When aluminum alloy is heated it looses its strength, this is called 'Hot Short'. I heat in a 55 gallon drum section (about 1/3) buried in the ground with a piece of tail pipe entering near the bottom so I can blow air under the fire. I heat with scrap wood from my trees (as I prune I save the larger limbs and such for the fire, and also sometimes use charcoal if I can find it cheap enough!) I also use a large propane burner (1 1/2") and direct the flame onto the car wheel and as it gets soft grab with tongs and break off a piece.
The aluminum will get about like a soft cookie as it gets to hot short so easily crumbled into smaller pieces. Any that actually melts falls into the bottom of the drum and I collect it when the fire cools, or you could pout a cast irom pot or skillet under to catch drips, etc. I usually have my furnace running and as I collect pieces small enough to fit my crucible I then pour into moulds or make ingots. Works like a charm and the alloy is really nice to work with!
Cheers Wonk
--- In gingery_machines@yahoogroups.com, "R.L. Wurdack" <dickw@...> wrote:
>
> Wonk,
>
> How do you bust them up?
>
> Dick
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Wonk" <tiwonk@...>
> To: <gingery_machines@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Saturday, October 09, 2010 10:37 AM
> Subject: [gingery_machines] Re: Weight of metal?
>
>
> > Dave Gingery didn't add a parts / materials list to his books because he
> > wanted you to do the math as you went and gather as much scrap as
> > possible. Remember when the books were written it was harder to find some
> > items and easier to find others. You will soom find out now matter how
> > hard you plan ahead you will never be able to be exact in your figures. I
> > would recommend on getting started on making castings as Dave outlined
> > them then finsih each part as you go. This will help you get everything to
> > fit and work as designed. Dave teaches us to be patient and to work as
> > accurate as we can during the build. Some scrap aluminum will yeild more
> > usable metal than others due to the amount of dross and crud it gives off.
> > I like car wheels (A-356 alloy) and as I remember it took about 4 wheels
> > per machine?
> >
> > Wonk
> >
> > --- In gingery_machines@yahoogroups.com, "george0135" <georgew@> wrote:
> >>
> >> I am hoping to make a start on building the machines from Dave's books
> >> and a though occurs to me , what weight/amount of metal is needed to make
> >> each machine , i dont recall it being mentioned in any of the books
> >>
> >> anyone got the answer?
> >>
> >> mtia
> >> George
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gingery_machines/app/peoplemap/view/map
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