Stovetop Metal Casting

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  • 900F dissolving point of aluminum in zinc from pennies to get Zn-Al alloy that is 80% the strength of mild steel. Simple pot on a stove does it. Takes advantage of low melt temp of zinc.[1]. Takes advantage of higher strength of aluminum and has strength better than aluminum. Zn tensile strength is 30ksi.
  • This removes the induction furnace from the requirement of melting aluminum for aluminum casting.
  • Melting point of 900F is 480C. Aluminum is 660C.

Links

  • Alloy melt temperatures - [2]
  • Open Source Metallurgy Construction Set
  • This desktop arc furnace (from a welder, a firebrick, and battery electrodes) can melt pretty much anything (including river rocks). It could be quite easy to scale up a bit