54:27

Oil is the best fuel available and engine oil is no exception. Plenty of heat in it but it's not easy to burn efficiently. To maximise heat and minimise nasty side effects it's necessary to use a burner as described by Les. The burner controls the mix of fuel and air for optimum results. Otherwise, engine oil is difficult to ignite and liable to incomplete combustion producing clouds of thick smoke, likely toxic, and not much heat.

Lead is easily melted (368°C), but Copper, Aluminium and Brass need about three times the temperature. Copper 1084°C, Aluminium 450 to 700°C depending on the Alloy, and Brass 900°C to 1100°C again depending on the alloy. All within reach. Cast-iron and steel require even more heat, and an improved design.

Outdoor job, well ventilated, not for pregnant ladies. Get lead much too hot and off come poisonous fumes. Molten brass loses Zinc, altering the properties of the metal and a serious health hazard if done on a large scale or in a confined space. Brass founders usually add Zinc back to replace that lost during the melt, but for amateur purposes the exact composition may not matter. Aluminium is safe enough, but if melting scrap don't mistake Magnesium for Aluminium. Magnesium is much more likely to catch fire than most metals and it explodes if water is used to put it out!

A potential problem with home melted scrap is the unpredictable output. Alloys vary considerably depending on exactly what's in them. Cartridge Brass is different from Plumbing Brass which is different from Hard Brass. For making rough castings and ornaments it probably won't matter, but expect trouble if anything high-tech is attempted, like machining.

Can you report back when you get it working? It's an interesting subject.

Dave

Do you want a forge, or a furnace? A forge sounds very inefficient for melting metal. Also burning waste engine oil is likely to be very polluting with the various additives from petrol and their degradation products let alone the CO2.

The excellent Mike Cox describes a furnace for melting metals here that uses propane - much more environmentally friendly (and neighbour friendly too I suspect).

I have made a waste oil burner for my furnace using a Hago Delavan syphon nozzle.
This is a link to the design of my burner but you will find some other designs on the web.
This is a link to the blower system I used.

Les.

Go to your friendly local electrical wholesaler and buy a 240/110 control transformer rated at 200VA.....

if you can wire a 13A plug, you can wire up the transformer easy enough....

I paid around £30 for mine then another £20 for a suitable enclosure....still cheaper than buying from 'tool merchants'

what did you use as the motor ?

No doubt other members will share their pearls of wisdom...

Hi Derek, you can get a power feed at power feed Warco. Just scroll through the accessories

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 28/09/2020 18:05:31

Having decided upon a machine (If possible, a little larger than you first anticipate ) The budget needs to cover some extra items.

You will need some tooling with the machine, whatever you buy.

You will need a vice (Buy a good one. A flimsy vice will spoil accuracy, at least.) It needs to be an appropriate size for the machine. Tilting Vices can be useful, but are less rigid, and can be bought as and when the need arises.

A Clamping kit may eventually prove useful, depending on what you do.

You will need a proper chuck to hold cutters, NOT a drill chuck. My choice would be the ER system.

Depending on what you want to do, you might need more than one size. ER25 will cover upto 16 mm, so may be a good starting point.

You will need End Mills, probably Slot Drills of various sizes, possibly one or more Face Mills..

You will certainly need twist Drills and either Spotting or Centre drills.

You are likely, eventually to want to cut threads, so you will need Taps and Dies. Again, you may well end up with several sets covering different thread types (Metric, posibly BSW, BSF, or even BA )

If, in the future, you want to produce regularly spaced holes, curved surfaces, or cut gears, you will need a Dividing Head or Rotary Table, preferably with a Tailstock.

You will need measuring equipment.

A digital Calliper would be a starting point, plus, possibly a Plunger Clock, and Finger Clock, maybe with a Magnetic Base. Later, you may decide to buy individual Micrometers, maybe even a Bore Set.

A six inch steel rule will be useful, if only for rough setting up.

Things like a n Edge Finder, or a Wiggler, and a Centre finder, are low cost accessories which make life easier.

You don't need to buy everything at once.

Buy the basics first of all, and add extras, as you see the need arising.

HTH

Howard

Look at top right of this page. arc eurotrade

Steve.

Hello Derek, I'm assuming that a vertical mill would be more use to you.

The Tom Seniors are nice machines but the 'S' type vertical heads command a premium price and of course, being second hand, the quality is not certain.

I have no personal experience but the Sieg range of machines from ARC always seem to get a good write up and their latest machine falls within you budget.

If you find a machine and want to know the history and technical details without bias then go to;

**LINK**

There are often machines for sale on there.

Brian