PDA

View Full Version : Source of Aluminium ingots



Ueee
24th Aug 2014, 04:17 PM
Hi guys,
Does anyone have a source for aluminium ingots?

I have someone local making me a furnace (he normally makes gas forges) and need to feed it.....

Cheers,
Ew

variant22
26th Aug 2014, 09:00 PM
Hi guys,
Does anyone have a source for aluminium ingots?

I have someone local making me a furnace (he normally makes gas forges) and need to feed it.....

Cheers,
Ew
Furnace is on my list. I got a bunch of Kaowool a while back in anticipation..

Also interested to hear of a source for ingots.

RoyG
27th Aug 2014, 09:40 AM
Hi guys,
Does anyone have a source for aluminium ingots?

I have someone local making me a furnace (he normally makes gas forges) and need to feed it.....

Cheers,
Ew

Hi Ueee,

Have you considered buying aluminum engine parts from a wreckers ? You should be able to obtain aluminum cylinder heads and engine blocks at scrap metal prices. Unless you need a specific alloy, in which case you'd probably be back to having to buy the much more expensive ingots, if you can find a supplier who will sell you less that a whole semi-trailer load of ingots. When I needed to buy aluminum ingots for a project a few years ago, I found it impossible to buy small quantities retail.

Back in 2008, I had some replacement Aluminum castings made as part of restoring an old marine engine. The bloke who did the casting for me used an old Magna Cylinder Head that I'd got from the wreckers. I think I paid about $20.00 for the cracked and warped cylinder head. When I bought it, the wreckers had already stripped the head of all non-alloy parts and cleaned it, ready for recycling, so apart from cutting up into bite sized bits, it was ready to be fed to the furnace.

Just a suggestion,

Regards,

Roy

Old Croc
29th Aug 2014, 01:33 PM
Ew as Roy said. I have a deal with a few local mechanics and they keep anything alloy for me, and at Christmas I give them a carton. The only thing to be carefull of is that a lot of auto part sourced alloy can have steel dowels and seats embedded in the alloy. When I do my pour I run it through a kitchen sieve to catch the impurities.
rgds,
Crocy.

Ueee
29th Aug 2014, 11:45 PM
Thanks guys,
I'll talk to some of the wreckers and see what i can come up with.

Ew

eskimo
5th Sep 2014, 05:28 PM
Hi guys,
Does anyone have a source for aluminium ingots?



I am wanting to also make a furnace...and I now wish I was still doing work for Castalloy (Harley Davidson)...they had lots of scrap ..and including lots of ingots:C

soundman
19th Sep 2015, 07:18 PM
Another option is to visit your freindly local scrap metal dealer ...... they will mostly sell as cheerfully as they buy.
cheers

texx
21st Sep 2015, 09:08 PM
mag wheels , if they are very old just check with drop of vinigar to make sure they are not magnesium but very few are . cylinder heads , intake manifolds , bell housings any thing that has been cast before and is aluminium is what i use , i stay away from extruded stuff .

johno

grd
29th Sep 2015, 03:05 PM
i stay away from extruded stuff .

What's the reason for that? I take it there's some sort of difference in the end result.

Graeme

soundman
29th Sep 2015, 11:59 PM
there are many different grades of aluminium .... not sure of the detail .... but extruded producst seem to be softer and do not drill and machine as freely as cast products.

I've done a lot of drilling and routing of extrusion and its like toffee compared to a nice free machining cast.

cheers

bob ward
30th Oct 2015, 12:03 AM
Industry uses a lot of 356 alloy for casting, trying to find it in small quantities could be tricky.

Myself I use alloy cylinder heads, blocks, gearbox casings, alloy wheels etc. I stay away from extrusions those alloys are made with an eye to their extruding qualities rather than their casting qualities.

Breaking up big lumps of alloy into small crucible size pieces can be hard work, I'm not in suburbia so i can get away with this.
http://www.alloyavenue.com/vb/showthread.php?9541-Water-bath-bulk-scrapper-for-aluminium