Re: ATM - Casting Aluminum

[malsing@borg.ae.usr.com]

Dale,

Been there, done that. It might be worth clarifying
the reason for the explosion. It sounds like you were
applying direct heat to the concrete that the aluminium
was resting on. This no doubt caused moisture in the
concrete to expand causing it to burst.

I beleive any mold used for metal casting or crucible
used for melting must be be verifiably dry and free of
air pockets that may trap moisture before use.

Thanks
Mark Alsing
Network Systems Engineering
3Com/US Robotics, Inc.

> I feel I should tell of my own stupidity, just
> as a caution.
> 
> I'd been making some small zinc castings, using US
> plated pennies for metal. Probably illegal, but
> they melt like butter with the direct heat from
> a small butane torch :) After much success, I
> decided to see if a small piece of aluminum would 
> melt in the same way. I cut about a half-inch
> piece off a scrap screen door frame (hard aluminum).
> I sat it on a concrete slab and began heating it with
> the torch. The resulting explosion blew a 1 inch deep
> crater in the concrete slab. Better that than me :)
> 
> I trust that nobody on this list would try such a foolish
> experiment, but I just thought I'd mention it!
> 
> Dale