casting aluminum stock myself...

Maybe go to a auto junkyard and buy some old damaged aluminum engine heads, timing chain covers, valve covers, etc,. Cut them up and melt em down.
Probably get them for real cheap if they are banged up and broken/cracked. Might even get some high quality alum alloy or 6160 …?

Just a thought…

I cast my own lead bullets and find things of this nature fascinating.

Most scrap yards will sell to you. May be 2X what they will pay you but no where near $6/lb.

I have scrap computer hard drive housings, stripped clean and since scrap prices plummeted I have no desire to cash them in. Most PC heatsinks are aluminum too. Local recycling centers?? Even local garages… intake manifolds, cylinder heads, transmission housings… can be broken up to remove the steel.

Before I started casting I had scrounged together 250 lbs of lead from range scrap, wheel weights, linotype pig ingots, roofing material rolls and Old plumbing. Most of it was free. Acquired more over the years than I can use up per year.

Used to do die casting ….

yep ! In small amounts its a pain … Aluminum Melting temps and everything make it a whole new ball game to casting bullets …
Though we used electric furnaces that held Gallons of molten aluminum … Some perhaps 40 gallons or more
The smaller ones might have been 10 to 20 gallons ( long time ago )

No problems with cooling , unless your talking about how long it took to cool …
The furnaces ( melting pots ) needed to be serviced from time to time , and it took an entire day to empty and cool …

And then there is the casting procedure / process that needs to be right or you end up with garbage …

I would seek out a casting company / business that does small jobs ( often sand casting ) … and see if they would not part with some supplies …
I even recall there were some community type work shops here and there that did casting on a small scale … ( Like bronze ) ( U know , artists )
Hell when I was turning I just called Hawker pacific / commonwealth aircraft / and asked them for some hard to get materials …
They asked me what I wanted them for and I told them I needed materials for model airplane engines … They said sure , no problem !
Nothing politically incorrect or sensitive about model airplane engines …

Sourcing stuff can be a pain … I don’t know what Bar costs these days ?
But sometimes you just got to ask whats in the off-cuts bin … Some companies will allow you to raid the rubbish bin , others want $$ just for talking to you …
Machining stuff can be fun and frustrating …

Yeah, wasn’t too long ago I had to have a cracked head replaced. Got the old one back… well, offered to me, but what’m I gonna do with it except use it as a big-ass paperweight?

Had I known, I wouldda saved it for the OP to pick up. :smiley:

Sliding glass and window doors and frames, door sills, bicycle parts(wheels, handle bars, seat posts,etc.), beach chairs, lots of stuff. This should be an interesting and challenging topic in its own right with some forums of its own.

I’m sure if you found a machine shop in your area they could be persuaded to sell you aluminum chips/turnings at or close to what they would get paid at the scrapyard. I’m sure you would also get a much cleaner melt with this material opposed to old beer cans.

Fascinating reading sedstar. Never thought about what it would take to die-cast aluminum. :+1:

Be sure to show us a picture of your little flashlight after you complete the cast!

Very informative OP sedstar. Had no idea how tricky casting aluminum is. You probably have already explored this, but just in case. Monitor Craigslist for oxygen and scuba tanks. The tall thin medical O2 tanks are very common and always listed weigh around 8 lbs. I think the next size up is the typical scuba tank size. Those weigh a hefty 22+lbs. I would think they would be a high quality alloy. I've picked up a couple each for future projects.

Best wishes on your endeavor. Really sounds difficult, but potentially quite rewarding.

aw, i got temporarily discouraged when my 30 dollar crucible drossed shut and i couldnt chisel it out, lol…

after dinner, i just about buried it in “coking coal” and re-stoked back up and cooked it off soft, heh heh

managed to get another small “ingot” out of it, and got all the softened dross out in a clump. “achievement unlocked”.

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i’m getting there… the name of this game? is just to concentrate on MAKING LITTLE INGOTS. They look bad? but…. scratch one and its bright shiny metal underneath… when i have a little stock of them? thats good clean metal to melt down and flux and cast it.

when i finally GET to melting ingots? i can do an easy FLUX and pour.

theres almost no difference between my ingots i am making? and if i were to get “high quality” aluminum, say,like engine heads to melt down. The reason being?

you could GIVE ME 6061-T6 “rod stock”, and after its melted down and re-cast into a different rod size? its no longer “6061-T6” any longer…

the 6061 refers to the “melt mix”, and the T6 is the heat treating designation… melting it down and recasting in anoher stock rod?? gets referred to as “356” generically in the industry…

i can melt down marine engine heads? pistons? top of the LINE aluminum stock?

after melting and casting? its just “356”… which is ironically what melted beer cans are referred to as after meoting and casting, LMAO…

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buying ingots, or, buying better solid metal to melt easier? will beless WORK, but… wont actually yield me a “better product”

a GOOD flux? yields me a half decent result, and once machined? it looks pretty…

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i’m getting onto the home stretch now, i think… at least for what i need it for… all i need to do right NOW is concentrate on making a few more ingots, than i can make a bigger piece of stock.

theres no practical way to do heat treating and “working” cold or hot at home… the results? will never satisfy any engineers blueprint specs fo stock… yet? it will be overkill for making flashlights and other parts i need.

now that i finally gota crucible that wont burn up with taking a match to it?? i’m in the home stretch, i just gotta keep making a few more ingots before i get greedy and try to cast stock again.

i already bought the right grade of sand and clay to make a decent casting sand, that will come after “ingot fun”…

its working, its just a “war of attrition”. I will WIN, but… it will be a “pyrrhic victory” if you know the term.

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PICS when i get a little more done…

why not buy clean aluminium ??? price is less then 2 usd a kg

Interesting stuff.

Keep the story going sedstar! You’re doing cool stuff , and your great style of posting about it almost makes up for the lack of pictures :slight_smile:

JACK-BKK QUOTE
why not buy clean aluminium ??? price is less then 2 usd a kg
ENDQUOTE

really? well, THATS a relief. I’ll just send you the number of my local scrap yard, with you calling them from bangkok and telling them what to buy and sell prices at? i should be all good. (kidding, dont hit the rude button on me…) but seriously though, the scrap yard will pay pennies per pound for “scrap steel”… but, you go down and want a few pieces of scrap steel? to practice welding? OH, no… they want a couple dollars a piece to practice welding, all of a sudden its expensive “plate stock”, LMAO…

where do i go BUY it? i cant get it at walmart. whats the shipping cost? EBAY costs from 3 to 6 dollars a POUND for cleaned aluminum ingots… my neighbors beer cans are free… this is WORKING, i’m telling you…

plus? when i finally BUY good aluminum? i dont wanna RUIN it learning… this is perfect for learning on

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up until now… i have been trying to make more heat, or, just to get it into the crucible in a timely fashion?

i had a GREAT melt going. the 3 inch black pipe was glowing bright, i was just BOMBING clean cans down in, as fast as i could throw whole cans in they disappeared and melted. I know a good thing when i have it? i was just whizzing thru a great melt…

when i saw sparks flying around? this cant be right… i pull the crucible?? good LORD, i melted a 3” “endcap” like cheese.

you cant get this stuff at lowes or regular stores… i had to find a plumbing supply place that sells to big contractors to find it… i did not think it would have been possible to melt a 3” endcap? another good pic when i post pics…lol

i’m at the end of a coal pile, and every year a little bit left over stays on the bottom, i rarely get to the very bottom, its a mix and a pot-luck right now… i’ll have to watch out for this in the future if it ever happens again… super bright yellow steel is way too hot, note to self… funny thing is, if i WANTED to melt inch thick steel? i could never accomplish it… this was with the AIR closed off all the way, that must have been “coking coal” from a power plant run my buddy got mixed in with the regular house coal, lol…

it was funny, i just tapped it with a wrench? it was sillyputty soft, lol… pity though, i was making ingots left and right, that was one of the best fires i ever made, lol…

I learned a lot from Makerj101 re: aluminum casting

Where to buy aluminum? Did you see Post 10? You can get those tanks quite cheap if you are patient. I got my medical tanks (8 lbs without head) for $7 and my scuba tanks (22+ lbs for $15). Also look out for baseball bats. Maybe mag wheels?

There’s a local service for hydro testing scuba tanks. When they fail they can no longer be used for scuba. If there are any dive shops in your area you might drop in and see what they to with them. Offering more than the scrap yard should still be a win win.

I considered getting into what you’re doing and building a gas fired fuurnace. Wish I had access now to what we used for casting during junior high school metal shop. Gas fired furnace, clay graphite crucible, casting sand and boxes… Or, wish I had ideas I have now back then.

One factor that may be causing problems is the coatings on the can. The plastic lining on the inside and ink on the outside are adding a lot of crud to your melt.

I remember years ago when I did a lot of fishing we’d often build a fire when night fishing. We’d toss our cans in the fire and watch them melt. When the fire burned out there was always a bunch of aluminum nuggets buried in the ashes. Nice solid little nuggets of aluminum that had melted and pooled in the low spots.

all good ideas… coolness.

yeah… online i like “backyardmetalcasting.com” they guy made me think “hey maybe i can DO THIS” and not need a degree in metallurgy, lol.

funny thing is, i dont even NEED to be good at the “casting part”, it can come out rough… i am just gonna machine it all off anyways. its all good.

backyard website? has a link to a “forum” like this one, just not nearly as many people into it, though… one guy? said HE was a machinist, and was just “casting machining rounds” so he went with cheap home made casting sand, as it didnt matter, cast it rough and machine it off.

i was like “whoa, thats ME! good deal! thats what i wanted to do!”

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i bought another 3” pipe and giant endcap today, will get back to a few more ingots tomorrow, i guess. Its just “busy work” to make ingots now, more or less… the more i have, the more “machining stock” i have now…

it will be “a while” before i ever get adventurous enough to try to cast a light body or anything, though, if ever… i’m happy casting rough cylinders to machine on… and its even easier to make a “flat” of aluminum to mill it flat…

i mean, i know about a fingernails worth of all this, but, its WORKING. if i get any better, thats just gravy. i’m content now. i promise PICS when i have some more ingots and make a bigger piece of “stock” up that would actually be a little “pricey” for me to go buy it…

actually? the “mix” cans are made out of? isnt a bad alloy at all…. its okay for machining. i checked… MAN, i could have made my own motorcycle parts back in the day, lol… cool expensive foot pegs… free clutch and brake levers… all KINDS of stuff… this is kind of “fun”, too.

Maybe a dumb question, but do you have any recycling centers out there? 5¢ deposits on cans? That kind of thing?

I imagine they have to be able to recycle a good amount of Al with minimal waste to make it worthwhile, so if you find such a center, ask for a tour. Show pix of your setup, explain what you want to do, and just say you want to know how the “pros” do it. Even get free advice.

Even bitch’n’moan about hippies. They smell funny, anyway. Kinda like patchouli.

Some alloys dont have great stress strength …
There are soft weak alloys that can do a lot of stuff , but some alloys need to be strong …
One thing I remember from way back is broken break leavers … ( Weak alloy )

Some things need to be top shelf ( Foot pegs , break levers ) …

Generally the better the casting alloy , the weaker it is …
Which is why a lot of aluminum stuff is machined / not cast … ( where strength is paramount )
Casting is great for stuff that is cheap and easy , and don’t need to be particularly durable … ( Low stress )