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I'm almost done building a medium size bottom pour smelting pot with volume capable of holding 80-pounds but with a more realistic 60-pound capacity at 75% full. This puppy is intended for making alloyed ingots and large fishing weights.
Now I'm looking at starting work on the burner. If you have built a custom one that is the pride and joy of your smelting endeavors, would you mind posting a picture? I'm trying to get ideas before I start cutting steel.
Could it be possible that nobody has built a high speed low drag burner station for their smelting needs?
Ok, let's try this instead: what features should I build into it? For the working bit I'm getting a 10 tip jet burner like this:
Attachment 247887
Which should output 80k+ BTUs on a 6 inch footprint that clears the bottom pour.
I'm doing a wide enough base for stability with adjustable legs so I can get it perfectly level.
Im making the height for the bottom shelf adjustable. This was one area I was hoping to see what others did. I'm also extending the bed to the front and back so when i run multiple molds I have a place to rest them.
I'll probably put a small shelf to the side to hold the miscellaneous tools I use wile smelting, rod, skimmer, etc. On the other side I may do a small bucket for the slag.
Is there anything else im missing?
I cut a hole in 7g treadplate and used angle iron underneath to support it. About 14" square. Using a 40lb pot I still see bending of that plate and supports. Make sure you have plenty of support.
Storage is a big factor in my life, as my older inner-city home has very little of it. Thus when I built a big melting pot the ability to pack it down into itself was a large consideration in the design. As part of this, the unit has a detachable burner that hangs off mounting points on the bottom of the pot.
Attachment 248197
The burner itself is a very simple design assembled from pipe fittings, and comes from Ron Reil, a blacksmith. He posts several designs of burners on his American Blacksmithing Association webpage. This is essentially the Reil burner modification of a propane forge burner, with the addition of a reducing elbow at the flame end. As a compact, low cost burner it is great, but it probably doesn't have the sheer power output of a commercial jet burner.
Attachment 248198
Attachment 248199
I have been using a homemade burner for all of my casting career. I just have not had time to go make pictures and post them. But I will try to get something posted up soon.
Attachment 248208 This what I came up with.:bigsmyl2:
I’ve been using an old fish fryer from the 1970’s forever it seems. Very sturdy even with 100#s on it, has a valve that can be turned down to what I call low simmer once the alloy is melted and you want to hold that temp below 700’, only recommendation i would add is a good wind screen to keep it lit and efficient. Also keep a good thermometer close by to monitor temps. No H20.
Cga, that looks...substantial. Well built. Even the cut on the propane tank pot looks really clean and even. Did you cut the top so it fits as a lid resting inside the flange?
+1 on provision for wind screens. Angle iron legs such as those in post #8 would be my preference and make sure they are braced and or tied together toward the bottom. Legs spreading or shifting sideways are what I would worry about. Mine is a $40 fish fryer from Walmart. The legs are heavy sheet metal formed like angle iron with some leg braces and it handles 100# plus loads of lead without issues.
Stable base for it to sit on is important. Solid table or floor as opposed to uneven gravel driveway or shifty table for example. 100# of lead shifts and it exerts a lot of force.
Attachment 250258Attachment 250258Attachment 250257Here is mine.