Breaking up metals.

[NeoTech]

So im in need of breaking up a about 1500kg of cast iron in the form of engine blocks and crankshafts. So of couse i can saw them up .. But it would be more interesting to make something like a rock crusher, a hammar mill, shredder or something similar... Would it be possible to make for metals?

[awemawson]

Things like engine blocks have significant mass which makes melting difficult on a small scale and will resist many ways of physically breaking them.

I reckon for that volume you need to make yourself a thermal lance. At it's simplest it's just a steel tube packed with thin steel rods, with oxygen being blown though it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_lance

[JHovel]

I doubt that a thermal lance is practical. However, I suspect a decent size plasma cutter would work well. Something that will do 2" or 3" severance cuts.

[Jonny]

How about cleaning up the engine blocks and making tables out of them.
Just the job for man caves.

Why the need to break up.
Take in whole to scrap metals and get some money out of it.

[JHovel]

Hey, this is a 'mad modder' forum. Taking scrap to the scappy is not allowed here. 
He clearly wants to recycle the cast iron and melt it down to cast new parts - and engine blocks just don't fit into his crucibles....

[Joules]

Wait for a REALLY cold day then attack the castings with a jack hammer.

[awemawson]

I'm repeating myself here, but : .....


If you already have an oxy-acetylene setup, then a thermal / thermic lance is dead easy to construct and will do the job. I appreciate that if you don't have O/A then the initial cost might be prohibitive.

But remember that you only need the oxygen. A propane torch should get the rods hot enough to start it.

[NeoTech]

I will need to take a look into thermal lances. i have a vauge memory from my military service that we used ones that were ignited with magnesium and just pumped oxygen thru them.

And yeah, making tables out of like 14 engine blocks well sure.. i can start my own furniture shop. ;)

The cold part dont really work i did that this winter -22C and pounded them nothing happened, i have tried to break em up with water as well it will crack em but not enough so you can make em into small enough parts for melting them down in a crucible.

The plasma cutter i have will not really get thru them.. Cast iron is specül.. And then i have a hypertherm pmx 80.. so i thought it would make short work of it - but i was mistaken

[chipenter]

We used to start a themic lance with steel wool , unrole 18" of fine steel wool wire it to the end open the oxegen and light it .

[Will_D]

Could you not cut a slit into a thin walled section with a grinder with say a 2mm cutting disk and then use a steel wedge/wedges and a 14 lb sledge hammer to split up the casting as you would do with oak logs?

After all cast iron is not good in tension

[NeoTech]

Would prob. work yes, would prob. take forever but yeah should work. =)