Experimenting with Aluminium

This is an update on the aluminium free flow process.

Pouring molten aluminium, in this case on to ice, can create some amazing effects.

Great care must be taken when dealing with any molten metal including appropriate dress (e.g. leather shoes, non-flammable fabrics, leather gloves and jacket and full face protective shield.

It's very hot working in front of the small forge we use, so drinking water is important.

Pieces of aluminium go into the crucible and are melted at approximately 660 C. In the case of the donut from I used an old ring cake tin as my mold, put some thin strips of aluminium around the outside and filled it with ice. I then carefully transferred the molten aluminium to the cake tin and poured it in, making sure to hit the areas I wanted.

With the noise and steam the ice makes the whole thing seem to come alive. The exciting thing about this process, no matter what is in your head, you cant anticipate the result.