I built my foundry inside an inexpensive 8x8 sheet metal shed.  I visited an aluminum foundry in Revere, MA and a brass foundry in Amesbury, MA to see how to fabricate a viable crucible foundry.  I found a foundry supply dealer in Arlington, MA.  For the fire pot, I mixed my own castable refractory, using fireclay, sharp sand, and a dash of portland cement.  I bought a really strong castable refractory mix for the pot lid from a dealer in Newburyport, MA.  I modified an old residential oil burner for the fire, and I used a 16 pound silicon crucible for my melts.

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        The picture above shows two test castings I poured in my foundry.  On the left is a test sand casting from a melt of scrap aluminum kitchen pots; aluminum proved easy to melt and cast.   On the right is a scrap zinc sand casting.  Zinc shrinks more than aluminum; you can see the big shrink dimple in the top of the vent riser.

Copyright © 2004,2007 Wayne Pearson.  All rights reserved.