RECYCLING Aluminum for Casting Projects
Ever since I started on my foundry projects I have been recycling aluminum beverage cans...they are free, easy to find....its takes a gazillion of them to make any decent weight, and they have to be crushed to reduce bulk while storing and when I use them in a melt the crushed can is easier to push under the melt and this reduces the amount of waste dross due to oxidation. SO...I am always looking for better scrap stock to use in castings...here I have purchased a used and decomissioned SCUBA tank/Nitreous tank.....the tank had the valve cut off and a slot cut into the cyclinder to prevent reuse after decommssioning...cost about $0.40/lb and its a tough bugger to cut up!!!
Here I have strapped the old aluminum tank to my CanCrusher....it was the most convenient place to tie down the cylinder for cutting into smaller pieces. I'm planning on cutting it into about 4 inch circles and then cutting each circle piece in half. The is some really nice aluminum....but its tough on sawsall blades and cutoff wheels.
A view showing the cutoff valve and the thickness of the aluminum tank housing.
I score a line using the cutoff whell and then I amtr ying to follow the guide with a sawsall .....not sure who will win. If it gets to be too tough I may toss it into a fire and let it heat to shortness and then just bust it up with a small maul hammer.
The neighbors tossed out a aluminum walker...I had to grab it...and cut it up for scrap.
It only takes a few minutes with the cutoff wheel to reduce the walker to a smaller pile of aluminum bits...ready for melting!!!
