what would you all choose?
If you had the choice between two tabletop style melting furnaces, what would you choose?
#1 The Hardin HD-234SS
#2 The Quickmelt Pro
There is a good price difference, but i have seen videos of people using both.
I'm asking because.... I should have about $1500 to play with soon. I will start out small, but want to try my hand at pouring my own stuff. (I have a brick house, not going to burn it down)
I want all your opinions, give me the good the bad and the ugly!
Don't worry @pit-bullion I will start of small first ;-)
all pics found using google image search
99% of most pours will be under 10ozt. A lot of us just modify the smaller furnace to handle larger pours if needed. The only differences between the furnaces is the top foam piece that you can remove and replace.
You run a Quickmelt or 2 right? thought i saw them in your kilo pour vids
@mr-vulcan is one of the Premier Experts that I am sure can answer a lot of your questions............@darkmrmystic
Yes I have one and the other one in the video is @stackinag47 furnace. In my opinion the tabletop is one of the most reliable furnaces out there and they are easy to fix if anything goes wrong with them
Thanks for the input @mr-vulcan
Steel bucket (5gal)
2x buckets firebrick mortar
12" piece of steel pipe
PVC butt joint
PVC pipe
2x U-bolts
A wide mouth bucket for molding the lid
A section of rebar, cut into 18" sections
A hair dryer from Goodwill
And then I picked up crucibles and stirring sticks from Amazon.
Crucible: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N249H8C/ref=sxts_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518276185&sr=1&pi=AC_SX160_SY231_QL65
Stir stick: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00C11IROW/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1518276272&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=graphite+stir+rod&dpPl=1&dpID=21NmEPBFeXL&ref=plSrch
And then it's just tongs, gloves, etc. I spent about $300 total for all the parts, and had a blast putting it together. It's basically an inch and a half of mortar painted onto the inside of the bucket, 1/4" at a time. Set up the hole in the side for the pipe, and mix a little water with the extra mortar and pour it into another bucket to make the lid. Add the U-bolts for handles, and then set the rebar across the top to hold the lid.
It's fired by charcoal briquettes, and gets up to about 1900°F. It'll melt most of the precious metals, aluminum, copper, lead, whatever you need. Seriously, the crucible glows red when I do it.
I'm firing it up tomorrow to melt some pop cans and make ingots, I'll share the results tomorrow!
Sweeeet! But i hear they break down pretty fast? Seen a vid where they layer steel like brillow pads in the morter mix so it lasts longer
It does degrade over time, yes. Once it warms up, I'm probably going to buy another bucket of mortar and fortify it again. But the price is certainly right!
And you're thinking of kaowool, which is incompatible with charcoal. You'll have to use propane if you go that route.
@darkmrmystic The MAFIA will give you the Best Advice.
Yep, hands down the best minds on Pouring are there. Easy to sign up. @darkmrmystic . I took the long scenic route in signing up, but you have to see my Youtube Metals Mafia Shout out video to understand. Best of luck pouring and looking forward to some unique pours from you.
You can sign up with the Metals Mafia? O.o
http://www.metalsmafia.com/
At your service, Kerris at the Metals Mafia Drama dept.
I think i will wait till i at least do my first pour, make me a little more qualified lol
Well bring them boys (and girls) down, i can't be the only one with questions 😉
I'm starting with a bow torch, crucible and whip
My BIC lighter just wont cut it. And I don't even smoke.
hahahaha, gotta MAP it UP lol
I told @pit-bullion i would too, but i know i will want to go bigger, want to sand cast too
Hell i want to quit my job and let the wife go back to her 4 12hr days a week here soon
I looked at some like that when i bought mine. I went with a small kiln and a torch set is on the way. Price was a main factor for me. Keep us posted
Will do 😀
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I do not know enough to offer an opinion, but looking forward to seeing how it goes. Like you said they both look nice.
From just glancing at the specifications they seem like they have similar capabilities but the 14AWG on the Hardin HD-234SS might be a better choice. However the Quick Melt Pro has more capacity and seems to get to temperature faster. ...I have to go with my original statement as I would need to do more research into which has the best controller and holds up better. --3D
--3D
Thanks @three-d for the input, im leaning towards the quickmelt because of temp display, capacity, and speed, plus the led fan looks sick 😉
I just would have to shovel out another $100ish