Building a Gingery Electric Furnace

Having finished my wax injector, I have decided to start the electric furnace. The furnace that I will build and detail on these pages is based on the Gingery Electric Furnace called "Lil' Bertha". Before I start however, I want to thanks a couple of people who were instrumental in getting me started off on the right foot. These are:

Gary Lekvold - who has graciously given me heating elements, K Type thermocouples and Injection Wax along with a great amount of information through email. (Thanks Gary!)

Daniel B. Hartman - for information on his site detailing improvements to Lil' Bertha. You can check out his site by going to http://www.dansworkshop.com (Thanks Dan!)

Since I have finished the wax injector I have been collecting the supplies I need to make the furnace. So far this is what I have scrounged or bought.

 

Stove PipeThree 6" pieces of black stove pipe - These will be used to make the body, lid and base of the furnace.

 

HandlesFour large handles - Two of these will go on the lid and two will go on the body to make lifting the unit a little easier.

 

Fire bricksFire bricksEight Fire Brick - These will form the internal walls of the furnace and hold the heating element.

 

Perlite BeadsPerlite Beads - These will be used in the homemade IRC and will be packed between the outer shell of stove pipe and the inner shell of firebrick as well as the lid and base. (Directions on how to make the IRC are located elsewhere on this site.)

 

Furnace CementFurnace Cement - This will also be used in making the homemade IRC. (Furnace cement seems to be a seasonal item where I live. I am having a hard time finding enough to make the IRC. That is why there are so many different containers.)

 

Heating ElementsHeating ElementsHeating Elements - Pictured on the left is one of the heating elements that Gary was so kind to send to me. On the right was an element I found at a hardware store. These style of elements will be placed in the firebrick form.

 

Stepless ControllerStepless Controller or Infinate Range Switch - I found this switch at the same local hardware store that I found the heating element above. This will control the element letting me dial a heat range in.