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Heat treat oven
- Thread starter stevehuckss396
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George,
While the stainless steel foil is thr right stuff to use, I think that the aluminum will work OK for Steve for the rings as the temperature he is working with is still 250 degrees F below the melting point of the aluminum. Even allowing 50 degrees or so of overshoot on the temperature controller there should still be a fair safety margin.
Still, it would be worth checking with some scrap before trying on a real part.
One precaution with aluminum that anytime there is any possibility of it melting in the furnace, always protect the furnace floor. Molten aluminum is a very good solvent and will dissolve many things, including the insulating firebrick that is typically used for the floor of small kilns. Then you pry the offending part out of the floor and patch. I have several patches in the floor of my furnace from making mistakes over the years.
I keep some insulating firebrick around to make holding fixtures to elevate the part above the floor. It is soft enough to easily work with hand tools, even a hobby knife, to provide support where needed and keep things in place when removing a part to quench.
Gail in NM
While the stainless steel foil is thr right stuff to use, I think that the aluminum will work OK for Steve for the rings as the temperature he is working with is still 250 degrees F below the melting point of the aluminum. Even allowing 50 degrees or so of overshoot on the temperature controller there should still be a fair safety margin.
Still, it would be worth checking with some scrap before trying on a real part.
One precaution with aluminum that anytime there is any possibility of it melting in the furnace, always protect the furnace floor. Molten aluminum is a very good solvent and will dissolve many things, including the insulating firebrick that is typically used for the floor of small kilns. Then you pry the offending part out of the floor and patch. I have several patches in the floor of my furnace from making mistakes over the years.
I keep some insulating firebrick around to make holding fixtures to elevate the part above the floor. It is soft enough to easily work with hand tools, even a hobby knife, to provide support where needed and keep things in place when removing a part to quench.
Gail in NM
