[SEL] Tod Engine Works Foundry

Mon Dec 5 14:40:11 PST 2005

Thanks Rick, that explained it very clearly, however it sounds extremely 
expensive so I suppose when you crank up that furnace you better have a lot 
of castings to make! 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 20:45:15 -0500
>
>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
>>>>
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>>>
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