Why Coal Stoves Have Cast Iron Grates.

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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Thu. Nov. 13, 2008 4:48 am

In an Axeman Anderson, coal feeds in the top, gets burned as it settles and the ashes are pushed out from the bottom. I wanted to see how long it took to go through one stove full of coal. I took a cube block of steel, 1" by 1" by 3/4" and set it on the very top of the pile of fuel. I kept checking the ashes with a magnet. 40 hours later it completed it's trip and here's a picture of it. It still weighs about the same!

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lincolnmania
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Post by lincolnmania » Thu. Nov. 13, 2008 5:07 am

you werent worried about it jamming things up?
i put a rather large insulated piece of copper in the hand fed stove once and forgot about it.....found copper nuggets in my ash :D

 
BIG BEAM
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Post by BIG BEAM » Thu. Nov. 13, 2008 12:13 pm

I've used my hotblast furnace to heat up some 3/8" steel rod when I made some tools for poking the fire and getting clinkers out of the grates.I bent a 45* angle on one end and a handle on the other end.It only took 1 or 2 minutes to get it really red.Bent like butta.
DON


 
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MrMikie
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Post by MrMikie » Thu. Nov. 13, 2008 12:19 pm

Looks like it distorted a bit.

Was it a leaded alloy?

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Thu. Nov. 13, 2008 12:27 pm

I knew it would go through without jambing. Plenty of room. No lead! This was a piece of steel bar that I had kicking around. 100% cold rolled steel. I poked into the fire once with a copper tube... the end melted. I didn't expect the steel to melt like that though, I figured it would just turn red, then come out in the same shape as when it went in. It sure does get hot in there!

 
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MrMikie
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Post by MrMikie » Thu. Nov. 13, 2008 12:33 pm

I own a machine shop and at times use leaded alloys like 12L14. Its a free machining grade, but does not fair well if welded.

If I put a block in my stoker it might take 5-6 days before I found it again. :D


 
BIG BEAM
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Post by BIG BEAM » Thu. Nov. 13, 2008 7:59 pm

What about cast steel or is the melting temp lower than cast iron ?
DON

 
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coaledsweat
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Post by coaledsweat » Fri. Nov. 14, 2008 8:45 am

Cast iron has a melting point about 4-600* higher than steels depending on the grades. It will also hold it's shape better as it approaches it's melting point. As a material for shaker grates, it has about a 600* advantage over steel IIRC.

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