Johnson soldering furnace?

[Michael J. Spangler]

Has anybody use one of these for casting?

I have one that I just picked up from a buddy that borrowed it years ago. I’m thinking it might make a nice little casting rig

https://www.johnsongas.com/bench-soldering-furnaces/

[dondiego]

It appears that you will need a source for natural gas.

[Michael J. Spangler]

This one is set up for propane.

[mdi]

One model includes a melting pot, how big? From what I can see the item to be heated is inserted into the fire box, and the largest firebox opening is 4"x6". Just my thinkin' and I'd have to see a better pic or one in person to judge...

[Michael J. Spangler]

It comes with a 20# pot on top. That would be for the solder. The soldering irons poke through the opening on the front to heat up.

I’ll set her up tomorrow and mess with it if I have time. I’ll report back

[Michael J. Spangler]

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=johnson+ga...%3D7h3VBObIrzw

Found this on the YouTube. Basically the same model but mine has a spot on top for a pot.
I’ll have to see if can keep the flame down just right and preheat some molds on the front.

[Paf]

I use one in the school shop that I teach at. It has the capability to hold an iron pot on top in a opening. We used to cast fishing weights for surf fishing with the students years ago. It was a way to introduce them to basic foundry. Used up some old letter type that was left over from the print shop. Now days, that would be a no-no. Johnson still sells them in different sizes as well as rebuild kits. Although the last time I looked, they were expensive.

[Michael J. Spangler]

I use one in the school shop that I teach at. It has the capability to hold an iron pot on top in a opening. We use to cast fishing weights for surf fishing with the students years ago. It was a way to introduce them to basic foundry. Used up some old letter type that was left over from the print shop. Now days, that would be a no-no. Johnson still sells them in different sizes as well as rebuild kits. Although the last time I looked, they were expensive.

So it worked well then?

[Paf]

Yes, they work quite well. Melts lead with no problem. I think you will like it for your casting needs. Nice thing about this furnace is that you can set your molds on it to keep them warm to a good working temperature. I have one in my own collection that I intend to hook up in the future and use for general shop work/casting.

[Michael J. Spangler]

Nice thank you!

It probably would have taken less time for me to fire it up and try it out than I post here but I guess I had a lazy weekend and wanted to hear what the gurus had to say anyway.

[bangerjim]

For $1,000± it should get hot! It has a specific purpose of heating a pot of solder and the soldering irons used with the solder. How do you control the temp....which is very critical to our casting endeavors? A Lee 4-20 is around $60-70 and you can find them on sale.

And a $20 electric hotplate heats molds very well.

If that thing is free, I guess it would work, if you are ladle casting only.

They work great for heating your shop in the dead of winter, too!

Good luck.

[Michael J. Spangler]

Well she wouldn’t fire up. Looks like the regulator was junk.
Tossed a new one on and 2/3 of the burners seem fine. Last one needs a little adjusting.

She throws a nice flame.

The temp is adjusted by the little handles in the front. All manual of course. Well I guess you could put a controller on it but that hardly seems worth the money.

Yeah it was free. Not sure where I got it now it’s been so long but she runs fine and I can get any replacement parts I need. I like it.

[bangerjim]

Have fun!!!!!!! Resurrecting older stuff is fun. Hope it will do what you want. Electronic modulating control of fuel gas is tricky and can be VERY expensive. Just get a good Pb thermometer, monitor it closely, and fiddle with those handles, remembering where you get your desired temp profile.

[Michael J. Spangler]

Have fun!!!!!!! Resurrecting older stuff is fun. Hope it will do what you want. Electronic modulating control of fuel gas is tricky and can be VERY expensive. Just get a good Pb thermometer, monitor it closely, and fiddle with those handles, remembering where you get your desired temp profile.

You’re not kidding. My buddy had a temp controlled forge. He had quite the set up but that thing flicking on and off was a little disturbing compared an electric kiln for sure

[bedbugbilly]

When I was in high school, I bought a used one - it was set up for Propane. Worked just fine.