JJSTE v40n2 - The Production of a Kerosene Burning Crucible Furnace and a Lesson in Casting Aluminum

Abstract:

The Production of a Kerosene Burning Crucible Furnace and a Lesson in Casting Aluminum
Toshikazu YAMAMOTO, Ryoya MAKINO

A lesson in aluminum casting was conducted in a Junior High School Industrial Arts and Home Making (Gijutsu Katei)course using a kerosene burning crucible furnace. The purpose of this lesson was to produce something by recycling metal articles such as aluminum cans and aluminum engine parts. In order to achieve this goal, we constructed a kerosene burning crucible furnace that met the following criteria: (1) it had to have the capacity to contain the amount of aluminum necessary for casting one class of student's products, in other words, it had to be able to melt approximately forty pieces at one time; (2) it had to be as smaller and portable as possible; (3) it had to be able to heat up to approximately 750C which is the temperature necessary to keep aluminum fluid; (4) is had to burn kerosene as it is an easily obtainable fuel, and it had to prevent sparks from shooting up in the air; (5) it had to heat up in short time. Regarding the casting method, the full mold method was used because it can be done easily by Junior High School students and don't take much time. This lesson may also be useful in environment education since it involves recycling of metallic scrap articles.

Key words : casting, metal working, kerosene burning crucible furnace, full mold method, utilization of waste aluminum cans