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07-09-2016, 04:16 PM #1
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Thanks, but I've already built a router a lot like yours, from automation actuators. I can cut wood with it, but I don't think it's rigid enough for aluminum. I use mills for that.
Have you got a link to that 65KW induction melter? If I did want to make an aluminum piece that big, it would make sense to carve it in foam and cast it, rather than attack a huge piece of billet.
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07-09-2016, 11:07 PM #2
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- Jul 2016
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Quite true. Casting large items still involves its own work as well though - more hands on than running a robot unless you are the big foundries that do use plenty of automation.
Below is a link to the company I have been dealing with through Alibaba.
I don't own a machine from them yet, so I don't have any experience with their hardware, but they have been very professional and helpful with all my questions. Their 65kw model is WZP-65 (they have other models the number is KW). The 25kw and up need 3-phase as standard.
https://yongdagp.en.alibaba.com/prod...836.186.ngNXj2
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07-10-2016, 09:37 PM #3
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[Thanks for that, and please let us know how it works out for you. The information on that site is rather strange, though. Since aluminum has a Specific Gravity of 2.8 and steel has a SG of 7.8 I don't see how a furnace that holds 10 kg of steel at max can also hold 10 kg of aluminum. Maybe that "hotrolled cannabis cobalt" is having an effect...]
Andrew Werby
Juxtamorph.com
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07-11-2016, 02:07 AM #4
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- Jul 2016
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Induction generators will have different rated capacities based on the metal intended to be melted.
They sell the generator - its up to you to make the work coil and size the crucible, etc. - other than the one crucible and work coil it comes with which of course is a fixed size.
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07-11-2016, 03:12 PM #5
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07-11-2016, 03:27 PM #6
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- Jul 2016
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Correct.
It is because while steel melts at much higher temperatures; aluminum conducts electricity much better than steel. When you heat metal with induction, you can essentially think of the work piece as being shorted out to your main. So the additional resistivity of steel allows more heat for the same amount of energy. Ferrous materials have an additional advantage too, in that they are heated by magnet eddy forces up to the currie temperature.
So while it seems counterintuitive, induction generators actually heat ferrous materials easier.
That said, one can use a conducive crucible (eg high purity graphite) and that is heated directly by the EM field and can be used to heat things that are both non-conductive and non-ferrous (eg you could melt glass). But in an ideal induction furnace, you want the metal to adsorb the energy directly; not the crucible.
The more I learned about induction; the more surprises it has reveled!
Last edited by 3DTOPO; 07-11-2016 at 04:02 PM.
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