Furnace build regarding moly's largely

[Pete VanderLaan]

I would never advocate for not having a kill switch ( what an appropriate name for it). I am simply telling you what happened to me when I made contact with the crucible while it in turn was touching the element live. There is such a thing as liability.

On my existing furnace, if you open the door far enough, it makes the kill switch roll over and the furnace goes live again, which I find useful in my continuing mistreatment of this great tool. I was over at Josh Biernbaums studio in Vermont yesterday and was amazed to see how clean his moly is. Mine on the other hand has crap all over it, a sticky door, and generally looks pretty trashed, sort of like the rest of my shop. Josh's is pristine.

As to the crucible, I don't like it getting closer than one inch from the lip. I do think that the torch heat up through the clean out will help enormously on any size pot.

I really have to clean up that glass I spilled in December...

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Well I'm in a holding pattern till I get an electrical parts list and a plan of attack .

I ended up using a fire blanket to cap the insulation. Hope it works,, they have a melt temp of 1000

Oh yeah, I did put another quarter turn on the clamps

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Originally Posted by Julian Duerksen

I am replacing the pot in my #300 molly and I am wondering what the best height is for the pot in relation with the rim to the sill. Previously the rim of the pot was about an inch bellow the sill. With the bricks I have I can go with two inches below the sill or with the lip of the pot almost level with the sill. Will it be harder on the pot the closer the rim is to the sill and the elements? How close can the elements be to the rim of the pot?

Based on the drawings I've seen there should be a brick or something to elevate the pot, but that would put mine too high so I spread a bit of sand under t o lift and help hold it from rocking . I'd say the pot is about an inch below the sill.

[Charles Friedman]

Originally Posted by Lawrence Duckworth

Well I'm in a holding pattern till I get an electrical parts list and a plan of attack .

I ended up using a fire blanket to cap the insulation. Hope it works,, they have a melt temp of 1000

Oh yeah, I did put another quarter turn on the clamps

Lawrence, That top looks beautiful, outstanding job on the whole build!

Would using a torque wrench be of use at this point?

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Thanks Charlie, but itz a bit to early to be celebrating the furnace….needs to get wired and melt some glass first.
So far though its been good and from building this thing its become purdy clear that a lot of thought was given to the design....so ya gotta kinda tip yer cap to the cat that did the castings, design and development work on these things.

Btw I tried finding torque specs on the clamps but couldn't.. so I decided to just tighten them till i heard the ceramics start to groan

[Scott Novota]

Lawrence,

I find your whole journey very interesting. From the building to the equipment it has been fun to watch.

I am sure everyone here, even those that think you might have done it anouther way here or there, will be toasting your success come opening day.

Always looking forward to your next set of pictures. All the best and I hope everything fires off without a hitch.


Scott.
.

Where do you get that dip lag stuff?

A search of the archives turns up zilch.

[Pete VanderLaan]

EG Bartell Seattle.

Thanks for the help...

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Originally Posted by Scott Novota

Lawrence,

All the best and I hope everything fires off without a hitch.
.

thanks Scott,...me too

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Question....

The castings I have, have just one hole for the thermocouple. All the pictures that I have show two, presumably the second is for a temperature limiting device. My question is is there a device that does both and that’s why there is only one opening?

[Rollin Karg]

It's possible to have two thermocouples in one tube. Talk to these people and ask for Richard Roberts.http://www.precision-measurements.com/

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Good idea. Thanks Rollin.
Looks to be about an inch dia. hole.

I'll give him a call

[Pete VanderLaan]

Be prepared for serious sticker shock. Don't succumb to the temptation of getting a finer than 22 gauge platinum wire. It's just too damn delicate and you'll break it looking at it. . Get a spare thermocouple protection tube while you're at it and inspect once a year. They melt eventually. You can get by with type "s" on the thermocouple type. When you set up your controller make sure it's programmed for type "S". You get lots of choices.

[Lawrence Duckworth]

$856.00 for type s or $27.50 for a type k.......They don't give those watlows away either.

(And to think I could have had a new set of clubs and a membership at a cheap course.)

[Jordan Kube]

Wait till you figure out the cost of operation.

[Larry Cazes]

Originally Posted by Lawrence Duckworth

$856.00 for type s or $27.50 for a type k.......They don't give those watlows away either.

(And to think I could have had a new set of clubs and a membership at a cheap course.)

Membership? That is truly a cheap course

[Pete VanderLaan]

Well, the signature hole is being rebuilt right now so it's discounted. The nose on the clowns face needed some termite damage repair and the mouth needs sanding from all the misplaced putts.

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Here's the transformer. About $1,800.00 dilivered but that might eventually work out because of the less expensive controls and power savings down the road.

Judd, from watlow will be here tuesday to help work up a control system and pricing....

So I'm still looking for a small amount of ''dip lag''

At Bartells you have to buy a whole box for $550.

Any more ideas?

Does dip lag have another name? Is it rewettable cloth or something like that

I don't know what dip lag is.
I use "rewettable canvas" over the frax on furnace tops and other places. It is woven with some powdery refractory stuff, and is worked with a scissors and spray bottle. It covers, sticks to itself, forms, and protects. Dries like shoe leather. Used a lot in asbestos containment. Call an asbestos abatement place. It is something like 50 inches wide and sold by the yard. Works great for containing frax fibres. Hope this helps.

[Pete VanderLaan]

Sounds like dip lag

Yep, that helps a lot.

There must be some of that in this town.

Ive seen it, they use it to wrap steam pipes to hold the insulation on.

Thanks buddy, I just didn't put the two together...

[Rosanna Gusler]

could i use that (dip lag) to make a slumping mold? rosanna

[Pete VanderLaan]

Originally Posted by Rosanna Gusler

could i use that (dip lag) to make a slumping mold? rosanna

**************
No.