Aluminum casting - 5000 subscriber trophy

I have wanted to learn aluminium casting and passing 5000 subscribers seemed like a good occasion to do just that. Thank you all for subscribing. I figured lost-foam cast would be easiest way to start. These are my first tries on metal casting so there is still a lot to learn. I also made a quick foam cutter, I don't really have the space for a large cutter at the moment. I casted the trophy from scrap aluminum. The base I made from oak and put linseed oil on it. It took me three tries to get it "right". Of course there is still a lot to improve but I already learned a ton and I'm quite happy with the results. I think the first run went wrong mainly because of too low heat and too small sprues, which allowed the aluminum to cool down before it got inside the mold. On the second try I went over the top with the size of the sprues just to test whether I was right. The second run also failed. I saw some chucks of molten plastic in the sand after the cast and I realized that the foam was not right type of foam. I also did a test with the styrofoam and the blue foam. Styrofoam burned at least twice as fast as the blue foam and did not leave signifficant residues. I think I should have sieved the sand to get smoother surface texture. I'll see how that works out in my future projects. Also other tips are appreciated. I'm still working with relatively limited tolls and I will upgrade the furnace at some point. I hope this inspires some of you to try new things although you might not have the perfect tools nor the skills. SOME OF MY TOOLS: POWER FILE: https://amzn.to/2URHvPq CHUCK NORRIS’ TOOTHBRUSH: https://amzn.to/2YfXUj2 CORDLESS DRILL: https://amzn.to/2Wois77 MY FILMING GEAR: MAIN CAMERA: https://amzn.to/2JvtKox MAIN TRIPOD: https://amzn.to/2OlpYgn MICROPHONE: https://amzn.to/2OlpYgn VIDEO LIGHTS: https://amzn.to/2FpJDaB MAIN LENS: https://amzn.to/2Fm8yMk CINEMATIC LENS: https://amzn.to/2TmNdHH WIDE ANGLE LENS: https://amzn.to/2U7iJha GOPRO: https://amzn.to/2U3eqU3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIBE ▶▶▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf_s... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------