hello all cannon maniacs , and especially you who cast in bronze .
as Im planning for an new furnace build of middle size my idea was to exchange ideas and experiances in this area , the furnace I planned should be for approximately 70 kilo ( 155 lbs ) .
I will use an drum what will be to compare to your 50 gallon drums as an base to build from , they are for free and have an suitable size
cheap is nice , but free is better
the dimensions are : inside diameter 22,5 inch , inside height 33 inch
heat source will be an boiler burner .
my idea now is to build totaly without fireproof refractory , just use ceramic insulation type kaewool .
as this small things aint used continious they are hot cold hot cold and the refractory cracks more and more , if using an high temperature ceramic insulation only you dont have that problem .
what I can remember since I worked with those things there are ceramic insulation that can handle 1600 degrees celsius , I will probably never come close to those temperatures .
even if it will wear and tear from use , its easy to just change the damaged layer when needed .
my idea was to use 50 mm ( 2 inch ) rockwool first , then put 4 layers one inch thick with kaewool ,
I believe that would give an very well insulated furnace with small heat losts , and extremely easily repaired when needed .
but this is probably nothing new and revolutionary , but I got an idea of an new design for the lid that it will use the exhaust gases one more time inside the crucible before they go up the chimney .
I think it will be both enviromental and wallet friendly , and thats no bad idea today
please check out the sketches I did earlier today ( pictures below )
Im very interested to have comments and ideas about this .
maybe someone more who have plans in an similar direction .
Ive had some furnaces before , some ok and some of very poor functionality and quality
but now I decided to build the last furnace in my life , now I will try to find the ultimate in relability and function .
please show what you other use for your cannon castings , and describe what you think of your equipment .
I made an small calculation on this and I believe I can build it for less then $300 ,
ok then I have the boiler burner already .
what experiances do you have of the crucibles for bronze melting ??
what do you use ?? whats the most cost effective ??
my idea for this build was to talk to an local ceramic producer , she believed when I talked to her earlier about this that she had good clay that would take this kind of temperature without any problems .