has anyone experience milling home cast aluminum (recycled, melted and poured ingots), I imagine it would react differently than aluminum plate, though no experience with either. my thoughts are towards casting an aluminum base, even threading it and or slotting for vacuum table etc… I’ve seen it on utube but many people get bubbles in it, I think because they pour the hot aluminum into cold pans. Any thoughts if it is worth it. Thanks, Jude
According to a materials website, beverage cans are made with 6061 aluminum. If your melt includes aluminum siding, engine parts and other assorted sources, I imagine it would be a crap-shoot as to what type you would end up having. I can say from experience that you need to clean your melt well, and as a rule you will lose about half of what you melt as dross.
YMMV
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I guess I’ll have to double my beer consumption, when will I have time to melt…Thanks, probably too big an operation for an aluminum base plate undertaking…that would be a lot of cans. Thanks Bob, gotta go to the store…
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@grumpa if you lived nearby, I could save you from hepatic encephalopathy and let you melt down the stack of aluminum awnings that I took off my house. I know that the aluminum is “6000 series”, but as to exact formula, I have no idea.
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I’ve done this a lot in the past.
I used to pour my own stock in old steel pipes, then the aluminum shrinks when cool and can be pushed out with a wooden stick and a hammer.
I think the bubbles are more related to the temperature it is poured at.
Sometimes, I got a lot of bubbles, sometimes no.
And sometimes the center will be hollow from a large gas bubble not escaping.
In the end, new stock was cheaper than the fuel to melt it, but not for big stock or castings, and it’s good practice.
One even blew up all over my face. Didn’t even burn me much. It mostly instantly cooled on contact, but woke me up for sure 
Eye lashes got melted too. Melted metal instantly bounces off wet eyes. I used to do crazy stuff with acetylene torches LOL. Cutting open augers in animal rendering plants. Nasty!!!
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I’d have given a “like” but nobody likes doing that stuff. Used to know of a guy who would cut propane tanks in half under water, knee deep, unfortunately that was his undoing. I was wondering about forging an aluminum base plate but that really seems too dangerous an effort with melting 30 some lbs of aluminum at once. I worked in an acetylene/propane plant and I am familiar with crazy. Still paying health wise for some of those things. Great to hear (read) from you Jerry, hope all is busy and good.
with that in mind, the effort is more for enjoyment than for cost advantages, I presume…I’ll check the scrap yard when that project rears it’s head.
My vacuum table is waiting on an o-ring for the pump other wise it will be running soon. Next advancement will be that 4th axis Will posted about, than …well…we’ll see. Jude
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I thought about casting a table top as well, then I realized my crucible would hold about a quart of vintage scrap molten at the time(I do collect and segregate alloys for unified pours(Brother in law scraps heavy equipment at Yancy, so I get high quality scrap on occasion-currently he is keeping an eye open for some good pieces of Aluminum Plate for me to form a set of Bomber seats for my current car project-Shapeoko will play heavily in that as well)…and a continuous pour of Al was not in my skill set given I can only melt a quart at a time as well… I considered buying used cast router/saw tables and joining them(I have a bridge-building heliarc) flat , then figured out I was simply over-complicating things…something I have a huge propensity and tendency to do…making the tool the project instead of making the project with the tool… I don’t need that level of precision to be productive in wood. Vacuum table is a must do though…
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William, are we really brothers… My son always tells me to stop complicating and over engineering…my same propensity (nice word by the way)…I am waiting on a 39 cent o-ring from JB indus, the girl on the phone after 3 conversations finally said she’d have the factory mail me one, after I told her I’m not hvac, I make toys for kids and need the vacuum for my wood working and also that I’d put her on the good girl list. Just have to wait for snail mail. You’ve read the other post w/ my pulling a vacuum problems, I believe they’re solved except for the pump’s one inlet o-ring. Kinda strange cus if I close the end of the vacuum line it pulls 30 "'s and it pulls the pint jar filter fine, just will not do anything inside the vacuum slotted board. There can’t be more than a pint of volume in the table. But that is the weak link right now, soon I’ll know and be able to display another feature of my system. That pvc sheet is porous so seal it with shellac or something inside the slots if you’re still following my lead. Trying to keep the trail clear for the other pioneers, somebody is keeping me busy with snares I think. The 0-ring and the new shop ac unit will be in next week so all I’m doing right now is sorting and cleaning. I saw that I need to relocate half of my lumber stock cus the new ac is twice as big as the old one and there’s not room hopefully the new dust collection plenum will use enough wood to make room for the wood that’s in the way, that’s the project I have to do this week, dust collection plenum: table saw, scroll saw, band saw, saber saw, belt sander, disc sander, rotary tool station, pad sander, small shaper, no room for a separator unless…all these are joined to or on or under my table saw as a single unit oh there’s also a buffer. I really need a bigger shop. I too have been watching craglst for an old talesaw for the top, my SO3 will fit fine on a full size table saw top, if only I have the money when I see it, already missed a couple. I’ll pm you when I get my vacuum table up and running just to keep you at the top of the loop. Jude
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I knew you had to have an unstated factory connection with Santa Clause!
As to brothers…Could be…there are a lot of traits/eccentricities/and pure dumb luck we seem to share/cause/bring upon our selves/and provide countless hours of amusement/bemusement and aggravation for those who are close enough to observe us…
I can’t count how many times a seemingly insignificant part(in cost, function, or both) has held me up-never forget having to replace the AC condenser unit because the 50 cent housing for the shrader valve rusted away and could not be replaced(not enough metal to weld, braze or solder to…) for $12K…I made the installer wait while I nickel plated it inside and out before I would let him pull vacuum and charge the replacement unit…
On to my propensity to complicate everything…I constantly have to curb my enthusiasm to accomplish something. Too many ideas taking time from the corresponding implementations…
I am still mired in the what is going where stage of organizing my shop with more and more projects for the Shapeoko added daily! Right now it is just too hot/humid outside to do more than two hours of strenuous grunt work at the time-3-4 times in the daylight max…and I still have to disassemble and remove the Jalousies and frame up walls after I sort out my intended workflow, and pull the large tools out enough to give me room to work-on a side note the Jalousies are framed in with aluminum studs!
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Actually the grand kids had me let my beard grow long cus of that, and one time at my buddy’s house, his grand son hollered at him, “Grandpa, santa claus is at the door!” He’s been on my list for the last 3 years. For the past 5 yrs all I’ve built are toys for Christmas time for kids, last year I had 40 kids all over the country, I make them and send them free if the parents report that they’ve been good. I think that some of the parents lie so they can get the toy. That was the main reason I bought the Shapeoko, but I now see a good way to pay for this hobby that has burned up my budget so I will be selling toys this year to afford to make toys next year. Another kid asked me why I’m down here and not up at the north pole? “because everybody needs a base camp.” I don’t tell them I am but I don’t tell them I’m not either. By the way, gotta love your “AS to brothers…” Jude
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I have not made toys before, but as Santa Clause, Geogria is an hour or so from here and one of my best college buddies lives close, In the past I have been known to drive up for the weekend and visit the local post office to send holiday presents, cards, and warnings for youngsters who were riding the good/bad fence…most notably to another friend in Alaska! It is quite a bit of cool to see a kid see a real post mark from Santa Clause!
I have to admire the toy making, and the idea to finance it as well! Another set of ideas I might well have to make room for! I love your use of Plausable DeniabilityI best I have ever heard!!
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I used that phrase in engineering once, I had to do a poll for wanted software programs which had to be signed off by 27 vice presidents (way big company). I wanted a golf game (and games were outlawed by me) so I added it to the list as a percentage of plausable deniability so the VP’s could say that they did veto something on the list. Except only 3 realized it wasn’t one of my pranks and vetoed the golf game, signed on by 24 vp’s… I got my golf game (gift wrapped by my boss who couldn’t believe I pulled it off), It may look like a prank but I plausably denied it being one and the prank worked.
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There is some Buggs Bunny (as done by Mel Blanc!)in you!
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