Hello! It's me, Zesty Jon! I'll be making videos about my various experiments melting and casting metals! I'm also learning how to blacksmith, so there will be a bit of that too! My videos range from melting scrap items into ingots to attempting to blacksmith! I'll be uploading once per week, with occasional extra snippets that I might decide to upload! In the future I'll also be working on various projects such as fixing up old cars, however the primary focus of my channel will be any type of metalworking!
Thanks for the comment! The way I make my shorts from the long video makes it tough to show everything in one clip, check out the full length video to see the final ingot!
Try to stay away from graphite molds if you can. There must be a cast iron or bronze or even an aluminum mold out there that would deliver better results. Be careful with temps if your using an aluminum mold though.
Thanks for the pointer! With how this mold fared, I'd guess that you are correct and I could get better results from another type of mold! An aluminum mold would definitely be tough to work with unless I work with a metal that melts at a lower temp, could be fun though! Thanks for the comment!
Thanks for the comment, friend! I'm not too worried about the cost of gas as I greatly enjoy melting as a hobby! You're right though, if I was trying to make money I'd be in trouble!
You absolutely can! Melting down soda cans is a fun way to get into melting, and they liquify pretty fast! Keep the cost of gas in mind, and consider whether you need the nickel back out of them or if you don't mind melting them down for fun!
I am intrigued! I hope someone can answer my questions? 1. I am guessing the matter that is being scooped out with the spoon is slag? How do you know that you are removing slag and not just coolingg amount of usable aluminum? 2. Why cool it with ice? Why not just set it aside and let it air cool?
I'm happy to answer your questions! You are correct, the matter being scooped out is slag, I know it's slag because the impurities tend to either float to the top of the molten metal or sink to the very bottom, depending on density. So I'm for the most part removing all of the slag that is less dense than the aluminum! And the cooling with ice and/or water is purely because it gives off a satisfying sound and takes a lot less time than it would to wait for it to cool with air! There isn't really any practical benefit when pouring ingots aside from time and the fun of watching the ice melt and then boil off!
@@zestyjonssmeltery321 I appreciate your reply. I have access to a fairly good amount of scrap aluminum. I mostly just drag it down to the scrap yard. But some of the smaller, better quality aluminum I’ve considered melting into ingots. Heavier bars in a smaller package just seems like a better way to make money and a lot less likely to cut my hands open like the big, jagged stuff. 👍🏻👌🏻👏🏻
Could be a more efficient way to handle the bars! It would be worth asking if they pay a different price after you've melted it or not, as the exact alloy composition could change after you've done so, not sure if it would be significant. Also factor in the cost of gas! Best of luck if you go after it, melting is fun!
@@zestyjonssmeltery321 the scrap yard said they pay the highest price for 6063 bare scrap Aluminum. But by my melting it down, it takes away their ability to grade it because the item has been melted. They said they get so many varied scrap items it would be impossible to determine the metallurgy of each item. So I would actually lose money by melting it down. Same for other high grade scrap metals. Factoring in the cost of a new crucible, gas, etc. I’d be losing money. What I can do is melt down the lowest quality aluminum I get and sell it for the lowest price. But it’s really more of the fun factor in this than making a premium on my castings. Thanks for your thoughts!
When I was a kid back in the early 70s, we picked up aluminum cans for about 10¢ a pound. Other than having the ingots around, how is this financially wise with the cost of the fuel for smelting? Cool stuff though. Manly stuff. Makes me think of rare steak and women!
Thanks for sharing! I wouldn't say this has any financial benefits, I'm willing to accept the cost for the fun of it! The tanks of propane I use are about $20 each and usually last 3-4 melts!
Si se trabaja con moldes de hule vulcanizado,este tiene una propiedad interesante. Si se ahoga el molde d hule en petroleo durante 24 horas,este se incha y aumenta a 500 veces de tanaño:mas tarde con un poco de parafina,se obtiene una copia igual pero mucho mas grande...a este proceso le llamé "jonapru",es libre y cualquiera lo puede probar
Firstly congratulations on 1000 subs! I'm your latest subscriber!!! I was just thinking that RU-vid should actually commission you to make play buttons for like 50K subs and such! One day I would like to reach 1000 subs too. Congratulations once again!!
Thank you I appreciate it! That would be cool but I don't know that I'm good enough at casting to be making them for RU-vid yet! Good luck to you reaching 1000 subs!
Thanks for the comment, Friend! I'm not trying to make money off of melting anything, this is all for fun as a hobby and that's worth it to me! This also puts the pieces in a more convenient form to do custom castings!
That is graphite! You can buy blank molds to shape yourself although graphite is a bit of a pain to work with. I believe this one was machined on a CNC mill.
Teenager's post really. You missed the most interesting i.e. how the mold had been made! Melting aluminum is so banal, so BOOOOORING! doesn't need a PhD to build a furnace at all (I made my own)! You can even buy it in Russia for a fit of rubble...
