GONGYI12KG Propane Melting Furnace Kits with Crucible Tongs, Stainless Steel Foundry Klin Smelting Aluminum Silver Gold Metal Recycle Smelting Forge Casting Tool

Took a chance on this foundry package and this is absolutely a great deal! Quality foundry and accessories, the instructions are clear. Setup was super easy and quick, and everything works fantastic. I’m honestly surprised how good this package is, how quickly it heats, and the level of quality in this bundle.The crucible is BIG and fits nicely inside the foundry, and easily comes out with the included tongs. The guard at the top of the pouring tongs made it so easy to safely and securely pour.I would recommend being prepared in advance for safety precautions, such as wearing a mask plus the included gloves and safety glasses. Also wear gloves (nitrile, latex etc) when handing the ceramic wool. I also suggest painting the ceramic with refractory mortar/fire concrete to preserve the wool and prevent ceramic filament flyaways. The fire brick included has a hole which helps prevent the crucible from sticking to firebrick included, but I will still put a piece of cardboard between the firebrick and crucible (creates a carbon layer) to prevent sticking just in case. Also, there’s a slight gap between the regulator and the insert port, and I plan on adding a small piece of ceramic wool there to seal that. Finally, I suggest getting a firebrick to place the crucible on when removing from the foundry to switch between the traction tongs and the pouring tongs. I have a concrete block that I keep a firebrick on, and then I put my crucible on top of that when I switch from the tongs used to pull from the crucible to the pouring tongs.I love love love this foundry and am so happy I got it! Everything included is quality and it was great to get it prepped and to start melting right away! Glad I took a chance on this!

The media could not be loaded.  I've seen a lot of reviews on several of these furnaces say it won't melt anything, or not hot enough for a proper our, etc. What is important to learn about this is that there are THREE things you have to adjust to get the proper flame. First off, turn your propane tank full on. You'd be surprised how easy it is to no do so. Second, the knob on the regulator adjusts your propane flow. Third, the sliding sleeve on the burner adjusts how much air gets mixed. The latter two of the above are the ones you need to get right. The more propane you have flowing, the hotter it gets, and the less propane you have flowing the lower the temp and if you Not enough air, or too much air, and your mix is out of balance resulting in too low or even too high of a temperature. If it sounds like it is popping or sputtering, and you still have propane, your mixture is out of balance. If you are running out of propane, no amount of mixture adjustment will help and it will keep happening. You can extend your melt time enough to finish a melt if it's pretty close by constantly adjusting the mix until you run out completely, though that was a pain. Next time I'm just switching out tanks and heating it back up.My crucibles get red hot (lit up a small area of the yard at night with just the crucible after a burn in of a new one) and are more than hot enough to melt aluminium and copper. I've had many successful melts and pours of aluminum, and one of copper. My first copper pour was bad because I hadn't thoroughly wiped down the new ingot mold and didn't preheat it enough, plus took a long time to pour the copper. 100% my error. I don't get a lot of copper, so I don't get a lot of practice with it, but working on that. We're planning on using the copper I do have, buying some tin, and casting a bronze sword. Not even worried about getting it hot enough for it as it gets enough for aluminum to flow almost like water.To address other reviews:The white ceramic plate does NOT go in the crucible. It is meant to place your crucible on when you take it out.Tempering and preparation of your crucibles, molds, and ceramic plate are CRITICAL. Look up how to do this. I put mine in my oven at 300°F for an hour to drive out moisture. With new ones I then turn it up to 500°F to finish curing it. New crucibles go into the furnace still hot from the oven and then heated slowly to red hot EMPTY. I then leave it in the furnace overnight to very slowly cool down. Its now ready for any melting. Molds I place on the lid near, but not covering, the vent hole to heat up to avoid thermal shock.If it's been awhile (months, like over winter) since I used a crucible or mold I'll put them in the oven for an hour at 300°F to dry them out. Some of the reviews make it obvious the crucible was not prepped and there was some rapidly expanding moisture that cracked or blew out part of the crucible. I have bought four crucibles and only lost one because I tried to do a slag melt and everything crystallized in the crucible. Broke the crucible trying to chisel it out, so competely my fault.The tongs are sufficient for pulling out the crucible and pouring, but there are better ones you can get separately. You need a slag scoop/spoon and a stainless steel 20" commercial one available here on Amazon works just fine. A slotted one was a bad idea, btw.Oh, and refractory bricks are a good investment to protect whatever surface you are working on. Regular bricks and pavers can work, but are more likely to have moisture in them which can cause them to crack or explode if they get too hot. Refractory bricks (like for wood stoves) are more porous and release any moisture more readily, and insulate better. I use a single layer on top of a sheet of plywood in my yard and the plywood is unscathed.Pictures are of aluminum ingots from a 5kg Gongyi mold, with banana for scale (for fun) on one side and a dollar bill for scale on the smooth side. Copper ingots are from 1kg molds. Video is from my copper melt.Tips on terms and concepts to lookup to aid you in your melting adventures:Fuel/air mixture (stoichiometry)SlagDrossThermal shockPreheating molds (to prevent thermal shock)Crucible temperingGood luck and have fun melting!

11/18/2023:The Pros: Furnace itself seemed very well built, solid. I haven't tried it yet, as it's raining outside--liquid metal and rain are not a good combination. The tongs seem relatively strong, however the securing fasteners didn't work, see cons below. The carrying case appears to very good quality, as do the gloves. Overall I'm quite impressed. I hope that all the parts and pieces work as good as they appear.The Cons: The crucible appears to have a manufacturer's defect/flaw in the side. I am hoping that this doesn't break when it's full of hot liquid metal. The tongs are two-piece, the handles thread on to the tongs. There are hex set screws that are supposed to lock the handles onto the tongs. One had a missing screw, the other immediately stripped upon tightening. I was extra careful, as they are made of aluminum--but the thickness of the handles is quite thin, and it immediately stripped out. I don't think this will matter though, as the main threads on the handles appear to be enough to maintain a connection to the tongs. The safety glasses were packaged under the furnace, and arrived broken. Even if they had not been--I wouldn't use them, as they appeared very cheap/flimsy. I suggest buying yourself a good set of safety glasses if you don't already have one. Twice in my life I'm sure that they have saved my vision. I will update this review once it stops raining and it's dry outside.

Aluminum is easy, it melts in just 10-15 minutes. With copper, I had to crank the pressure up and crack the lid open slightly, otherwise it would sputter. The hole in the lid is just too small. It takes about 30 minutes with copper. Will try to make some brass next. This was my first time melting metal and this little stove did not disappoint! Tons of videos on YouTube on this stove. Be safe!

Everything was in the package. I have it fired up and melting some aluminum for bars. So far I like it.My blacksmith forge is at my buddy’s place. So I traveled this setup on the back of my motorcycle. I am glad I went with the $229 version than the cheapest one. It saved me time.Now my buddy wants one as well. 👍

The only thing is the crucible should have a spout molded in it for easy pouring

Para México debería incluirle la siguiente válvula: Rivland Adaptador para Tanque de Gas con Válvula POL ó Tipo Mexicano para Conectar a Manguera QCC1 ó Tipo Americano.

Great product for beginners interested in smelting. Great service easy to install. Happy all around.

La boca de que cubre metal a un costado de la colcha térmica estaba en pedazos. Si alguien sabe como arreglarlo estaría bien.

Quick delivery. Have used it several times now. Can reach temperatures to melt copper (2000F) no problem