Quote:
Originally Posted by captain swoop
My dads hobby is Model Engineering, In his workshop he casts Aluminum, Brass and Iron. His furnace gets the Aluminum glowing orange, I guess I must be seeing things as well. When it pours it isnt an oxide he is pouring.
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http://www.eh.doe.gov/techstds/stand.../hbk1081d.html
Aluminum
The usual forms of aluminum have a sufficiently high ignition temperature so that its burning is not a factor in most fires. However, very fine chips and shavings are occasionally subject to somewhat the same type of combustion as described for magnesium. Powdered or flaked aluminum in its pure form can ignite spontaneously in air and can be explosive in air.
The oxide forms over the top of the molten aluminum as it is poured that is what forms the color you see. If the oxide did not protect the metal you father could not pour it at all, not without a death wish.
I have personally witness an aluminum fireball in air, I do not want to see another one!