Author Topic: recycling aluminium etc... (Read 4293 times)

rustyme · « **on:** February 06, 2009, 07:38:32 pm »

with lots of new members on the forum now , and most if not all ? , interested in recycling . I thought it would be a good idea to say what I do with my waste aluminium .
A few years back I saw , on the internet , a site about melting ali with nothing more than a couple of tin cans and a hairdyer , along with a few hands full of charcoal. I was very doubtful of the claim that it would melt anything let alone ali. Anyway I got a couple of tin cans ,soup tin size , and a couple of the larger big , dog food , tins. Poked a few holes here and there , got some charcoal from one of those disposable BBQ's and not having a hair dryer I used a hot air paint stripper . I put some charcoal in one of the big tins and then a soup tin inside that . I set the paint stripper up to blow air in the large tin , lit the charcoal , filled the soup tin with ali foil pie cases and some cut up chunks of old caravan strip ali , and less than five minutes later I was pouring melted ali in an old sweet tin lid . This was the first ali ingot I made from waste . It popped out of the lid , when cold , and I still have that one now. I have made many many more since then , most of which I have sold to the scrapman. I am going to set up a much larger , more permanent furnace , to melt much bigger quantities of ali , to use in making a lathe . The charcoal I will use for this will be made by me from wood grown on my own land and any waste wood I can get hold of. This is about as eco friendly as I can get , and it will make all sorts of useful items that I can't afford to buy. I will be able to melt down old ali lawn mower engines and such , and turn them into some tool that will get used for years, and then in turn go in the melting pot at the end of its day. My setup will use an old blacksmiths hand cranked air blower , so I won't even be using electricity to supply air.
It just goes to show what you can do with a waste product rather than throw it in the bin .

here are the websites that first started me on this subject:
http://www.gizmology.net/furnace.htm
http://www.lindsaybks.com/dgjp/djgbk/series/index.html
http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/lathe1.html

cheers

Russ

Paul Sill · « **Reply #1 on:** February 06, 2009, 08:01:18 pm »

Would this work for ali drink / food cans if you cut them into strips? I send them for recyling with the council at the moment but would like to save them for scrap but they take up so much room!!!

rustyme · « **Reply #2 on:** February 06, 2009, 08:08:21 pm »

yes ... any ali at all .... all you have to be able to do , is fit it in the melting pot (crucible) and provide enough heat till it melts. Some ali drinks cans are made from ali and steel , so you have to check that first ( use a magnet ) . You must also check that the tins you use to melt it in ARE TIN ...and not ali ...lol. The storage of it all is why I melt it down and pour into moulds. It takes up hardly any space at all.

cheers

Russ

garden cottage · « **Reply #3 on:** February 07, 2009, 07:12:27 am »

brilliant as usual russ.........................neil

pegusus pig · « **Reply #4 on:** February 07, 2009, 11:58:33 am »

what a great idea, will give it a go. our council doesn't collect the recycled stuff so we always get loads of cans waiting to go!! great experiment to do with the kids!!

rustyme · « **Reply #5 on:** February 07, 2009, 12:12:00 pm »

it is a fascinating thing to do , but be very VERY careful with any children . Molten aluminium is very hot ,1218 degrees F. If that gets spilt or splashes it won't just burn or scald , it will burn flesh away completely down to bone possibly . It is very dangerous stuff and it must not be done wearing things like trainers etc . You must wear things like very heavy duty work boot and wear a leather apron , safety goggles , leather working gloves . Nothing plastic or nylon ...it will melt !!!! Any form of water must be kept well away from the melt too, if even a small amount comes into contact , it will EXPLODE with truly dramatic results. Anyone who tries this PLEASE be very VERY careful . The best surface to work on is a layer of sand ,DRY SAND....Any spillage can then be left to cool and then remelted.

cheers

Russ