[SEL] Tod Engine Works Foundry

Sat Dec 3 17:45:15 PST 2005

Picture an electrical transformer with the secondary leads (the wires that 
electricity come out of) wired together and short circuited.  Gets hot 
pretty quick right!  That is an induction furnace.  The primary coil is the 
copper coil which encircles the furnace crucible.  The secondary windings is 
the metal that you want to melt.  As you put power to the coil the magnetic 
fields move the electrons in the metal back and forth thousands of times per 
second.  That banging and crashing of electrons back and forth creates heat 
and continues to make heat until the metal melts.

The coil itself does not heat up, as a matter of fact water flows through 
the coil to keep it cool. An inch or two away is molten metal ranging up to 
3000 degrees.  The material that keeps the two seperated is Alumina, Al2 O3

The advantage of induction melting over any other form of melting is that 
there are no products of combustion to contaminate the metal.  So what you 
put in is what comes out, nothing more nothing less.  It is possible to very 
accurately produce certain grades of steel with an induction furnace.

The disadvantage of induction melting is the three big copper wires that 
come in from the road.  On my furnace the motor generator is driven by a 
motor which draws 93 amps at 480 volts.  My minimum electric bill will be 
$500 per month.  The reason there is a motor generator is to convert 480VAC 
60 cycles to 400 VAC 3,000 cycles.

Rick Rowlands
Tod Engine Works
Makers of Quality iron, steel, ductile iron
and nonferrous castings
2261 Hubbard Road
Youngstown, OH  44505
330-728-2799
www.todengine.org/engineworks.html

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Royster" <steve_royster at hotmail.com>
To: <sel at lists.stationary-engine.com>
Sent: Saturday, December 03, 2005 3:36 PM
Subject: Re: [SEL] Tod Engine Works Foundry

> Hi Rick, Can you explain how an induction furnace works? Is that big coil 
> heated with electricity? Thanks, Steve
>
>
>>From: "Rick Rowlands" <jrrowlands at neo.rr.com>
>>Reply-To: The SEL email discussion list <sel at lists.stationary-engine.com>
>>To: "The SEL email discussion list" <sel at lists.stationary-engine.com>
>>Subject: Re: [SEL] Tod Engine Works Foundry
>>Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2005 13:30:35 -0500
>>
>>Around 2750 for iron and 2950 for steel.
>>
>>Rick
>>
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim and Diane" <jd.kirkes at verizon.net>
>>To: "The SEL email discussion list" <sel at lists.stationary-engine.com>
>>Sent: Saturday, December 03, 2005 11:42 AM
>>Subject: Re: [SEL] Tod Engine Works Foundry
>>
>>
>>>Hi Rick,
>>>
>>>A couple of curious questions.  What temperatures do you use to melt and
>>>pour steel and iron?
>>>
>>>Jim
>>>
>>>Jim and Diane Kirkes
>>>Hemet, CA
>>>jd.kirkes at verizon.net
>>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Rick Rowlands" 
>>><jrrowlands at neo.rr.com>
>>>To: "The SEL email discussion list" <sel at lists.stationary-engine.com>
>>>Sent: Friday, December 02, 2005 3:22 PM
>>>Subject: [SEL] Tod Engine Works Foundry
>>>
>>>
>>>A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to expand our fledgling 
>>>foundry
>>>operation to its own site.  Up until now I have been making castings at 
>>>work
>>>using my employer's furnace and have been waiting until I got the Tod 
>>>Engine
>>>building put up at the museum to start melting using our own furnace.
>>>
>>>We have been offered to rent a 40' x 40' brick building with attached 25' 
>>>x
>>>28' concrete block garage addition.  The main part of the building is at
>>>least 100 years old and has lots of character.  The building once had 
>>>480VAC
>>>3 phase fed underground from a building across the street.  This has been
>>>cut off and we are in the process of having the electric company run an
>>>overhead service to the building.
>>>
>>>I've already started moving in and am in the process of setting up a 
>>>newly
>>>acquired secondhand 50kw induction melting unit and 100 pound induction
>>>furnace.  I've also moved an air compressor, welder, molding tables and
>>>workbenches to the building.  When I am up and running I'll have the
>>>capacity to melt and pour castings in iron, ductile iron, all grades of
>>>carbon and alloy steel, stainless steel, copper based alloys and 
>>>aluminum.
>>>The furnace will have a maximum capacity of 125 pounds of steel so the
>>>largest casting I can make with this unit will be 100 pounds.
>>>
>>>I am fortunate that this building became available and that I have been
>>>acquiring equipment for years in anticipation for the day when I could 
>>>set
>>>up a workshop. I am not going to have too much of an upfront investment 
>>>to
>>>get things started.  The building owner is a gas engine collector and has
>>>quite a collection of oilfield engines.
>>>
>>>Here are some pictures of the building, the 50kw power unit and a 300 
>>>pound
>>>induction furnace that I recently rebuilt at work.
>>>http://community.webshots.com/album/180048461ppagnh/2
>>>
>>>A big thanks to Curt Holland who planted the seed a year ago and gave me 
>>>the
>>>idea to start a foundry.  The Tod Engine Works is set up as a part of the
>>>Tod Engine Foundation, and all profits from the production of castings go
>>>toward preserving the Mighty Tod Engine and two more smaller engines 
>>>which
>>>we have become caretakers of.  Our latest adopted engine is this one from
>>>New York state.
>>>http://community.webshots.com/album/512613592rLSddm
>>>
>>>Rick Rowlands
>>>Tod Engine Works
>>>Makers of Quality iron, steel, ductile iron
>>>and nonferrous castings
>>>2261 Hubbard Road
>>>Youngstown, OH  44505
>>>330-728-2799
>>>www.todengine.org/engineworks.html
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>SEL mailing list
>>>SEL at lists.stationary-engine.com
>>>http://www.stationary-engine.com/mailman/listinfo/sel
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>SEL mailing list
>>>SEL at lists.stationary-engine.com
>>>http://www.stationary-engine.com/mailman/listinfo/sel
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>SEL mailing list
>>SEL at lists.stationary-engine.com
>>http://www.stationary-engine.com/mailman/listinfo/sel
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SEL mailing list
> SEL at lists.stationary-engine.com
> http://www.stationary-engine.com/mailman/listinfo/sel 