Hi All,
I've been meltin' aluminum and brass and making ingots. I've even made a few simple sand castings. But when I took an old air conditioner apart to melt down the non ferris metals... I had a few problems. The aluminum went OK ( 14 pounds of ingots!) and the brass bits that I got made a respectible little ingot. But I was mainly after the copper. I stripped out all the copper that I could get out of the motors, wiring, and copper tubing. I melted it down in a new crucible. I got about 7 pounds of something. You see, I started out with copper, I am sure of it. But I wound up with ingots that are white (a platinum white) and they feel light compared to brass but heavier than aluminum. The metal is also brittle. I don't know what I did wrong. I was (an it looks like I still am) a copper virgin. I don't think I got it too hot. Donno. Any help or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks,
Lloyd