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I have #16 crucible propane/force air furnace to 1750C.
I have a tube furnace to 1500C.
I have a box oven good to 1300C.
 
Lou said:
I have #16 crucible propane/force air furnace to 1750C.

That seems way too high (3182° F) for a crucible furnace, Lou. Have you achieved temperatures in that area? Folks struggle to melt cast iron in such a furnace---which melts well below 2,800° F.

Harold
 
haven't done this one yet!

Here goes....

Name : Adam Taurian
Sex : Male
Age : 35
Location : Melbourne Australia
Profession : Area Manager
Hobbies : shooting, fishing, skiing, gold hunting!
Interrests : as above and motorsport
How long have you been refining gold? : just collecting at this stage!
What are you looking for in our community? : fun, tips, to share successes.
How did you discovered our Forum? : YOU TUBE link!!

Had a ball so far, keep it up guys!

Other
 
Harold_V said:
Lou said:
I have a #16 crucible propane/force air furnace to 1750C.

That seems way too high (3182° F) for a crucible furnace, Lou. Have you achieved temperatures in that area? Folks struggle to melt cast iron in such a furnace---which melts well below 2,800° F.

Harold

I should clarify that, by "to 1750" I mean, that's what temperature my alumina refractory is good to, actually it's more like 3200F max.
Regarding peak temperature, I've never taken it above ~1680C/3056F according to my thermocouple (either an R or S, I forget). I have melted and cast iron in it on several occasions and once I did a bunch of stainless steel spoons.

I don't know how most folks construct their furnace Harold, but I built mine with 3" 2400F kaowool, another inch of the 2700F material, then 3/4" of 3200F refractory with a zirconia wash coat. I use a Wenig-style Monster burner. The lid is kiln brick with an inch of 3200F on the bottom and coating the 3.25" vent hole.

Yes I do have pictures of the construction and use of the furnace. I have a cast iron melt on video as well but it is of poor quality. Ask and ye shall receive! I would rather post them and this discussion we have started elsewhere though.

For your information, I wasn't the first ''hobby'' furnace user to melt steel, in fact, I wanted to emulate this fellow's design, but I feel I improved it by adding a far superior insulation, at least in terms of how long it takes to get to 1600C. He still has a better idea on fuel introduction, but my way is easier on the crucible. I can discuss the advantage/disadvantages for any who are interested.

http://www.abana.org/ronreil/Furnace.shtml
 
Thanks, Lou.

I've heard of such furnaces achieving temperatures you mentioned, but rarely does one do so without taking the steps you did. I'm impressed!

Were it not for owning an induction furnace, I'd want to duplicate the design. I will eventually build a crucible furnace for melting copper alloys----and it's obvious I should explore better insulation.

Way cool, Lou.

Harold
 
Name : Joshua
Sex : Male
Age : 28
Location :NJ
Profession :engineering consultant
Hobbies : no time
Interrests : Jesus
How long have you been refining gold? : I haven't! thats why I'm here..
What are you looking for in our community? : Looking to learn!!
How did you discovered our Forum? : Kitco forum
Other : I have been collecting scrap for sometime, now that I feel like I might have enough, I'm looking to start refining it!!! any info you guys have, I want...
 
Name : Greg
Sex : Male
Age : 38
Location : North Carolina
Profession : Computer Engineer
Hobbies : Camping
Interrests : Varied
How long have you been refining gold? : Not started yet
What are you looking for in our community? : A place to learn and share
How did you discovered our Forum? : Video on YouTube
Other : I have worked with computers for about 20 years now, and have most likely thrown away a fortune. While manually destroying hard drives (we have to for security purposes) I finally realized that the small amouts of gold was most likely adding up. Started looking for a way to reclaim it and found this site.
 
Name : Dan
Sex : male
Age : 45
Location : North Dakota
Profession : oilfield hazmat clean-up specialist
Hobbies : recycling of all types,pyro,fishing
Interrests : vast
How long have you been refining gold? : just starting
What are you looking for in our community? : safe,easy to follow instruction...you know i need the gold recycling for dummies book.
How did you discovered our Forum? : youtube
Other :i have been pulling pins off old telecom boards for a month still have years worth of work to get this huge pile gone,looking for better ways to do this safely,i did a few edge pieces with a razor paint scraper......how do you get blood out of gold scrap?
 
Name : B3yond
Sex : M
Age : 40+
Location : Middle East but Filipino citizen
Profession : Engineer
Hobbies : collecting precious metals
Interrests : Refining PGM, Engineering, Computers
How long have you been refining gold? : Not yet, I want to play safe and
learn a lot about the nook and crannies about refining metals with the help
from the Ladies and Gentlemen of this forum.
What are you looking for in our community? : Information, lots of it!
How did you discovered our Forum? : from Kitco forums
 
Name : Josh
Sex : Male
Age : 25
Location : outside of Portland, Oregon
Profession : Meat cutter's apprentice
Hobbies : Music Production, Site Administration (although I don't know why its a hobby, it should really be my profession)
Interrests : Learning is my only constant interest, as there is never a lack of things to learn about.
How long have you been refining gold? : Ive watched someone do it once, in a controlled environment, but have never done it myself
What are you looking for in our community? : I'm here mainly to evaluate the cost:benefit of recycling (pm and non pm)
How did you discovered our Forum? : Youtube video
Other : Well, while I do have a some amount of e-scrap that could be refined, I think I'm going to observe and ask questions for a while before i jump into refining anything myself. Its cool though, tat there is a community where people can come and learn about the harvesting and refining processes.
 
Name : Michael Klaus
Sex : M
Age : 28
Location : Langwarrin Australia
Profession : IT Professsional
Hobbies : Animation, Computers (IT and IS), Manga
Interrests : All of the above, plus military (all areas), Weapons Civ and Mil, Money/wealth, Females.
How long have you been refining gold? : Oh about 5 mins
What are you looking for in our community? : Good advice, a bit of a laugh, knowledge
How did you discovered our Forum? : Youtube link
Other : First timer for gold refining/recovery adding to my copper collecting business
 
Name : Balddragn (a joke and double ontondra that stuck)
Sex : M
Age : Mid 40s
Location : Mid California
Profession : Comm Tech
Hobbies : Aircraft design, Target shooting
Interrests : Anything to prepare for what may come.
How long have you been refining gold? : Never
What are you looking for in our community? : Knowledge
How did you discovered our Forum? : A post on NearDeathExperiments.com by thereisnospoon
Other :Just cutting my teeth in this area, and I have much to learn before playing with hazardous materials.
 
Name : Andrew Burke
Sex :Male
Age : 54
Location : Ohio
Profession : Proffessional Diver / welder/ Artifact recovery
Hobbies : Diving and Wreak hunting
Interests : Reading/ Refining / Diving
How long have you been refining gold? : about 7 months
What are you looking for in our community? : Information and Tech support.
How did you discovered our Forum? : Google
Other : I have three nipples.
 
Name : Big-ka-one
Sex : m
Age : 21
Location : texas
Profession : unemployed
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Interests : knowing
How long have you been refining gold? : never, but i plan on doing something of the sort
What are you looking for in our community? : help, guidance, direction in refining
How did you discovered our Forum? : youtube
Other : i really like being knowledgable in everything i learn to better my understanding in everything i know.........if thats not confusing......
 
Name : Sam
Sex : male
Age : 47
Location : Lancaster, PA
Profession : Geologist
Hobbies : reading, traveling
Interrests : knowledge
How long have you been refining gold? : not yet
What are you looking for in our community? : knowledge, this is a great forum, I needed this 20 years ago.
How did you discovered our Forum? : Steve's website
Other : Was interested in refining Pt 20 years ago but could not find all the steps. So filed it away till now. I should have been collecting cats in that time, I would have a good supply.
 

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