FASTTOBUY 6 KG Propane Melting Furnace Kit w Graphite Crucible and Tongs 1300°C /2372°F Casting Refining Smelting for Precious Metals Gold Silver Tin Aluminum 7-in-1 Melting Casting Tool

The media could not be loaded. Summary: Great way to get started in metal casting, does require minor assembly and operation does take a little finesse since there isn't a regulator.Overall the kit has everything you need to start casting metal, though I would recommend some leather welding gloves and a fire extinguisher. The furnace is better than most, with a refractory cement interior and the only exposed Kaolite being on the lid - Kaolite becomes extremely brittle even after a single firing, so this makes it a lot more durable than cheaper furnaces which have exposed kaolite on the interior of the burn chamberThe furnace was well-packaged with tons of bubble wrap and arrived with no damage. Design, fit and finish, assembly are basic and functional - for example the feet are simply nuts welded to the outer shell, but serve their purpose. I do like that the top of the furnace is slightly tapered to make a tighter seal with the lid, although the hinge for the lid could definitely be beefier.Crucible and ingot mold are decent - both are graphite so should last a long time, though I wish the crucible had spouts. Tongs appear to be hand forged and worked perfectly for handling the crucible, however pouring was a bit tricky since these are straight tongues and not the angled type. The crucible is a bit of a tight squeeze in the furnace, so just be aware that it is at capacity.I was one of those shop geeks in middle and high school wood and metal - enough that when I got to college I had a part time job in a model shop. I've done aluminum and bronze metal casting in several class environments so had been itching to make my own - this was a lot faster and easier than a DIY furnace.Assembly was straightforward - you connect one end of the hose to the burner and the other side to the tank connector. The hose is a nylon reinforced silicone hose - a smart upgrade would be for a stainless jacket - you would NOT want to burn a hole in your hose by accident. I'm also thinking of putting a proper regulator on it. I recommend connecting the tank last since you need to rotate the burner tube in order to connect it into the furnace. You definitely need to use the 3 set screws for the burner - just make sure the inside angled outlet is aligned properly. Put some anti-seize on the threads if you want to disassemble later.Lighting the furnace was pretty simple - put a piece of burning paper inside the (empty) chamber and turn on the gas. The trick is to turn the gas on VERY slowly. It took be at least 4-5 tries the first time because I kept opening the valve too far. You really want a very low flow to sustain the flame. This does NOT have a regulator so you will want to keep an eye on the furnace under operation - I had a pretty full tank and a warm day so I didn't have to touch the valve once I got it up and running.After lighting it, I let it burn for about 4 minutes to preheat, then I put a crucible in with just over a lb (18 oz) of copper scrap, I wanted to test it on copper since copper, brass and bronze all melt around the same temp with aluminum being much lower. Then I waited. It took another 21 minutes (25 minutes from lighting the furnace) to where the copper started to melt. At 35 minutes total I turned off the furnace and poured the ingot.The burn used about a pound and a half of propane (1 b 6 oz) . It should work faster next time - I noticed that the furnace was dripping moisture and steam as this was the first burn for the furnace, and there was likely residual moisture being driven off from the refractory cement.Best of all, remove the burner tube and the whole thing fits in a 5-gallon bucket (with cutouts for the handles).

There are a few minor things with advertising. It DOES come with heat gloves, and they are fair quality. There was a different gas pipe that doesn't measure PSI. Then there were small imperfections with the lid that doesn't allow it to close evenly, though it doesn't affect performance too much. It's not a great idea to try and melt copper as it's very timely and somewhat difficult. However, for things with lower melting temperatures, this forge works phenomenally, especially for such a low frice. Couldn't really ask for a better forge to start out with.

The media could not be loaded. Upon unboxing the first thing I did was inspect the burner remove the burrs from the burner tube and add sealant to the threads and retighten, next I had to cut the tip of the burner down about an inch, or else the fitting would get in the way of the crucible, next I installed the fuel line to one of MY regulators, the included hook up gave me safety concerns so I opted to not even use it.I thought at first "yep, cheap Chinese junk as expected, but the ingot mold and crucible look good, I'll try it."I fired it with the crucible inside at about 2PSI, impressively at such a low pressure it didn't burn into the burner which often happens and closed the lid. I kept it at this level for about an hour to bring it up to temp.I then took off my glove and touched the side of the unit and it was seriously hot, good quality ceramic insulation generally shouldn't allow that to happen but it appeared to be high density, so that's to be expected, dense insulation is great in a forge where you need wear resistance but silly in a foundry.Finally I added a charge of 210 alloy brass and increased to 9PSI. Unit remained quiet and had a minimum of dragons breath which was nice to see!About 25 minutes later my crucible was filled with liquid brass and poured easily.My suggestions for the company or user:1. Have angled tongs or special pouring tongs, working above molten metal is dangerous, and pouring toward yourself is a big NO!2. Seal and deburr things better!3. Use a real regulator, never run blind.4. Shorten or bypass angled burner tube end.Overall a great little unit though, all issues are easily corrected by consumer or company, especially for the price! Brass is a serious material but didn't have any issues.

This forge is extremely subpar. I purchased this forge because it came with other needed items to get started for 250.00. A devil forge was 40.00 more and did not come with the crucible tongs or anything else. When I received this item, immediately I noticed the very poor workmanship. The hinge on the lid is very thin and weak the burner will not function properly due to the extremely poor welding job, please see the pictures. The air intake regulator, the washer, post was not straight which left a gap on one side when the choke was supposed to be closed. I sent this unit back and got a replacement. The replacement had the exact same flaws in the burner and lid hinge as well. I sent this one back and bought the devil forge. Save yourself the time and just go with the better built product.Update 2/16/2022: This company has contacted me several times offering me from $20.00 to $50.00 to delete this review. It has become almost a daily email from them. This is bordering on harassment at this point. The bottom line is that I do not feel I will be helping the community by removing this review. Buyer beware.