fire and metal...

My largest cast to date...which is why my pour was pretty sloppy. I wasn't used to handling this much molten metal and didn't have the crucible close enough to my pouring targets. The Harbor Freight knife has a stainless steel blade and hollow aluminum handle and weighs 1 pound. The casting came in at just under 2 pounds. Vertical casting into clay or stone molds was the primary way that weapons and tools were made during the bronze age. I made this mold in petrobond - an oil-bonded and pre-mixed moldable clay/sand mixture that I ordered from PMC Supplies via Amazon. My alloy is 91% copper and 9% aluminum. I recently acquired 100 pounds of copper ($40) and 15 pounds of aluminum (FREE). That should be enough to keep me busy for awhile...