Metal Melt

I have been obsessing about metal casting for quite a while now. The effort to date has been mostly academic, books and blogs. Most recently I have been researching iron casting.

I think the time has come to melt some metal. For the first try, I am going to go with a low cost, low effort foundry. A coffee can foundry.

I already happen to have a pair metal coffee cans in the garage. A trip to Wal-Mart will provide me with some charcoal, a stainless steel crucible (aka 'camping' coffee cup), and a stainless steel utensil for removing the dross.

I just happen to have some extruded aluminium to melt. A bucket of sand will be used for forming the first ingot. Nothing fancy.

The only issue not yet resolved is the air source. And tongs. Currently I am considering either using an air compressor or a shop vac as the air source.

Any effort toward the goal will be considered a success. Stay tuned.