eaf

2 Articles

Electric Arc Furnace Closes The Loop

March 17, 2017 by 21 Comments

When we think of an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF), the image that comes to mind is one of a huge machine devouring megawatts of electricity while turning recycled metal into liquid. [Gregory Hildstrom] did some work to shrink one of those machines down to a practical home version. [Greg] is building on work done by [Grant Thompson], aka “The King of Random” and AvE. Industrial EAFs are computer controlled devices, carefully lowering a consumable carbon electrode into the steel melt. This machine brings those features to the home gamer.

[Greg] started by TIG welding up an aluminum frame. There isn’t a whole lot of force on the Z-axis of the arc furnace, so he used a stepper and lead screw arrangement similar to those used in 3D printers. An Adafruit stepper motor shield sits on an Arduino Uno to control the beast. The Arduino reads the voltage across the arc and adjusts the electrode height accordingly.

The arc behind this arc furnace comes from a 240 volt welder. That’s where [Greg] ran into some trouble. Welders are rated by their duty cycle. Duty cycle is the percentage of time they can continuously weld during a ten minute period. A 30% duty cycle welder can only weld for three minutes before needing seven minutes of cooling time. An electric arc furnace requires a 100% duty cycle welder, as melting a few pounds of steel takes time. [Greg] went through a few different welder models before he found one which could handle the stress.

In the end [Greg] was able to melt and boil a few pounds of steel before the main 240 V breaker on his house overheated and popped. The arc furnace might be asking a bit much of household grade electrical equipment.

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Mini Arc Furnace Melts Its Way Into Our Hearts

June 16, 2015 by 43 Comments

[Grant Thompson], aka “The King of Random,” threw caution to the wind when it came to his latest awesome project – a mini electric arc furnace (EAF) (YouTube link). [Grant] uses a refractory brick as a furnace and crucible for the molten metal.  He wears eye protection and a respiratory mask as he cuts up the brick – a good idea, since you don’t want to inhale any of that dust. The electrode grips are made with things you can find at a hardware store, including copper wire and coupling, and 2 pairs of vice-grip style pliers. The copper wire is stripped and attached to the metal handle of the pliers using hose clamps. The pliers are now functional electrode grips- just put a carbon rod in each grip and hold them close to each other…but not without protection! [Grant] harvested the carbon rods  from the cells of 6V lantern batteries – dead batteries work just as well for this. It’s also a better bet to do this outdoors with decent ventilation and away from anything flammable. [Grant] realized that the rods from the batteries have a wax-like coating on them that takes about 30 seconds to burn off in spectacular flames the first time they make electrical contact. However, you can purchase carbon rods by themselves if you want to avoid ripping open batteries and possibly setting yourself on fire. The mini EAF runs on a welding power supply [Grant] made from microwave oven transformers  (YouTube link).

When it’s time to melt some metal, the scrap metal is placed into a bowl drilled into the brick. Using the electrode grips, the carbon rods are placed into the brick’s pre-drilled holes. It only takes ten seconds to melt pure zinc – do NOT do this with galvanized steel or brass castings, as zinc oxide is very hazardous to your health.

In the videos featured below, [Grant] shows a variety of metals are no match for his mini EAF. He even manages to melt rocks from his backyard! It goes without saying that an EAF (video link) can be very dangerous. When you’re dealing with high voltage, plasma, white-hot molten metal, and toxic fumes, you better know what you’re doing (or have a great life insurance policy). [Grant] has a penchant for showcasing projects that can make an OSHA inspector cringe,  but you have to admire his gumption!

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