Q and A with Stephen Coles of Coles Castings
by Erin Almaleh, Investment Casting Institute
Stephen Coles of Coles Castings in Dorset, UK was commissioned by Arizona State University's Sculpture Department
to convert a gas furnace into a more
environmentally and economically friendly crucible furnace. Coles' choice of vegetable oil as an alternate fuel source was a perfect solution, and would enable students to cast iron without the use of fossil fuels.
Q A
Can you describe your experience in developing furnaces that utilize alternate fuel sources?
My partner, Necole Schmitz, and I formally established our company, Coles Castings, about three years ago. Prior to the founding of the company, Necole and I had taken on a number of casual commissioned works for clients who were keen to cast sculpture in a range of metals we could offer. The three main metals that we offer are aluminium, bronze, and cast iron. I had been eager to work with waste oil furnaces as they allow for iron to be melted in a crucible. This is something that a standard propane crucible furnace will struggle to achieve due to the melting point of iron being so high, 1450ºC (2642ºF). Also, here in the UK, propane is more expensive than in America and any savings on fuel costs are savings that we can pass onto our clients. I researched a number of oil fired furnaces and, in
particular, burner designs from a number of professionals who had published various technical papers. The issue I found with a number of these burners was the fact that they focused on the atomisation of the oil in order to create a stable flame. This was an issue for us as the oil we had access to (predominantly
organizations support these activities with regular conferences, including the International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art and the National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art and Practices (situated at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Site in Birmingham, Alabama). Events and symposia occur throughout the U.S.A., evidence of growing regional communities of “Makers” and artisans. Cast iron is popular among these emerging sculptors, makers, and students because it is so much less expensive than bronze; it speaks to our industrial history and tradition, and allows for highly experimental approaches. This small-batch iron production has been accomplished through the construction and operation of 12”-18” inside diameter cupolas and cupolettes. However, it is increasingly difficult and expensive to obtain foundry coke, particularly in the Western States. Additionally,
ASU, Continued on pg 18 ®
used fryer and cooking oil), had a lot of other material in it. I experimented with a few of these atomising burners however I found the nozzles would become too easily clogged. As such, we reverse engineered one model of burner that showed real potential and we stripped it down to its most basic form. You could say that the burners on our furnaces act more like fuel injectors then a traditional burner. However, the great thing about them is that they don’t block and you can reliably reach and sustain temperatures in excess of 1400 degrees centigrade. This allows for consistent melting of iron as well as all the other lower temperature metals.
Coles, Continued on pg 19
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