Molten metal!  Who doesn’t get a thrill thinking about aluminum flowing into molds?  This ranks right up there with the basic elementals: air, fire, water, earth.  It just doesn’t get any more visceral than that.

We were shown the lost-foam technique of making objects.  The workflow starts by creating an object in foam insulation and then preparing a two-part sand mold around it. 

Ingots are melted in the furnace, and when the temperature gets to approximately 1200F (after 20-30 minutes of heating), the aluminum should be in a liquid state.  It can then be poured.

It cools down rapidly once poured but he still has to wait 10-15 minutes to knock the sand off the part.

Sage had a leather vest for protection from the heat and potential splatters, and shoe and face guards.  The foundry is insulated from the ground by fire bricks, and we had a fire extinguisher at hand just in case.

More pictures here, many thanks to Eric for documenting the process.