For those around the world who don't have access to K23 porous insulating bricks (like myself) there's an alternative: Make a wooden frame for your brick and get two bags of cat litter. The transparent cat litter (sometimes with blue color-changing crystals) is porous silica, mix that with little bit of water and NaOH and heat to make Sodium silicate, it's a high-temperature binder, will look like a gel once cooled. Now get the other cat sand, the brown one that turns into chunks when pissed on, that's bentonite, mix it with saw dust and the Sodium silicate (mix it well) and put it into your mould and leave it to harden a little (it'll harden faster with CO2 if you have a source) then burn it on a firepit, you'll end up with a super-hard insulating porous brick. The sodium silicate-bentonite recipe is used for cores of sand-cast molds, it's a known and reliable recipe for high temp material, the saw dust is to create the pores, it can be replaced for styrofoam balls or anything else that will burn off (leaving the insulating gaps inside the brick). The result is brown porous brick that you'll need a sledge hammer to break. Get a Sodium silicate recipe online, follow through and see if your sodium silicate doesn't foam too much when heated, even then you can scrape the excess. This worked for me much better than the ever cracking sand + plaster recipes. I know it's a lot of work but as I said I don't have K23 bricks and normal non-porous "firebricks" will not work well for this. Since you'll have spare bentonite cat sand also know this type of cat sand can be ground and used as greensand for casting all sorts of non-ferrous metals. I'm not sure of the relation of cats and casting but it seems there is one. Great tutorial, as always.

This man is an absolute legend. It’s incredible enough how many complex projects he hits out of the park, but when you consider the fact that he makes in-depth tutorial videos WHILE he’s doing all of this- freaking incredible! 😮

I am SO SO happy I found your channel! I've been really wanting to do in house wax casting, but the price of kilns is just out if this world. Thank you for sharing all your amazing projects with us! You've inspired me to get uncomfortable and try something I normally wouldn't. SO excited to recreate this kiln.

I LOVE how your furnace is opened for crucible removal. I'm very much looking forward to seeing tne rest of the videos in this series. :-)

that recessed hole for the coil is so satisfying! awesome video! i didnt know i wanted one of these so bad until now!

It’s the tip that the most sensitive part,..I told my wife 😂😂😂

Brilliant video!!! The most thorough and understandable video on this subject I've found. Thank you so much...

I admire your thorough approach of building this project! I am a silversmith and have been thinking about building something like this. I think I’m going to go with gas as my time is critical to get as much finished in a day. Thank you for the time you put into doing your videos! 🍺❤️

Thank you, thank you, thank you. There are many electric foundry videos out there but your is the best. Mostly because you explained the most important part - Understanding the coil. There are a thousand different ways to build the foundry but only one way to get the cool right and no one talks about that. I also like how you put the link to the other parts of the series. No one does that. 👍

Content 1:12 - *Why electryc?* 1:42 - *Design* 2:26 - *Bricks* 2:58 - *Table* 3:25 - *Base* 5:09 - *Framework* 9:03 - *Recessing* 10:03 - *Coils:* 11:07 - *× Volts* 11:33 - *× Current* 12:33 - *× Power* 13:04 - *× Resistance* 14:17 - *× Stretching* 14:31 - *× Tails* 15:14 - *× Recessing* 15:48 - *Connections* 18:03 - *Brickwork* 20:20 - *Connections (Tails)* 21:39 - *Framework (Top)*

Wow!!!! You did an awesome job! Thank you so Mutch for the in- depth video (including the mistakes & corrections). That is sooo appreciated by those of us who actually will try to build one of these!!!! To your Honor!

How did I miss this wonderful video... What a great build for a quiet furnace...

Brotha you got that voice that should be a story teller. Awsome vid. Man

I have watched many furnace videos and I have to say this is one of the best I have seen. Amazing ideas and work. Definitely subscribed!

This is an incredible video. The filming, editing a everything is really good, and the project is even better. You've earned a new subscriber.

Thermal wire insulation, pop round and see your mechanic, if he's not got any kicking around, ask him to hold on to any old lambda probes or exhaust temp sensors, these are insulated with the very same tube you used & will be free, cut the ends off and you have now got an insulated tube & some short lengths of quality wire. Came across you a few years back, and I've come across you again doing other things, nice work

Thanks!

All houses in the US are wired for 240 Volts AC but it's a split phase. There are 2 - 120 volt mains (added together for 240 volt) and a neutral.

Top notch...well done

Like i say too my wife, its the tip thats the most sensitive ha ha, love your work and the description you give, if i ever get round to building one ill definatly be following your vidios. Thanks also for the time and effort you put in ;)

Brilliant, I've nearly watched all of your videos (at 2x speed). Cheers for being interesting.

wow. thank you. its not just the things u say its how u say them!

I love the video, you have obviously put a lot of care and thought into making it easy to follow. I must admit that the engineer in me was somewhat horrified at the thought of supporting a foundry on a wooden frame, but I guess you would have told us if your house had burnt down the first time you used it :-) Best Regards Sarah

Great video

Its voltage that killst you not current. Nobody says "danger high current", but allthough a god video.

Amazing videos, style and content. You really are interested in having your viewer learn and utilize the knowledge and information you are providing. Thank you.

This is fantastic! I dont even need it for my needs. Not sure what you do for a living but whatever it is, you're cut out for it.

Thanks Bro. Thanks so much. Awesome vid.

LOL!!! at 10:43 you illustrate glowing hot coils in your hands without smoldering the fingers. It's like you're superman or something. Nice illustration work. Love the furnace and videos. Great job!

In the USA we have split phase 240/120. From hot to neutral it is 120v, from hot to hot it is 240v. High draw appliances like stove, water heater, large a/c and stuff like that use 240v. Most other things use 120v.

Damn coolest furnace ive seen... I've not seen many lmao

Why the hell don't people watch this stuff? This is great.

damn nice build! I am glad that there are still other people out there that were taught that if somethings worth doing then its worth doing right! Everyone gets lazy occasionally and cuts corners but it always comes back to bite ya in the ass even on the simplest of things. Course now that ya got a couple furnaces ya need a temp controlled chest style oven that's reasonably airtight that way you can heat treat your own aluminum castings and even do stuff under a co2,argon or nitrogen atmosphere when needed :)...chest style just makes it easy to displace the oxy and not use huge amounts of the bottled gases

17:30 wtf xD, totally unexpected lol

Çok güzel anlatmışsın.Tebrik ederim.Arkadaşım

Wow you need like 10 million subscribers

Will be perfect for melting precipus metals, aluminum, copper, and maybe brass.

Love this design

Great to see you're back

Incredible video. Thanks for the tip tip.. LOL :)

Vegoilguy built this in a cave! With a box of scraps!

Hexagons are the bestagons

Very good video, I learned a lot. You impress me with your dedication and understanding of what needs explaining. Very good fun watching.

Wow what an awesome presentation, with all the information and detail. Surely am looking forward to the whole build before starting on one. Thank you for sharing :-)

It's volts that jolts, but mils that kills!!

Subscribed, a very lengthy detailed explanation, Thank you indeed.

Really good work.

Really good video again and great design, if only firebricks weren't so expensive. Although i have gotten away with using large paving stones from time to time

Vape videos brought me here, now I want to build a ceramics kiln for some odd reason.

US houses have both 110v and 220v services. Usually only large appliances are wired to 220v so 220v sockets are not in most rooms of a house. The 220v is achieved by connecting two 180 degree out of phase 110v mains. This is what is supplied to almost all residential housing.

Very nice work , you desingne es perfec .

This is a really great video series. However, when I came to starting the process of building my own, I came across a difficulty. I was able to locate the listing for the insulating firebrick blocks you used. However, the supplier would not ship to Canada. So I began searching in Canada. And there came the shocker: The cost of one (1) brick, the same type as you used (also TAOW), cost more than an entire crate of the same brick, purchased in the UK. I contacted the local supplier directly, rather than through the common sales web site, and asked why there was such an astonishing price difference. I was told that "our bricks are a much higher grade." Some weeks later, I was able to visit the supplier personally. I discovered that their insulating firebrick is exactly the same as what you used, in every respect, including the original manufacturer. Ordering insulating firebrick from the U.S.A. was not feasible because of customs issues. In any case, the bricks from the U.S. maker were a poorer grade of insulator. So, at this point, I'm stuck. I suppose I could fly to the UK business class, purchase two crates, perhaps three of the insulating firebrick you use in these videos, and return to Canada with it. Believe it or not, to do so would cost less than ordering from the intermediary supplier in Canada. I'm now in search of alternative sources, or how a different type of high-temperature insulator might be used. I have some experience in engineering, which helps, but to be brutally honest, the supplier for this refractory material here is just incredibly greedy, as well as being "economical with the truth." When I was still working professionally, any supplier who gave bad information went onto a special list of companies from whom we would not buy so much as a thumbtack. Thanks for your work in making this series - it was really instructive, and chock full of information. And who knows - I may yet make a trip to the UK, just to buy the insulating firebrick (and have a bit of a holiday as well).

Before continuing, perhaps you should fashion a link for your watch out of all that scrap metal.

Excellent. There are a few vids on differing methods of DIY furnace . Although this design is not the most basic ( ie sand , charcoal and hairdryer ). It looks simple enough and cleaner / more controllable. Do you think this could be used as both a furnace to melt metal ( Aluminium probably first ) and then as a kiln to burn out wax from a plaster casting ? I would fit with PID / thermocouple to monitor temps

You are Master! Graças!

Please do video on diy charcoal foundry?

LOL Just the tip!

King of random sent me👍🏻

Excellent video! Very well thought out build plan and execution, and explanations were clear and concise. Your voice/accent added to a level of clarity, too. I have watched dozens of other videos on building an electric foundry and none are as well done as yours. I subscribed and moving on to the next videos in the series. One question: what are your thoughts on using heating elements from an electric stove?

13:00 Actually you may use several outlets. It's all about a "bottleneck" in your electricity supply line (current-wise). Some lines able to supply much more, than one outlet. 16A, 24A, 32A etc. You just must carefully assess the whole supply line and know what actual "bottleneck" is.

awesome sir did you measure how many watt power generated and how long before steel, copper and al for getting melt for each kg?

Respectfully, fire brick mortar & Grade 28 fire bricks, Question, where do I get this Sir ? Do they sale it at a home Depot or Lowe's ? Or online ? I travel & have cash but can try to use a card if I need to....???? & Thank you kindly for your videos Sir Sincerest, Paul~

silica fire brick 3000 degrees Fahrenheit or rutland fire brick up to 2700 degrees Fahrenheit will this work for Making a forge ?

Im in the US, any idea where to get some firebricks, the ones in the UK have crazy shipping prices

What did your wife say about you building that in the house? I would never get away with that, great film though.

Hi, I'm from Brazil, and congratulations for your channel! Is the best Eletric Furnace in the internet When you use around 13.3 meters, 23 ohms, 10 A, generate 138 kJ per minute, and if you use around 6.65 meters, 11.5 ohms, 20 A, generate 276 kJ per minute, would that be a better a fast option to melt aluminum? thank you so much!

First time here on your channel, 3 minutes into the video, and caught myself thinking - WHY THE FUCK AM I NOT SUBSCRIBED YET??? :D Great stuff, and impressing quality!!! :3

Wow, this is such excellent video! Most informative and detailed I've seen to date yet. I too seen the other kid's video and loved it. This project has been on backburner for couple years now. I got soft firebrick and 100 feet of Kanthal wire sitting but wasn't sure how to calculate proper wattage, I understand all the basic math but what was confusing me is the fact I've read that once the wire heats up the resistance drops in half so this was throwing me off. Now is is really necessary to have such thick walls? All the kilns I've seen use thinner walls.

I wonder if the mental frame is necessary? Can I just use fire bricks and mortar?

You could combine the coil with an RFD to produce two-phase power. Though glad you mentioned it is dangerous because I immediately thought two power outlets, No! Of note, transitory can add extra protection between a mains power and the device you wish to use, however they can be quite expensive where I live due to the grey nomad effect.

In the US at least, you’re supposed to use devices which draw max 80% of the current rating of the upstream breaker. You went with 10A which meets this 👍🏼

Its simply awesome. Excellent planning and execution. I love the reasoning given for every design element. You mention this is going to be used inside... do you have another foundry for creating ingots? I found that breaking down dirty / painted aluminum creates a lot of fumes that would make a mess indoors. Anyways, look forward to seeing part 2!

en mi país no he podido encontrar de esos "bricks"

When speaking of fast melting you failed to mention induction heater/foundy! They are affordable and very effective. Even a DIY induction heater for less than 200€ can melt small amounts of alu/copper/brass in no more than a couple minutes.

If nuclear fusion were achieved, then I would power a foundry with electricity everyday.

It would be interesting to test if we can melt that much aluminium with say a 10Kw induction furnace.......

Not to be a downer but as good as this foundry looks is it cheaper than just buying one of the same quality or no?

Oh ! and what is the gauge of the Kanthal Wire you are using for coils ? Many Thanks

I’m just lining a Paula oven. Those bricks are glass non porous. How can I cut those same system wet them and miter saw?

Tell me if you want a little faster way to get up to temperature you can use a variac and simply get a cheap pyrometer an analog pyrometer might cost $50 US they're pretty accurate. You can't beat the Simplicity of running the coil on a variac

If my max amps in Canada is 15 should I go with 12?

I imagine this gets hot enough to melt the Hydro meter as well...lol. Seriously though, what's the max temp of this design? Thanks.

Approximately how much did this project ultimately cost?

Can you help me find a way to make a mini electric foundery

How did you learn about electricity / furnaces? Was it all Internet and experimenting? Any schooling? A mentor?

Also you did a beautiful job and I'm not trying to criticize you at all but. You did not have to leave the walls of this Foundry that thick! I'm a Potter and I have a kiln and it can get up to about 2400 degrees and the Bricker only 2 and 1/2 in thick and you can't even hardly feel the heat on the outside.

I thought this was about an induction furnace, which is more efficient? :o

Hi, I have used the coil calculator on your website. The calculation showed a required wire length of 14.38 m (by 230 Volts, 8 Amps max., 2,9 Ohms/m (wire) and 8 mm inner diameter of the coil). I am a little confused why you should need 14.38 meters? To achieve 29 Ohms and with a wire resistance of 2,9 Ohms/m, I would calculate: 29/2,9 = 10 meters. So 10 meters of the wire should cause 29 Ohms?! Or am I wrong? An answer would help me a lot! Best greetings

You have the choice of 120V or 240V in North America.

The 30mm angle, what was the wall thickness you used? I can get it in 3, 4 and 5mm, would like to keep the weight down as much as possible, hoping it was 3mm but wanted to check!

Which screws and bolts work good on the Metal instead of welding?

I've got to ask why you wouldn't use a transformer to buck the voltage/current, that way you're not trying to strain the electrical capacity of your houses wiring.

*Wear a respirator 😷 the whole time you’re working with the quartz/silica bricks!

This coil stuff is confusing the hell out of me. I need 53 in long coil with 120v and 13A with a resistance of 9.231 ohms. What does the gurth have to do with it and how do I find it ?

How's that Kanthal wire holding up is it as good or better than the other types of wires used? Any cons?

would it be posible to make a burn out oven like this?

This project Secure i can made it ????? In my country very hard find this Foundry

Wouldn't cutting Castellated like holes on the inner wall around the heating elements create more efficient heat transferance, so not to have to heat so much material, while at the same time stop drooping in the elements.

How can it be made much bigger (in sq. ft.)

Love what you have done but could you tell me were you got your thermocouple controller from please