Melting brass for lost wax casting

[inlay chris]

I've been trying to cast intricate ormolu mounts for the miniature furniture I make..
I've worked out the modelling, wax injecting OK and am very happy with this part but the metal is my big problem...
Firstly I bought myself a spin casting machine and burnout kiln, OK so far..
I then tried and failed to melt brass, the castings have to be gold anyway and it seemed the obvious choice. Sadly I've been unable to melt it effectively. I've used propane, butane and mapp gas which worked to a degree but was still unreliable. I thought the trouble was the small crucible dissipating the heat.
With this in mind I started using aluminium to start with and then pewter because of the low melting point...I now have serious electro plating problems which has been driving me mad...

Yesterday I bought a rothenberger oxy propane setup thinking this should surely crack the problem but still won't melt the brass. How much more time and money do I have to spend solving this 10 year problem? Any ideas would be very welcome.

It can be any gold coloured metal....

[Old-Biker-UK]

I've cast brass OK using propane (BIG Burner) in a home made crucible furnace (Think 12in steel cylinder lined with fire cement and a hole in the side for the burner)
One thing to be aware of with brass are the zinc fumes that are generated - nasty stuff:no:
Oh yes - make sure the moulds are well burnt out - not doing so gave me some interesting results...............
Mark

[inlay chris]

I've cast brass OK using propane (BIG Burner) in a home made crucible furnace (Think 12in steel cylinder lined with fire cement and a hole in the side for the burner)
One thing to be aware of with brass are the zinc fumes that are generated - nasty stuff:no:
Oh yes - make sure the moulds are well burnt out - not doing so gave me some interesting results...............
Mark


The only problem I have is I'm spin casting so the melt has to be in the crucible mounted on the machine. I'm going to give a mapp gas oxy mix a try and get that extra heat...
Worked on the burnout and don't take shortcuts, I've had a few messups before because of 'finning' etc and my workshop still have molten metal stuck to the walls to prove it...

I like the idea though..Maybe I can rig up a fire brick cage I can remove just before spinning the machine?

[bob ward]

If you've not been there, alloyavenue.com is a great source of info for all things DIY metal casting, the melting of brass is a well covered subject.

[labr@]

Why can't you melt the metal in another furnace/crucible and then pour it into the crucible on the machine?

Can you post a pic of the machine? It may help to illustrate the limitations / possibilities.