He Melts Aluminum With Wood-Fired Furnace

He Melts Aluminum With Wood-Fired Furnace ENERGY Wood Burners (65) 30-3-38 Think you can't melt metal with wood? Think again. Robert Ferreira uses all kinds of scrap wood to melt aluminum for his casting hobby. "I read that you can't use wood, but I just cube whatever wood I find, and it works great," says Ferreira, who also built his own melting furnace and tools. "I can get a melt going in about 20 min. with wood." The furnace is an old water tank lined with firebrick. Ferreira cut a door in the tank. He drilled bolt holes in the door, the tank above the door and the bricks and then countersunk the holes on the inside surface of the bricks for nuts. After mounting the bricks, he filled the holes around the nuts with a mix of fireclay, sand and water. The access plate at the bottom of the tank serves as air inlet. A hole cut in the top serves as chimney and a damper to control the draft in the furnace. "I can move the fire up and down the furnace by opening and closing the door on top to control the draft," explains Ferreira. "All I need is 1,200 to 1,300 degrees to melt the aluminum." Ferreira uses his furnace to melt down cast aluminum lawn mower motors, broken propellers, and any kind of cast aluminum. He has found aluminum cans and extruded aluminum to be too pure for his uses. "I make molds of whale flukes and manatees as well as casting aluminum repair parts that are hard to find," explains Ferreira. "For example, I made a leg for a guy's stove." He picks up cast iron Dutch ovens and pots at flea markets and garage sales to use as crucibles for holding the aluminum as it melts down. The crucible hangs from a bolt inserted through the top of the furnace. Ferreira handles the crucible with a pair of hooks he made. "I just put the pieces to be melted in the pot, put the cover on it and let them melt down," he says. "As they melt, any oil or other residue burns off or floats to the top." To clear the dross or impurities out of the melted aluminum, Ferreira uses old steel serving spoons. When he has excess melted aluminum, Ferreira pours it into steel cupcake tins to make ingots that can be melted down again. "People throw away lawn mower engines, yet cast aluminum is worth about 60ó/lb.," he points out. Ferreira uses sand, fireclay and water to cast pieces. Here too he uses homemade tools and casting boxes. If he wants a hole or hollow center in the casting, he uses a mixture of mineral oil and silica sand to make a core material that pours out of the mold when finished. Ferreira taught himself how to melt aluminum, make casts and pour molds with the help of books not found in most bookstores. "If people are interested in molding their own aluminum pieces, I would be glad to suggest some books they could read or answer any questions I can," says Ferreira. "Just send me a paper with a stamped, self-addressed envelope, and I will send a reply." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Robert Ferreira, 9775 W. Sunny Day Ct., Crystal River, Fla. 34428 (ph 352 795-0049).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.