When I started building the furnace and all the tools needed for the craft of casting, I was skeptical that it would turn out any good. The videos I have seen of green sand molds made it look quite hard and prone to errors. But even with my simple homemade cat-litter green sand it worked like a charm!

There is definitely some skills involved, but with not too much exercise I am sure I will learn to make really intricate parts for the Satran antenna rotator. 

The prototype foundry is very simple, and uses charcoal briquettes and a small 12v radial fan that pumps fresh oxygen into the fire. The crucible was made of an old christmas tree stand by some welding. It turned red hot and I was worried the bottom would give up, but it worked perfectly. As soon it got hot enough the aluminum melted in seconds, very satisfying.

As you can see the part was quite detailed (its approx 6cm in diameter and 2-4mm thick. You can even see some of the layer lines from the 3D-printed original part. The feeder/riser-holes unfortunately weren't perfectly designed so there was a huge air bubble in the middle of the finished part. But next time I will take more care to create a much better mold, and perhaps buy or make some oil-based casting sand. Also with some grinding, sand blasting and powder coating it's gonna look great and last for years.