Aluminum Star Casting

Last time that I have published an Ible was about 3 years ago so with Christmas coming up soon I decided to share with you my recent aluminum casting project. I also created my first 2 tutorials, this is the first time that I actually spoke on my videos so it was an exciting process for me as well, I am aware that there is still a bit of polishing needed for my tutorials ;-)
Anyway this project is about how to cast an aluminum star from scrap aluminum describing most of the steps from A-Z.
The first video I will show how I have created the sand mould and in my 2nd video I focused more on my homemade foundry and the actual casting process.
So I hope you enjoy ;-)
Aluminum star casting part 1 (sand mould preparation):
Aluminum star casting part 2 (pouring the aluminum):
Sand Mould Images










Here are some images of the sand mould creation.
I used plastic star as a pattern, oil boned sand to get a good casting finishing and a DIY wooden flask.
After Pouring the Molten Aluminum








So in this set of images you can see the actual aluminum star casting, taking it out of the oil bonded sand, 1 hour after the aluminum pour.
After cleaning the extra aluminum and cutting off the gating system, some polish and you can see the final result, really cool project ;-)



Last step I used my tap and die set to thread a hole for a long nut. The nut is covered with a metal tube and attached to the Christmas tree with zip ties.