Random photos

 

Vinegar and Lye for testing magnesium zinc and aluminum

 ChirpyToday at 2:21 PM

the lye is used to test if it's zinc alloy or aluminum

[2:21 PM]

lye doesnt do much to zinc, but it reacts pretty agressively towards aluminum

Dusty Dan HToday at 2:21 PM

Oh I was thinking it bubbled on magnesium

ChirpyToday at 2:21 PM

vinegar bubbles on magnesium, lol

A Small Blower

 

This blower setup is a blow dryer powered by an refurbished slot car power pack from the mid 60s.   With the blower running the pack is delivering 13V.   On the bench supply the blower used 1A at 12V and 1.3A at 14V.

The original selenium rectifier	Replaced with 2 1N4007 diodes

The power pack was equipped with a selenium rectifier that was past it best used by date.  It was replaced with two 1N4007 diodes 1A diodes.  

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Given how simple this is I expect it will work well with the Dremel speed control which is a phase angle control.  Need to find or build a storage box. 

Larger Furnace Build

The build has been progressing and I have not been updating the blog.  My bad.   The plastic wheels were switched out in favor of these wire wheels.  

Welded tank to frame and made the fender	Moved burner up.   Patched over plumbing holes.

I originally installed the burner in the hole which originally held the natural gas control unit.  To get it above the drain I moved it up 2 inches and patched over that hole and the one which held the water tap.  Luckily I had welded the tyure to a bit of the left over tank so I could easily move it.  It will get 4 screws.

This takes me up to today.  Installing the ceramic wool.   The hope is to have enough left over for a new version of the test furnace, or maybe an electric burnout oven.  So I will try to conserve it where possible.

Cutting the ceramic wool.  Itchy crap!	First layer.

Second Layer	Perlite to level the bottom

I was thinking the perlite shift might be a problem but I don't see that happening especially after the satanite is applied to the bottom.  The perlite ranges from near zero at the plint to maybe 1 1/2 inches at the furnace wall.

Perlite in place	Jig to cut pattern for bottom insulation

I get a surprising amount of use out of this simple jig.  It was just something I cobbled together a while back but have not seen any need to improve on it.  The micro adjustable table saw fence it clamps to makes it very precise.

First the outside circle is cut	Then the inside

I made the pattern from a scrap of old wall paneling.   It was not quite 14 inches wide but rotating the pattern once while cutting creates the missing edges.

Top layer is cut as on piece	Bottom layer is pieced together

Top layer is cut as on piece	Bottom layer is pieced together

This completes the wool installation on everything but the lid.  Next I plan cut in the burner tube and coat the tank with satanite. When the satanite is heated it will also burn any coating off the tank lid.   If I don't do that I doubt I can get the sodium silicate to stick to it.

I could have made the inside layer a little bit longer but I think it will be OK.

Then I will need to clean up the lid and grind in a bit of tooth for the SS to bind to.  After that I will be applying the wool to the lid.  Most apt to be Chripy style.

I have a fair bit of wool left.   With luck I can use a lot of scrap on the cover but scraps will not cover it all.

The furnace ID is 14".

Should mention.  The flue stub will be supporting a capped pipe covered with wool and satanite.   Kind of like an upside down pipe crucible.   Different length pipes will result in different vertical crucible positions.  Yeah it's kind of experimental LOL 

Next came two coats of satanite after trimming a bit of the top edge with a serrated bread knife where on layer was a bit proud.

Mixing Satanite	Still Wet