Aluminum Casting Projects

I’ve been exploring metal casting using a Devilforge furnace to melt aluminum cans into custom medals, rings, and coins.

Equipment List

• Furnace: Devilforge propane furnace
• Crucible: #4 Clay graphite crucible
• Mold Material: Petrobond/Greensand
• Safety Gear: Heat resistant gloves, face shield, leather apron
• Source Material: Recycled aluminum cans

Project Examples

March Madness Tournament Medal

The tournament medal was my first major casting project. I designed the medal in Blender with a realistic basketball texture. I printed the master pattern in resin with a tab to later attach a ribbon. This took a few attempts to get the mold right with greensand, but I was able to get a decent cast.

Custom rings

These rings were made mostly to test the precision of the casting and to practice surface finishing. The mold worked beautfilly but there was a lot of porosity in the cast. The rings were also surprisingly light but still felt durable.

Themed coins

These coins were made to show off the casting to friends and family. The coins pictured here are a mandalorian medallion, pirate treasure, a bitcoin, and a witcher medallion.

Learning Experience

This has definitely been an interesting experience, previously I wouldn’t have thought I’d be able to make custom cast parts at home this easily. To go from 3d printing the master to casting a finished product has become not only a fun hobby, but also a useful skill to have. Since these projects I’ve switched to mainly using petrobond for the better surface detail in the mold, but I’ve also purchased a kayacast investment casting machine and a tabletop burnout furnace to try out lost-wax casting with resin parts.