“Weve been loving our Shapeoko CNC and have made some fun projects recently. One thing we need to improve on is nesting designs to minimize waste. In order to reuse the scrap aluminum, we made this electric foundry to melt scraps into an ingot that can be machined again.
To give a overview of this project, we spent about $200 USD to complete the build and with out 120VAC circuit at home, the calculated power of this foundry is about 1.6kW.
You can check out the entire build video on Youtube linked above. (We would also appreciate a like and sharing if you think it’s worth it :))
DISCLAIMER: THIS PROJECT UTILIZES HIGH VOLTAGE POWER SUPPLIES AND PRESENTS A SERIOUS RISK OF PERSONAL INJURY (E.G. THE HEATING ELEMENT IS LIVE WHEN IN USE AND MAY HAVE ELECTRICAL POTENTIAL EVEN WHEN SHUT OFF). ALSO THE FOUNDRY CREATES EXTREMELY HIGH TEMPERATURES AND MOLTEN METAL THAT ALSO PRESENTS A SERIOUS RISK OF PERSONAL INJURY. USE ADEQUATE PRECAUTIONS AND SAFETY GEAR AND CONSULT A EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONAL. THANK YOU AND BE SAFE!
Supplies:Here is the list of supplies we used: (These are affiliate links where we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, Thank you!)
Insulating fire bricks
Furnace cement
Crucible tongs
Ceramic terminal blocks
High Temperature wire
Baking pan
Graphite crucible
K type thermocouple
Heating element coil wire
PID Controller
1 Angle Iron
125/250V toggle switch
14 gauge Power cord”