Smelting Aluminum Cans (Post Discussion) Talk About the Gear / Read Description for More Information
Channel: Aaron Schwarz
Date: 2022-06-24

Here I talk about the forge & gear a bit // this more of an art thing after several hours of smelting most of a grocery bag of aluminum cans crushed in a pneumatic press with 100 psi of air pressure from a smell California Air Tools P60 oil-less air compressor that operates very quietly.

I think the colorful oxides that form on steel that is heated to high temperatures are very beautiful, especially the golden warm & yellow orange & blue & purple shades // structural color determined by the size & geometry of the oxides forming on the surface of the heated steel alloy materials, in this case a 10 lb propane fueled smelting furnace. 

I use borax as a flux
I use an oxide based crucible inside the furnace
I add a small 1-2 gram chunk of silicon to the crucible at the start of one of these batch sessions to improve the casting flow properties & it does! 

When cans are added to the hot crucible, they smoke a lot as the label materials burn off. This material also forms slag that must be removed into a slag bucket with a steel spoon. I show my slag bucket lined with intumescent materials & a smaller steel can inside & the steel spoon I use to scoop slag dross funk from the hot melted aluminum in the hot crucible, right before casting, so I get a clean stream while pouring the molten or melted aluminum alloy, that also contains some carbon & silicon & magnesium from the can lids which are a stronger alloy of aluminum & magnesium.