small PortableARC FURNACE

Easily Built of Clay and Bricks

Use rubber gloves to avoid electric shocks and don't look at the arc itself unless you wear dark goggles

The furnace with cover removed. Chemical compounds can be prepared in small crucibles set on the bottom within the bowl

cool, drill the specified air holes. Laying Brick. Lay common OME workshop experibrick on sheet metal and fill in menters are often between them with clay. Prepare stumped for the lack more clay, using same ratio as of a high-temperature before. Set the bowl on the fire furnace. It is relatively easy, howbrick slices. Construct a brick ever, to build a furnace like the wall around the first brick and one illustrated, which develops bowl as shown. Pack between the about 2,300 deg. F. and satisfies bowl and brick with powdered all ordinary needs. asbestos mixed with water. Allow Preparing Clay Mixture. In a to dry thoroughly. crock mix smoothly 5 lb. of kaolin, Reactance and Connections. 20 lb. of fire clay, 25 lb. of silica How the bowl is set up on bricks. A wood base should be proThis arc furnace needs a reactance (white sand), and enough water to vided so that the furnace can be carried easily by two persons to limit the amount of current make a plastic mixture. Remove passing through. Cut enough 1 about 15 lb. and pound it on a board until Construction of Bowl. Make a disk of by 6-in. strips of soft iron or transformer all air is forced out. Repeat with remain- clay 10-in. in diameter and 3 in. thick. steel to make a pile 1 3/8 in. high, wrap with der. Allow to set over night, keeping it Form a strip 2 in. wide and 3 in. high. tape, and wind with No. 12 insulated wire covered with a damp cloth. Place this on the base, all along the edge, until the coil reaches a diameter of 3 in. Carbon Connections. Thread a 12-in. and smooth with moistened hands. Lay Connect on end of the reactance to a carlength of in. pipe, cut it in two, then the pipes and nuts on this wall directly bon, the other end, along with the second drill and tap holes for set screws as shown. across from one another and 4 7/8 in. from carbon, to the 110-volt A.C. house current. Fit wood handles on opposite ends and the bottom surface of the base. ComElectric welder's goggles should be worn wrap with friction tape. plete construction of the walls until 8 in. to protect your eyes from the arc's glare. high. Construct the lid according to the drawings. Set all in a cool List of Materials The bowl and l i d are made of kaolin, fire place for four days, then 10 lb. kaolin or china clay (80c.) clay, and sand. The remove outdoors for a 100 lb. silica or white sand ($2) connections are made similar period. 100 lb. fire clay No. 1, pyrometric cone directly to the pipes equivalent rating 30 (78c.) Baking Clay. A f t e r 4 fire brick slices (25c.) they have been air-dried, 40 common brick (50c.) place the leather-hard 6 lb. powdered asbestos (30c.) 12-in. length of in. pipe and 2 nuts for bowl and cover in a cool in. pipe (50c.) oven. Start with a tem2 carbons, in. (30c.) perature of 50 deg. F. 18 by 18 in. 10-gage metal (50c.) 6 alundum crucibles, 1-in. mouth ($1.20) Every hour and a half 210 ft. (1 lb.) bell wire (75c.) raise the heat 50 deg. un150 ft. annealed iron wire, No. 14 (25c.) til a temperature of 450 1 by 5 in. board, 5 ft. long (15c.) deg. is reached. Then reNOTE: The prices in parentheses are what the author paid. The fire clay duce the heat 100 deg. and fire brick slices may be obtained every hour and allow the from any oil-burner establishment. clay to cool slowly. When

WORKSHOP HINTS

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