Smelting Aluminum Cans

Lucky Eddie · Sep 28, 2015

Guys i have been crushing & collecting my aluminum cans for a while and will probably keep doing so until i have some kilos of scrap aluminum... enough to be worth melting down probably and pouring something useful out of them... it sorta bugs me to waste them into the garbage.

The problem?

I can't think of something "useful" to make out of the aluminum. :icon_scratch:

MY "rough plan" was when I can think of something "useful" - i will design something - have it 3D printed in plastic, and use that to make a lost sand casting mold to pour the smelted aluminum.

Anyone got any ideas of something handy / worth while to make for this project?

Maybe something associated with a hobby - like detecting or camping etc... something not already available cheap out of china...

I was toying with the idea maybe of making an alloy 2 piece mold to pour lead for fishing jigs - dunno - I can't seem to think of anything that's just begging for me to make it...

Meanwhile - the crushed cans are adding up! 8-)

Maybe some here has a good suggestion?

boogeyman · Sep 28, 2015

How about..... Custom hood ornament, some buttons, or try looking at some of the cool parts for wood trim & moulding. I've done a couple pieces that I could only find in plastic resin. They came out pretty good with a little sanding and a taste of bondo. Check out the jewelry sites for molds and all the other stuff. If I remember correctly, I got my stuff from Lonnies in Phoenix or Mesa Arizona. If you have ants, check out the Utube vids of guys casting ant nests. Some are getting pretty incredible sculptures doing this!

Keep us updated on how your project goes!

joncutt87 · Oct 2, 2015

Ingots made in a muffin pan take up way less room than can.

stefen · Oct 2, 2015

I smelt a few cans in my life...

DeepseekerADS · Oct 2, 2015

I like Jon's suggestion of making ingots.

I'd personally like to see this thread venture into the smelting process. I throw too many of these cans into the garbage where they could actually turn into spendable bucks....

Otherwise, I continue to take the easy way out and stay poor as a result.

ARC · Oct 2, 2015

DeepseekerADS said:
I like Jon's suggestion of making ingots.

I'd personally like to see this thread venture into the smelting process. I throw too many of these cans into the garbage where they could actually turn into spendable bucks....

Otherwise, I continue to take the easy way out and stay poor as a result.

Easy... build big fire... throw in cans :P

DeepseekerADS · Oct 2, 2015

AARC said:
Easy... build big fire... throw in cans :P

That's kinda the easy way out, produces blobs instead of ingots

stefen · Oct 2, 2015

Then put the beach nuggets into a cast iron pot or ladle and melt into pot shaped ingots or cast into rectangular ingots.

It's a lot of work...here in California we take the cans to a recycling center and get a couple bucks per lb. Hell I've make around $75 or so every few months.

Don't have time to screw around with melting...

RobRieman · Oct 2, 2015

Why not take them to the scrap yard and buy something you want with the cash?

xr7ator · Oct 2, 2015

I'm with Rob. The best thing I can think of to make out of empty cans is money.

joncutt87 · Oct 2, 2015

Deep, there is a video on YouTube by Grant Thompson where he makes his mini metal foundry out of a steel bucket.

lastleg · Oct 2, 2015

Make drone platforms and sell @e-bay. You can't lose.

EccentricInTexas · Oct 2, 2015

Don't waste your time with cans, unless you have an electric induction furnace you can purge its not worth the effort. My brother and I did a lot of aluminum casting back in the ealry 2000's we melted all kinds of stuff, picture frames, lawnmower motors, engine parts. we would make bars and then use them to make parts using foam and sand casting. when I finally got rid of the rest of the bars a few years ago I had about 125 lbs worth of aluminum. Cans are so thin they pretty much turn to ash.

Lucky Eddie · Oct 3, 2015

Thanks for that guys - your probably right!

Maybe I will just stock pile them or something and when I have enough, sell them for scrap and use the $$ for a minelabs metal detector!

That would work....

Off to check the price of scrap aluminum!

fistfulladirt · Oct 4, 2015

Whatever you do, don't try to bring those cans up to Michigan like Kramer did -

8)

BIGSCOTT · Oct 4, 2015

cans pat more per pound than cast aluminum, or aluminum wire, ive always thought the government must subsidise the scrapyards for cans to help keep the hiways clean.

stefen · Oct 4, 2015

BIGSCOTT said:
cans pat more per pound than cast aluminum, or aluminum wire, ive always thought the government must subsidise the scrapyards for cans to help keep the hiways clean.

Don't forget keeping our beaches clean...and our Hospital Emergency Room's from being overburdened by drunken rednecks crushing beer cans with their foreheads...

Mad Machinist · Oct 22, 2015

EccentricInTexas said:
Don't waste your time with cans, unless you have an electric induction furnace you can purge its not worth the effort. My brother and I did a lot of aluminum casting back in the ealry 2000's we melted all kinds of stuff, picture frames, lawnmower motors, engine parts. we would make bars and then use them to make parts using foam and sand casting. when I finally got rid of the rest of the bars a few years ago I had about 125 lbs worth of aluminum. Cans are so thin they pretty much turn to ash.

Its not that they turn to ash, its the sheer about that is lost to oxidation. Lots of crazy stuff happens when metal is molten.

Aluminum castings like heads, wheels, transmission cases, transfer cases, and the like are normally A356 aluminum and pistons are a high silicon alloy. Can't remember the alloy of the top of my head.

Both of those make a better "home casting" aluminum alloy than cans.

Au-N-Rod · Jan 17, 2016

Melt it down and pour into fire ant mounds. Then dig it all out and sell the art. Check the internet for how this looks.

billjustbill · Jan 22, 2016

Lucky Eddie said:
Guys i have been crushing & collecting my aluminum cans for a while and will probably keep doing so until i have some kilos of scrap aluminum... enough to be worth melting down probably and pouring something useful out of them... it sorta bugs me to waste them into the garbage.

The problem?

I can't think of something "useful" to make out of the aluminum.

MY "rough plan" was when I can think of something "useful" - i will design something - have it 3D printed in plastic, and use that to make a lost sand casting mold to pour the smelted aluminum.

Anyone got any ideas of something handy / worth while to make for this project?

Maybe something associated with a hobby - like detecting or camping etc... something not already available cheap out of china...

I was toying with the idea maybe of making an alloy 2 piece mold to pour lead for fishing jigs - dunno - I can't seem to think of anything that's just begging for me to make it...

Meanwhile - the crushed cans are adding up!

Maybe some here has a good suggestion?

Casting with aluminum cans may be quite a challenge. If I were melting them in a large crucible, I'd make sure they were preheated to remove any hint of moisture.(Steam and molten metal don't play well together). I'd melt 1/3 of the crucible with larger pieces of quality aluminum until molten. Then, I'd add the heated, dry aluminum cans and quickly sink them below the liquid line to keep the thin aluminum from oxidizing. Remember to use some good flux and also do a good job of scraping off the top impurities before pouring.

Here's an idea...albeit an aging one. :tongue3:

In 1970. I made all the patterns from Sugar Pine and cast all the parts to the same specs of a Delta 14" woodworking band saw. The neck is high enough to allow using the longer 105" blade. Here a pic showing all the cast parts. The door covers were made with angle iron frames inset with sheet metal. Still have it and use it.

All cast from ingots from Alcoa costing 10-cents a lb. and some scrap aluminum cutoff scraps from General Dynamics high quality aerospace alloys....

Bill