Originally Posted by
pjzinmnwi
I'm mostly looking for aluminum. But if I had some, I'd eventually like to start trying lead, bronze/brass/ and various copper alloys, zinc, and magnesium (I am aware of it's flammability).
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I used a propane fired furnace for years which would do a quick melts on aluminum but not so good on copper or brass or bronze and decided to purchase this 15 KW induction furnace just before our dollar tanked. The induction furnace by far has been my best investment that I've made yet towards my metal casting hobby, I love this furnace as it has many other uses besides melting metal.
The propane furnace was very noisy, often pissing me off running out of fuel hald way through a melt, the induction furnace just makes a low beeping sound while powered up on a melt and the best part is that it is capible of melting most every metal known to man.
When I get back into the hobby going to try my hand at some of the stanless steels and nickle alloys.
As for your magnesium melts there are cover flux's available that will keep oygen at bay, if you do have an accidental mag fire do not try putting it out with water the results would be disastrous.
As a kid used to toss magnessium into a fire just to waatch it burn, it burns with a bright white flame and give off lots of white smoke. Old chansaws were made from magnesium, older lawnboy lawn mowers have magnesium decks, vans pulled by semi's some will have magnesium flooring while some have aluminum they physically look indenticle other than one being greyer in color than the other.
Magnesium being more reactive with oxygen than alumminum will be grayer in color. Aslo a side by side scratch test would reveal which peice is magnesium as the open would would form a passivated covering much sooner than the aluminum.
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