we took our previous design
added another layer of bricks around it and filled the gap between with soil for better insulation, so the furnace will keep more temperature inside.
Then we fired it up using firewood and started warming up the furnace itself, it was getting darker and rain started drizzling, but the fire kept everyone warm :).
While the furnace was getting to the right temperature (if we would increase the temperature rapidly, bricks in it would crack) we made some greensand molds for our aluminum parts.
To make greensand we used local clay i dug up in backyard and some sand (it is not the way greensand is made but for the first attempt it will do).
When finished with mold, we put the crucible into fire and added some compressed air into the furnace.
Then we added some more air :) and it was beautiful as hell.
After about half hour aluminum started melting
And someone suggested that we should try dirt as material for mold, so we tried:
and the idea was wrong as it turned out that the books don’t lie and vaporizing water from the soil ruined everything 
So it was obvious to use the proper mold:
and the result was much better
these parts need some machining and eventually they’ll become into parts for cnc router.
In conclusion:
- casting aluminium is fun
- we need to make better greensand
- we need to make proper boxes for molds
- must take beer and sausages to the next event of casting :)
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