The
Founding of Metals Some guys think they can build a small arc furnace to melt iron and steel, just like some guys think they're going to do chrome plating on the kitchen table to save a few dollars. If they only knew of the complexity of the electrical (and other) equipment needed, they'd soon realize it just isn't feasible.
To
find a workable method to melt iron, you go back a hundred years to simpler
technology. For cast iron you need a cupola: a cylinder lined with a refractory.
Chastain,Stewart
Marshall and others will show you practical designs that they use.
And Stewart recommends Kirk's 1910 cupola book (which we will again offer
sometime soon). Here is, what appears to be, the third edition of Kirk's
first iron book written in 1877. This is the book the established Kirk
as an authority in the field.
The
first section covers the technology of melting iron in a cupola and pouring
castings as it was back then. The second half then covers other topics the
author thought any worthwhile foundryman should know.
Check out the table of contents. Kirk covers a little of everything. Some topics run several pages, but most are only several paragraphs, simply written, and direct to the point. You get practical information.
Now before you go turning up your nose, stop and think. This is the technology that produced steam locomotives for the railroads, cast-iron storefronts for the rebuilding of Chicago after the 1871 fire, and it's also the technology used to cast the giant anchors that hold up the Brooklyn bridge to this day.
I think if you fire a cupola or plan to some day, you need to know what the old-timers knew. And I think you'll be amazed by how primitive the technology could be and still get remarkable results.
A great book from "Mr. Cupola" himself. Early, hard-to-find technological information. Consider it carefully. 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 softcover 272 numbers pages, 21 woodcuts, almost 300 pages total
No. 23187 ... $11.95
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