Home built barrel furnace 2018

Building the barrel furnace June 2018

Some steps of the building process of the barrel furnace.

Second fire the barrel furnace June 2018

The first warming up resulted in a fail due to the Kaowool was not as heat resistant as expected, but here an attempt with the old Mizzou furnace inside it with Kaowool insulation.

Test small paint can furnace with cast iron 20191225

A smaller version of a kaowool lined furnace and inner wall coated with Fermit chamotte mortar. After two heats to 1500ºC it survived well. Here it is used for iron casting.

Update Jan 2020, new lining for this furnace.

I built a new 'roaring furnace'. My old one made from Mizzou concrete takes up too much heat which prevents heating it up much.
So I ordered a 60 liter barrel (56cm/22" height and 36cm/14" diameter) and made a furnace of it. I use only Kaowool instead of 'traditional' refractory. The floor is lined with YTONG cell concrete of 5cm /2" thick and a plinth of 10cm/4" diameter and 7.5cm/3" high in the center of the same material. This is all covered with a single 1" layer of Kaowool and a graphite pad on top of it to prevent sticking the crucible to the plinth.
The inner walls are a single layer of Rockwool and the outer layer and two 1" layers of Kaowool. Finally, the inner diameter is 23-25cm (9-10") which fits even a 1 liter crucible (I have one of it, rest are 0.5 liter ones). The inner height is 30cm/12", with plinth under it, the top of the crucible is a few cm below the top of the furnace.
The lid has two layers of Kaowool which are kept inside by bending the cut off top and the center hole inward. When cutting off the top of the barrel (about 13cm/5") which is the lid, I cut perpendicular vertical cuts of about 5cm/2" to allow them bending inward which holds the kaowool inside. Moreover, I'll bend it in the furnace body only 45-60 degrees and in the lid 135-120 degrees, so it appears a bit conical which helps preventing sideways venting.
The top hole I'll use a similar approach: cut 4-5 10cm/4" long cuts in the center which have a star-like appearance initially with the angle grinder and then bend them inward for holding the kaowool in the center and leaving the exhaust hole in the center. I'll leave the original hole at the rim of the lid barely covered with kaowool to allow an extra peephole for e.g. pyrometer access. Furthermore I'll use two handles made of rebar with M10 bolts welded to it and mounted on the lid with corresponding nuts + washers.
The burner hole is about 10cm/4" above the (gross) bottom which is about 3cm above the inside bottom. I cut this out the same way as the exhaust hole and bending it inward, but then elliptically because of the tangential anticlockwise burner entry. I use a propane burner with forced air which I already have (see photo).
First fire failure
Unfortunately, the lining melted like plastic at the first fire, it was not 1500°C rated as expected. So I used the old Mizzou furnace built in 1992, which is 1650ºC resistant, but not well insulating. I put it inside the insulation wrapped within the Kaowool which then will not be heated above 1200°C. The first (second) fire succeeded and melted some brass.

Melting copper viewed through the exhaust hole.

Photos of building of the furnace June 2018

The plain barrel just received	This is how the burner will enter the barrel
	The grooves cut for folding down later	Grooves for the exhaust hole
	The grooves cut for folding down later	The barrel cut open
Handles ready for installation	Drilling holes for handles	The lid prepared
The lid lined	... and edges folded around it	Lining of the furnace with Kaowool
	Furnace and lid, unfinished yet	After first fire, the Kaowool appeared to have a too low temperature rating....
The Kaowool removed from the barrel	Empty barrel again with old furnace inside it	Step 1 for new setup of old furnace insulated by the Kaowool
Step 2, bottom lining	Step 3, old Mizzot furnace inside it	Step 4, kaowool above it
Step 5, kaowool above it, finshed	Lid closed	... and burner in it
Crucible in it	... and lid closed gain, ready for use	Prepared for copper melt
Copper melting	Copper molten	Castings (blanks for sheet rolling) remainder

Jan 2020: Refurbishment by lining the inside with Chamotte mortar

It is a good idea to line the inside with Satanite, but I could not find a supplier. But as an alternative I got Fermit via Amazon for $11 for 3kg which works excellent. I made a kind of porridge by adding some more water and applied it on the inner Kaowool lining by 'painting' it with a paintbrush. I let it dry and was ready to use. I did an earlier test in a 10 liter barrel furnace lined with Kaowool in which I melted cast iron and the inside temperature was 1500°C. The walls did not get sticky and were left undamaged, except for a few tiny cracks.
I did a short test on 2020 Jan 15 by roaring it a few minutes, when it was cold, a few blue flames appeared on the wall and even on the outside, but suddenly it disappeared with a little non-dangerous boom sound and burned better.

The 'Fermit' chamotte mortar for lining the Kaowool	Preparing the mortar	'Painting' the mortar on the inner wall of Kaowool
The furnace finished (left) and lid (right), crucible and plinth	Furnace inside with plinth in place	Furnace inside with plinth and crucible in place
Just lit on, some gas escaped through the wall (small blue flames), due to still cold furnace ?	After closing the lid, a small thud occurred and it burned better and no gas ecape anymore	With open lid, now better burn