Foundry guys...can I use aluminum cans?

If you want to use cans, it's best to have a puddle of aluminum to drop them into so hey won't burn up (melt the old piston first). And as said earlier, it takes a lot of them. And make sure you have a s**** setup to skim the dross.

 

Whatever you decide, one thing is paramount: make sure whatever you pour your molten aluminum into is dry, better yet, warm or even hot. Moisture under molten aluminum is a bad thing... I have scars across the hairline on my forehead and on my left eyelid where some ***hat didn't properly heat a drop tub.

You might think it's overkill, but a good faceshield (I still have mine from the smelter, it's attached to a hard hat and has a fireproof skirt around the sides of the helmet) and some heavy cotton clothing can be the difference between painful scars and some mildly burnt clothing. Avoid wearing synthetic clothing when casting, peeling polyester off your body when it fuses with your skin ****s. Leather should be avoided also, as it can shrink up drastically. Nomex is not a good idea, as the molten metal can cling to it and burn right through, causing more issues...

 

Heck I've used them, filled them with chips from the lathe to add weight. One way to think about dross (crud on the surface of the molten metal) The more surface area per pound equal more dross and less molten aluminum. Wire, duct, cans, screen, extrusions, lathe chips are not very thick, more surface area than thickness.
Another little nugget, if your melting allot of s****, melt it down make ingots, then add your ingots to your better castings/pistons makes for better pours.
Also a "can" can be used to put some flux/ grain refiner in your melts.

Must be completely DRY! Dryer than a dead dingo's donger! a drop of water/beer that can get super heated, can blow the smile off your ***/face in a second! So be careful.

 

my high school shop cl*** copied hurst "T" shifter handles by melting down old alum. frame lawn chairs. seemed to work good.

 

Whatever you decide to do, make sure you at least engage in your favorite activity of drinking the beer. This is a crucial ingredient!

 

Can't stress enough what he said. I worked in a foundry a while ago and witnessed hot aluminum and water-they don't effin' mix! Fumes are the other issue-most fumes from any aluminum casting process are deadlier than a pissed-off wife.

Another thing;contact with molten aluminum is different than molten steel. The aluminum will stick to your skin,where as molten iron is less likely to adhere to flesh. Not sure why;just remember that from the training and orientation when I transferred to that hole.

Good luck,but take care.

 

Aluminum cans are made with two alloys. The body of the can is 3003 and the lid is 5182. Under the best conditions there is a 2% melt lost when you melt aluminum. Trying to melt an aluminum can without flattening and compressing it will result in a much higher loss.

We used recycled cans in our cast house. They came in from the recycler in 24" cubes that had been run through a compactor. The bale was basically a solid m*** of aluminum made out of the cans. The bales were heated to a temperature above 212 degrees to drive out all of the moisture that was in the bales. Water and molten aluminum don't mix well at all. Violent explosions can result. Aluminum cast house have been leveled because of molten aluminum getting poured into water under the right conditions. Alcoa did some of the first controlled test with pouring molten aluminum into water after one of their cast houses was totally destroyed. They took pictures of the test in slow motion. The explosion created was more violent than they had expected. It completely destroyed everything in the test area including the bunker they built to contain the blast. Message here is be very careful when pouring molten aluminum. Everything has to be dry.

There are better forms of aluminum to use in a home foundry that cans.

I worked in the aluminum industry for over 30 years.