Furnace Plans

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="02c285a1erlcgo.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Robert's home foundry, electronics, and more.</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Roberts home foundry, electronics, and m"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="foundry_area.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Home Foundry Area"><U>Home Foundry Area</U></A>   |   <A HREF="activities.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Recent Activities"><U>Recent Activities</U></A>   |   <B>Furnace Plans</B>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Propane Burner"><U>The Propane Burner</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Molding Boxes"><U>The Molding Boxes</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Smelting Area"><U>The Smelting Area</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Molding Sand"><U>The Molding Sand</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Patterns and basic Skills"><U>Patterns and basic Skills</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Crucible for melting Aluminum"><U>Crucible for melting Aluminum</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Charcoal Furnace Intro"><U>Charcoal Furnace Intro</U></A></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="02ad2c00dkelyh.png"> <div> <A HREF="bath_furnace.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Building the Bath Furnace"><U>Building a Bath type Furnace Project</U></A></div> <div>  <a href="HTMLobj-242/Project_1__THE_FURNACE.pdf"><u>The furnace.pdf</u> </a>  </div> <bR> <div> Now we have the ability to make anything we may need for our selves.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="0a1b5790.jpg" border=0 width="181" height="121" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> I would like to give credit where it is due. there are a number of places I have gleamed information from. some on the Internet and some from books and a lot from personal contact with like minded people.</div> <div> If you follow this link to the <A HREF="links.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="USEFUL LINKS"><U>LINKS </U></A> section you will find a wealth of information from these pages. I would especially like to thank Ron Reil for his Forge and Foundry page where I found the information necessary to build the burner for the furnace used in this project. The burner is a modified version of the Reil burner. It is missing the burner flare and using a larger burner tube . The furnace is based on a design by Mr gingery (pardon the spelling) which can be found in a series of books published by Lindsay publishers.</div> <div> Thank you for visiting my humble pages and I hope you enjoy your visit and come back soon as I will be adding a lot more in the near future.</div> <bR> <div> RACDIRTDIGGER</div> <div> Robert Chilson</div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="0f100192egerdp.jpg"> <div> <I>Furnace Plans</I></div> <div> CONSTRUCTION PLANS FOR IMPROVED                                                                                                 GINGERY FURNACE</div> <bR> <bR> <div> These plans are for an improved Gingery furnace. The furnace is designed on the premise of layered insulation each of a higher thermal durability and mechanical rigidity to protect the previous layer which has a higher insulation (R) value.</div> <bR> <div> This is the first step in a 6 part project aimed at building a home foundry to allow the user a much more flexible and powerful tool to build virtually any thing they need. From ash trays to wind chimes, obsolete engine parts to new machinery yet discovered, to defensive tools. The first steps are outlined here.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#1st_project" TITLE="Furnace Plans"><U>1st project is the furnace body and lid assembly</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id21_2nd_project.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Propane Burner"><U>2nd project is the propane burner assembly</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id22_3rd_project.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Molding Boxes"><U>3rd project is the molding boxes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id23_4th_project.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Smelting Area"><U>4th project is the smelting area and molding</U></A> sand storage.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id24_5th_project.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Molding Sand"><U>5th project is the molding sand mixture and</U></A> preparation.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id25_6th_project.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Patterns and basic Skills"><U>6th project is some patterns to get started with and polish your skills.</U></A></div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="1st_project"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>To start with, find a container that is suitable to build the furnace body into such as a 10 gallon metal bucket, a discarded propane cylinder, etc. </div> <div> The layers are as follows. First layer is a 1" layer on the bottom and sides using Kay wool or rock wool fiber insulation (do not use fiberglass insulation). The second layer has to have a form built because we will use a rammed sand lining. The third layer will also need another form because it is a castable refractory (refcast 3000) good to 3000 degrees f. continuously with no thermal shock problems.</div> <div> A 4" pipe nipple that is 6" long with a cast iron cap that is tack welded in place will be used as a crucible, so we will need 2" of free air space on each side top and bottom so the diameter of the smallest form is 4+2+2=8" dia. by 6"+1"+2"+2"=11" plus 1" which will be explained later. The next form is a larger version, 1" larger on all sides or 10" dia by"length. So the perfect container would be 2" larger on all sides than the large form or 14" diameter by 16" deep (inside divisions).</div> <div> <IMG SRC="049bdbe0.png" border=0 width="189" height="190" ALT="Bitmap Image" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Start by cutting a 1" hole in the side of the container so that the bottom of the hole is 3" to 3.5" up from the bottom of the container. See drawing.  Elongate the hole so that a 1" black wall pipe will pass through it at a tangent to the center form.</div> <div>  When the burner is installed  and running this will form a vortex in the center of the furnace body.</div> <div> Next cut a 14" disk of 1" Kay wool fiber board and place in the bottom of the furnace body. Cut strips of Kay wool fiber board 14" long 2" wide and fit around the inner circumference of the furnace body and clear the hole in the side of the container for the burner.</div> <div> Make the forms for the sand and cement linings from Styrofoam disks cut out of Styrofoam sheeting used in building insulation and glue the disks together. To form cylinders. Then you can remove them by heating the Styrofoam with a heat gun or hot hair dryer. Which will shrink the Styrofoam. Let cool then remove.</div> <div> Next mix 100Lb bag of fine sand and 25Lb bentonite or fire clay. Dampen until sand mix sticks together, when you grab a handful and squeeze it should hold its shape. You may need to add more or less clay or water to achieve these results but it is necessary for the sand to hold its shape when packed.</div> <div> Place several handfuls of dampened sand mix in the bottom of the furnace and pack firmly with the end of a 2x4 to a depth of 1". Center the large form in the container on top of the packed sand in the bottom and add sand around the sides  in between the Kay wool lining and the large form. Keep the form centered and pack the sand firmly all the way around the form to the top of the Kay wool lining. Clear the hole for the 1" burner pipe. Carefully remove the form without disturbing the sand lining. (Ha ha. good luck).</div> <div> Next mix enough refcast refractory cement and fill the bottom of the furnace body to the bottom of the hole for the burner tube. Let stand till green set. Then place the small form in the center of the furnace body. Place the burner tube (a 1"blackwall pipe nipple 6" long threaded on both ends) into the furnace and tape to the small form so as to seal the end of the burner tube. Also making sure that the tube is at a tangent to the small form. See diagram.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="04abdbe0.png" border=0 width="189" height="190" ALT="Bitmap Image" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Mix the refcast and fill the gap between the sand lining and the small form, filling to the top of the outside container covering the sand lining and the Kay wool lining. Tapping the inner form moderately to remove air pockets and settle the cement as you fill. Making sure to smooth the top surface with a trowel to provide a good seal with the lid. Let stand as long as possible (at least a couple of days).Remove the pattern. Next step is the lid.</div> <div> BUILDING THE LID ASSEMBLY</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="0a3c3cc0.jpg" border=0 width="195" height="204" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Start with a 3" remnant of the outside container used to construct the furnace body. Second find a suitable form to make a hole in the center of the lid. Drill a series of holes 2" apart at the center line around the outside of the lid and run steel wires through the holes across from each other straddling the form in the center of the lid frame. The form should be 4" in dia. fill the frame in-between the outside of the frame and the form in the center. Tapping as you go to remove air pockets and settle the cement (refcast). Let set a couple of days before removing the form in the center.</div> <div> Drill two  5/16" holes and install steel anchors and bolts leaving 1/4" extended out to wrap a stiff wire around to from a handle to lift the lid from the furnace.</div> <bR> <div> See diagram.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="04bbdbe0.png" border=0 width="189" height="190" ALT="Bitmap Image" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> RACDIRTDIGGER              <A HREF="id43_crucible.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Crucible for melting Aluminum"><U>Click here for crucible plans</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>                </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>