Uploaded September 2015 | Updated September 2026, 8 hours ago
I am building a Gingery Metal Lathe. I downloaded the first three books in the series for Kindle. Morgan Demers inspired me with his videos of building his lathe. Check out my web site, makercise.com, for other cool projects.
Sign-up for early access to project videos:
makercise.com/signup
Check out the full lathe project playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9d6LkFNP1fGjdW2RxqSHdSO9D1FEl36c
My first charcoal foundry was a bit too messy, dusty, and expensive. Waste oil would be cheaper but kerosene works better to get it started. I followed David D's video on the Kwiky All Fuel Foundry youtu.be/E-l21wQ6X-E with minor tweaks. Kerosene works much better but doesn't save me much over charcoal. It is still much less of a mess.
I poured the apron and lead screw supports and now have some data on the material loss and furnace burn rate. I lost 5% as slag, spillage, and leftover in the crucible. Discounting fuel used to heat up the foundry, I use about 0.45 lbs of fuel per lb of aluminum melted. I also did some calculations on what that means for my foundry's efficiency. I used about 8M joules to heat and melt the aluminum when only 0.39M joules were required: 5% efficiency. This seems like pretty poor performance, but I found typical efficiencies for crucible type foundries are 7-19%, see http://www.mntap.umn.edu/metalcast/energy.htm. I definitely have room for improvement on this foundry. However, it works for now, and I can always try for better efficiency with foundry 2.0 and 3.0.
Support this project directly: patreon.com/makercise
If you would like to check out the book series use these Amazon affiliate links: If you click the link and make a purchase, I receive a commission. You read my full disclosure policy here- makercise.com/privacy-policy
The Charcoal Foundry (Book 1) - amzn.to/2iPAiwy
The Metal Lathe (Book 2) - amzn.to/2jEnR6C
The Metal Shaper (Book 3) - amzn.to/2jEniJU
The Milling Machine (Book 4) - amzn.to/2iseuZW
The Drill Press (Book 5) - amzn.to/2jEsTQL
The Dividing Head and Deluxe Accessories (Book 6) - amzn.to/2jf7jpq
By clicking the links and making a purchase you pass a small portion of the sale along to me as a commission.
Check out Makercise on:
makercise.com/instagram
makercise.com/facebook
makercise.com/twitter
I am building a Gingery Metal Lathe. I downloaded the first three books in the series for Kindle. Morgan Demers inspired me with his videos of building his lathe. Check out my web site, makercise.com, for other cool projects.
Sign-up for early access to project videos:
makercise.com/signup
Check out the full lathe project playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9d6LkFNP1fGjdW2RxqSHdSO9D1FEl36c
My first charcoal foundry was a bit too messy, dusty, and expensive. Waste oil would be cheaper but kerosene works better to get it started. I followed David D's video on the Kwiky All Fuel Foundry youtu.be/E-l21wQ6X-E with minor tweaks. Kerosene works much better but doesn't save me much over charcoal. It is still much less of a mess.
I poured the apron and lead screw supports and now have some data on the material loss and furnace burn rate. I lost 5% as slag, spillage, and leftover in the crucible. Discounting fuel used to heat up the foundry, I use about 0.45 lbs of fuel per lb of aluminum melted. I also did some calculations on what that means for my foundry's efficiency. I used about 8M joules to heat and melt the aluminum when only 0.39M joules were required: 5% efficiency. This seems like pretty poor performance, but I found typical efficiencies for crucible type foundries are 7-19%, see http://www.mntap.umn.edu/metalcast/energy.htm. I definitely have room for improvement on this foundry. However, it works for now, and I can always try for better efficiency with foundry 2.0 and 3.0.
Support this project directly: patreon.com/makercise
If you would like to check out the book series use these Amazon affiliate links: If you click the link and make a purchase, I receive a commission. You read my full disclosure policy here- makercise.com/privacy-policy
The Charcoal Foundry (Book 1) - amzn.to/2iPAiwy
The Metal Lathe (Book 2) - amzn.to/2jEnR6C
The Metal Shaper (Book 3) - amzn.to/2jEniJU
The Milling Machine (Book 4) - amzn.to/2iseuZW
The Drill Press (Book 5) - amzn.to/2jEsTQL
The Dividing Head and Deluxe Accessories (Book 6) - amzn.to/2jf7jpq
By clicking the links and making a purchase you pass a small portion of the sale along to me as a commission.
Check out Makercise on:
makercise.com/instagram
makercise.com/facebook
makercise.com/twitter
