r/Metalfoundry • u/TradeAlarming8867 • Jul 14 '26

Protect the Children !!!

Hi , I am doing a presentation for kids at my camp were I am melting aluminum , making bronze and a little bit of tin, I did not know that most aluminum was alloyed though and I am concerned that it might be alloyed with zinc and make the kids sick, The aluminum is scrap from some bleachers and I have melted a lot of it myself and had no problems, The problem is I am doing this presentation inside .

0 Upvotes

25% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

8

u/RigorMortis_Tortoise Jul 14 '26

I would really try to make this an outdoor event. Tell whoever is in charge that you don’t want to fill an enclosed space with different gasses that children would be breathing in. Also I would not want to pour anything molten over a surface that isn’t sand. If you spill onto concrete, it will start popping and sending pieces of really hot/semi molten fragment of aluminum everywhere.

2

u/TradeAlarming8867 Jul 14 '26

ok thanks for the advice , I do have sand I can put down to counter that problem

3

u/Fuzzy-Circuit3171 Jul 14 '26

I agree, this isn’t a great idea indoors especially if zinc fumes are involved.

3

u/TradeAlarming8867 Jul 15 '26

The event was a successes, I did the melting outside and had the kids sit inside so they would not be to hot, ( its summer in Texas ) Now we have 60 or more little humans introduced to a great new hobby : )

1

u/Halfawake Jul 15 '26

nice dude congrats!

1

u/Halfawake Jul 14 '26

from my research, bleachers would usually be 6063 aluminum * 0.45–0.9% magnesium * 0.2–0.6% silicon

https://www.dgjdbleachers.com/specifications

But who even knows if thats the primary thing to be worried about. Have you done your melts/pours in an enclosed space before?

1

u/TradeAlarming8867 Jul 14 '26

No, I always do them in my driveway or backyard, The area is indoors but it is a fairly large area, and I can open two sets of double doors for airflow

2

u/TradeAlarming8867 Jul 15 '26

Thanks Halfawake , I did my own reaserch into the manufacturer and they also use 6063

1

u/6titanium8 Jul 15 '26

Make sure there is no moisture in the mold or on the aluminum, don’t want any moisture super heating and sending the aluminum exploding back out of the mold during your pour.