Cast iron, in a microwave?

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ddmckee54

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I stumbled across this guy on YouTube last night.
Shake the future

My first thought was NO FLIPPIN WAY. However, it's on the Interwebb so it's GOT to be true - right? He melts aluminum, brass, copper and iron - in a microwave. Except for the microwave, all his hardware is DIY - and he shows how to do it. Granted the size of his crucible limits the size of the parts he can cast to rather small pieces. And his cast iron is probably just this side of non-machineable, but still....in a microwave? Who'd a thunk it. He has a unique method of mold making too.

Don
 
GreenTwin said:
That is pretty wild.
I wonder what my wife would say if she caught me using her microwave ?
.
Click to expand...
You could always say you were making something special for her, and wanted to use her stuff to make it even MORE special. Of course, then you'd better actually carry through with the something special.
 
My wife has an antique gravy boat which has some gold tracery in the trim. I made the mistake of trying to heat up some gravy that was in the bowl.---Instant lightning storm in the microwave. Scared the snot out of me!!! I hit the "off" button right away, and no lasting harm was done to the microwave.
 
ddmckee54 said:
I stumbled across this guy on YouTube last night.
Shake the future

My first thought was NO FLIPPIN WAY. However, it's on the Interwebb so it's GOT to be true - right? He melts aluminum, brass, copper and iron - in a microwave. Except for the microwave, all his hardware is DIY - and he shows how to do it. Granted the size of his crucible limits the size of the parts he can cast to rather small pieces. And his cast iron is probably just this side of non-machineable, but still....in a microwave? Who'd a thunk it. He has a unique method of mold making too.

Don
Click to expand...
As you know, the "micro-waves" are a form of radar, radar is a long form of light but a short form of radio waves. All light, when it strikes a material, will heat it up. Just stand in the sunlight, and you can feel the heat. To understand how microwaves work in comparison to visible light, let me explain with an example using a 100 watt light bulb and a 100 watt radio antenna. Place a 100 watt light bulb at the top of Mt. St. Helens in the Soviet of Washington. You'd be lucky to be able to see it from the baser of the mountain. Place a 100 watt transmitter at the same place and you can pick up the signal half way to Oregon. The reason is that with the visible light, there are far fewer photons created than with longer waves with far less energy per photon. This creates something like a million times as many photons.

The microwave photons are so numerous that they can actually melt metal if inside the micro-wave oven (we usually call them the 'nuke" for short). This will work, but it will also shorten the life of your nuke, so pick up some for 5$ at your nearest yard sale. And don't forget to dig out the magnets when it dies. Yes, this works, it's well known for many years, and thanx for reminding us as so many peeps do not know this.
 
A word of caution for those who may build their own "stuff" from old microwave parts.
I can't remember the specifics, but as I recall there is some unsafe things you can make, and you would want to avoid exposure to that.

.
 
Most of those unsafe things usually involve rewiring the microwave's transformer to make either high voltage power supplies for DIY fractal wood-burning, or high amperage supplies for DIY spot welders. And yes. either one of those can kill you if you dis-respect the angry pixies. If you don't understand how the electric/electronic parts work, then just leave the sparky bits inside the microwave alone.

I've had a paper copy of the 10 Commandments of Electronics pinned up in my office for years. Everybody that works/tinkers with electricity/electronics should read/follow them. Whoever put them together has a wicked sense of humor - once you get past the Old-English spelling/grammar. 10 Commandments of Electronics

This is not EXACTLY the same as the copy I've got, but it's close. In my copy the 10th commandment reads like this:
Causeth thou to be scribed all the modifications maketh by thee upon any equipment, lest thy successor teareth his hair asunder and go slowly mad in his attempts to determineth what manner of creature hath wrought such a nest within said equipment.
 
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