What is Don Mitchell's waste oil fired kiln/furnace?
It's a multi-function furnace with a kiln section on top, sharing the oil burner and exhaust.
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| Large scraps placed on the funnel will melt and flow down into a waiting crucible, which can then be poured into ingot molds. | The six-foot extension allows the furnace to be used inside, regardless of the weather. |
Opportunity!
If you are a D.I.Y. Hobby metal caster and are interested in building your own Kiln or Foundry Furnace, I've written and illustrated a step by step guide that will let you learn from my experience and have your unit up and running in no time.
Our Journey - The Short Version:
Twenty five years ago I built Dave Gingerly’s charcoal fired furnace in a five gallon bucket. Recently, I resurrected the little furnace and converted it to propane. Then to further reduce operating costs, I converted it to Colin Peck’s waste oil burner.
One thing lead to another, resulting in the building of this multi-function furnace. This new furnace is larger than the old one and has a much larger kiln section on top, sharing the oil burner and exhaust.
The ability to melt aluminum at little or no expense, has allowed experimenting with lost foam casting techniques.
The development of the multi-function kiln/furnace was a journey of experience, trial and error, and a little serendipity. I've listed the highlights (the long journey) in more or less chronological order for your reading pleasure.