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Hey, I'm trying to get into metal casting but I'm having trouble getting my foundry up to a high temp. I am using propane and my foundry is made of 2 inches of kaowool and refractory cement in a 55 gallon drum. Right now I can get up to around 900 degrees Fahrenheit but I'm struggling to even get to 1200 to melt aluminum. Currently I have a some heat escaping from the sides and I do plan to fix it but is that the only reason I'm struggling to get to higher temps or am I missing something? Thanks for reading.

https://preview.redd.it/qelp0r2sdege1.png?width=858&format=png&auto=webp&s=95de04f6c5bdb0ece73d41ea8cf3b1738825f652

If i get the same shade of blue on say 1 piece of stainless steel and 1 piece of mild steel, would the stainless's blue be more "brilliant" and reflect light more? Would mild steel give a less brilliant blue? Or is is more dependent on the polish of the metal prior to the thermal bluing?

I am looking for a blue on steel that kind of reflects light to some degree. Curious if one type of steel is better than the other before I invest in further materials/tools.

I have a 7x14 chinesium lathe. No surprise the machining tolerances are a joke. But I've been slowly correcting the issues. One of the problems I ran into is that the #2 jaw on the 3-jaw chuck is off by 0.010" causing visibly noticeable amount of run out. I did manage to regrind the chuck (crudely) to get the run out to 0.004". I'm wondering if it's worth it to try to get it any better. The spindle seems to have less than .001 run out, so that's not an issue it seems.

Been welding for about 5 days. This is my second day using 6010 I ran it at 95 AMPS.

5754 Al

I’ve got a fun personal project to create a hermetic seal by forge welding a 304 stainless steel tube. The tube specs are: .5” OD and .065” wall thickness. I don’t care if the stainless properties are lost after this sealing is completed, I just care about the complete fusion of the tubing.

How would I evenly heat this tubing if I have a 1” length to create this seal? I have access to an Oxy-acetylene torch right now but I can look into other methods too.

How can I apply enough pressure to forge the walls together? Let’s say budget isn’t an issue, I just want to get some ideas together.

My situation can’t allow flux to be put in the tubing, will this make it difficult for a successful weld?

Hello, I brought four chairs with gold metal legs. However, the chairs are too high. I love the chairs and I don’t want to send them back. Is it possible for me to cut down the legs and weld them back together? Would that impact the durability of the chair? Is that something that welders can do? If so, is there something I can search on google to find welders near me? Thank you.

Deciding between two motorcycle hitch racks. It is for a ~260 lbs dirtbike so nothing incredibly heavy. Will be mounted on a Sprinter Van.

Both these options are made in the US. I know hard to tell from a photo but what structurally looks better to you?

PHOTOS: https://imgur.com/a/fMIycsv

Option A: Most everything seems to be welded. Seems to have less nuts and bolts compared to B.

Option B: Orange tubing is steel. Trays on top are aluminum and seems to have more nuts and bolts.

Note:Option A cannot be shipped. Option B can be shipped in multiple boxes. My initial thought if its in multiple boxes = more spots for failure but I'm no expert.

Advice on how to repair this? I don’t have access to a spot welder. Thought if drilling and tapping but then the screw head would affect measurements. Would JB Weld work? Ideally quickly and cheaply.

Hi All

I am looking to get a soldering torch set up in my home studio/ for small metals, but I am unsure what I should get/ be looking for. Right now I am looking at getting an oxy acetylene set as I am pretty sure that is what I used when I was in school (over a decade ago so the memory on that is a bit foggy haha). I just want to make sure I get something where I can easily get tanks filled or replaced- also are tanks interchangeable?

Ideally I want to have a lot of versatility in what Id be soldering/ materials being used.