Don't Build a Metal Foundry Until you See This First 

Rest in peace grant.I wish the best for the wife and kids💙

Dang. Really sorry you passed away man. You're a cool dude. Sad to see you go.

I used to watch these metal foundry vids Rest In Peace

Rest in peace, you've inspired me to do so many projects and make cool things with all my friends. You will be missed.

*What's up guys?! I've been wanting to make this video forever and really happy it's finally done. I hope it helps answer all your questions! If you have any more questions, just reply to this comment and ask away. I have to run out to the Chiropractor, then film a video with Cody's Lab, but I'll be back to read them all later tonight. Happy Casting!*

I did your build. I did allow it to dry about 2 weeks before adding heat. After many melts, it's still going. CU, AL, brass, etc. However, it did get me hooked so I built a new one. 3K wool, 3K refractory and used a large propane tank. Hinged lid, etc. It runs on waste oil :) Now melting brass is way faster ha. Thanks for the addiction!

Your legacy will forever live on

I've watched and personally witnessed the use of home foundries. The King of Random puts the key concerns into a well photographed and edited fun version of doing what so many enthusiasts have been putting off. Thank you TKofR, Jon

Great video Grant! Might have to make one of these now...

Thank you grant for everything you’ve done you’ve made us very happy your legacy will live on as one of the most creative people in the world R.I.P

You Sir, have mixed the 11 spices to make the ultimate video! As a newbie, I learned more in 9 minutes than watching "foundry" videos over the last 10 years!

Truly one of the best videos on the use of a home foundry I have ever seen! An outstanding job! Packed full of useable information, not fluff. Outstanding. Thank you.

Also, if you're REALLY focused on how high quality your castings come out don't use aluminum cans for your metal. Go to a junk yard, and buy up some aluminum intakes, alternators, or really any other engine parts that are aluminum. Those are made from a special alloy that has a nice tight crystal structure and will always look (and cast) better than extruded aluminum.

grant's wife: My parents are coming over today. Grant: Where am i going to make my video? Grant's wife: Go do it outside.

Oh dear, Sorry to hear of your accident. Condolences to the family and well, may this person and their memory be preserved here on youtube.

A truly inspiring video with clear and inspiring pictures and a commentary that covers all that you need to know. Full credit to these guys

"Not all charcoal is created equal" CHARCOAL LIVES MATTER

I was just about to build a metal foundry and then I found this video on my feed! WOW! Really helpful video, I followed your tips and my life' never been the same. Now I make 100k more a year and the wife and kid's never been happier. Thanks so much!!!

I really liked the fact that hes a fast talker and delivers his points quickly. I also liked that you followed everything with a reason as to why.

Rest in peace,This is still my favorite King Of Random video,This was one of the first videos I started watching King Of Random videos a year ago.

I spent a summer interning at a company that did lost wax casting as a side enterprise, and a couple of things they did would probably help. For one, rather than packing sand like this (since they were a production operation), they used a slurry mix to set each part bundle into its own dedicated mold. I think it was a silica type of sand, able to stand up to molten steel, and they dipped a few times and let each layer dry like making a candle. Another thing they did was heat each mold up to just shy of the melting point of the steel (medium carbon steel) so the metal flowed freely. And they were able to cast some exceptionally fine parts. It also seems like you could use some type of vibration source when pouring your sand to get it to settle and create a cleaner mold. If you do reloading you could probably use a vibratory tumbler.

Dear Mr Grant Thompson, I had try make a little furnace as you shown at the tutorial video, and make a little modification by using 12volt ~ 24volt blower fan. The normal wind stream (not as hot as hair dryer wind stream blows) could be controlled by switching the potentiometer up or down to suitable electricpower as you need. Thanks a lot, sir...you were inspired me.

RU-vid is trying to make me ball my eyes out. Gonna miss you. May your next life treat you just as graciously as this one. RIP

Most interesting follow up, well beyond what I expected or hoped for, but that's how you roll! Thank you, sir, again for well thought out interesting and informative content.

Lucky thing this popped up on my recommended list. I was literally JUST about to build a metal foundry...phew.

I've been looking to get into metalworking myself, and had quite a few questions about what sand to use, how to build the Kiln, ETC, and be honest, this video has answered virtually all my questions. Thank you so much for posting it, and I will be watching the rest of your videos on how to make it, and how to make it work right. :-) have a lovely day. :-)

This whole metal foundry build is AWESOME I actually built my own using your instructional video on how to build it and it works AMAZINGLY WELL

Along with the basic brilliance of your concepts, YOU ARE A GREAT VIDEO PRODUCER!! You talk clearly, fast and it's all relevant. You Edit and I know that is not simple to do correctly. You should be on educational television. You are better than most of those shows.

Wow that is a gnarly looking graphite crucible. :) Thanks for all the great videos. You have been very instrumental in getting me into casting.

"Don't Build a Metal Foundry Until you See This First" Well there goes my plans for this weekend...

These metal casting videos were the best. So inspiring.

Thank you so much grant. After seeing your video the next day I tried and to create my own forge and was able to melt pewter as my first metal ever melted

Dude this may be the most well informed well thought out and researched youtube video ever. Not because the content was cool or anything.. just the execution of the video. There should be an award for least useless video on youtube.

Although this is an awesome idea, people need to be aware that this is extremely dangerous. My coworker had a piece of metal (that had an air bubble in it) explode on him and he was lucky to only have his leg and foot hit by the molten metal. It immediately burned through his shoes and gloves and caused such horrible burns that the doctors had to give him skin grafts and were very close to amputating his leg. It looked awful and he said he was in excruciating pain for about a week. If you are a beginner and are thinking of making this, BE CAREFUL.

Absolutely Amazing, wonderful video. I have always wanted to see such kind of innovative and creative Video.

Wow! Great video. Packed with some of the best beginner tips I've seen thus far! Thanks for posting!

I feel so old now! 2 years ago. Ugh... Thanks Grant!

For years I have wanted a back yard foundry, my wife is against it from the beginning. Now that I have seen your channel I see a way around her complaints. This will be easy, and she'll have no way to complain.... Thanks, I will be watching a lot more.

ENORMOUS help ... Answered many questions ... Thanks KoR 👍

Awesome video! Thanks for taking the time to help us rookies skip some mistakes! ✌️

You are really a professional...

Just use jet fuel to melt steel.... Oh wait!

man mentioning others work in your own video?? what a humble person you are .. not to forget about your ideas that helps A LOT ... thank you for sharing them too keep it up KING .. I'm subscribing blindly XD

Some of the best videos on you tube. My friends and I really enjoy your work.

Why am I even watching this?? I'm never going to do this

You have such an amazing voice. I have no clue what you're talking about but I love listening to you. I can listen to you talk about anything for years and I won't get bored. Lool I'm weird. 😜

I really like it. Not only is it very practical both for the hobbyist and the small businessman, the coolness factor for it being economical makes it even better

This was insanely informative. I've always wanted to get into metal forging as a hobby. For small weapons/jewelry etc. Definitely trying this.

Metal Foundry wont melt steel beams

Bucket List: 1. Make Foundry 2. Build Eiffel Tower

How frickin cool! Thanks for sharing! I may or may not try any of this, but i found it very interesting, either way. Very fine job, young man.

I just made one of these and it worked awesome!! It got so hot, in fact, that I melted the stainless steel crucible! Thanks for the great design!

I have made this and I had a sort of a meltdown. The foundrie was extra big and I used a shop vac instead of a hairdryer. I melted a steel crucible and about a pound of aluminum and instead of stopping, I fired it up more and i melted it into the charcoal. I also tried mixing in even materials to "spice it up" and I got this crazy looking piece that looks like it's a meteor and it weighs a ton. I love your channel and this was a very fun build you should try to make a lid for the foundry so you can forge steel that would be super cool.

The memories hit me hard.

Been watching vids on foundries for years. This is the best so far mainly because we can't all get these fancy materials. I found cast iron bowl with pour spouts works as crucible.

Best so far. Straight forward, all facts and informative.

Who's watching this in their mothers basement approximately in 2385

Those little metal muffins.. I... I won't lie I... kinda wanna try to eat it... Is just looks like a little cake wrapped in tinfoil.. I can't help it..

Dude. Very nice and informative. I like how you mentioned so many other channels also. Thanks for your contributions to the University of RU-vid community.

Awesome! Lucid explanations, no fluff.

Been watching almost all of grants older vides today. and it hurts to know hes gone

About a year ago I tried to break a strand of steel wool with my hands. VERY BAD IDEA

Wow. Lol this was insanely wonderful. Thank you for taking the time to share - it is really appreciated. Fabulous. Regards Lee (UK)

Wow you really addressed a lot of questions in this video. Very thorough.. well done!

the greatest youtuber ever... you will be missed brother...

Could you combine all 3 videos into a shopping list so i could buy all the supplies i need? :)

Very nice video, thanks for taking the time! I may never do this myself, but find it interesting and fascinating! Thumbs up!

Wow! 10 minutes packed with information. I will watch this a dozen times

I work in a Foundry. To get better casting you have to make mold veins for liquid metal to travel down then cut them off afterward. casting metal usually uses wax for a mold. then 2 kinds of sand ( slurry) one to stick to the wax and one to build up on the first to strengthen the mold.

just got this video in my feed and realised how badly i miss u mate, rest in peace ❤

Great video!!!! I needed to cast a couple of small brass parts and your video is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!!!!

Thanks that covers a lot of questions I had. In mind, you are pretty Intuitive, not to mention smart. I think I might give your Idea a try. Thanks again, from across the pond In the UK!

Thank for this tutorial on this foundry I made it once and loved it Rest In Peace ✌️

I tried this out at home and there's a couple things that I found out for myself that might be useful for you guys: 1) The 2.5 quater bucket hole size for the furnace for me was way too small. I could barely fit any coal in there along with the crucible and it took really long to heat up (+30 minutes). What little coal I could fit was competely spent by the time I got to melting temp. I'd recommend using a bigger bucket for the hole size, maybe one of those Neopolitan plastic ice cream buckets you'd buy at the grocery store. 2) The lid works fine, but the turbulence from the hairdryer launches ember through the hole of the lid and right into the crucible, creating tons of dross in your aluminum. I'd recommend adding grooves around the border of the lid's hole to protect the crucible's opening and make sure contents of the aluminum is as clean as possible. 3) You might be better off not using steel wool to hold all the plaster together. I find that the wool takes up a lot of room and it's really difficult for your mixture to actually mix in with the wool so your walls end up being pretty thin and brittle. Plaster and sand is not meant to last long anyways. 4) The plaster and sand mixture really does harden fast. Make sure you get your shape within the first 5 minutes of mixing. 5) I was smelting large aluminum pieces that could only be introduced to the heat of the crucible inches at a time, I needed to break the brittle sections that are halfway in the crucible, so I got a stainless steel rod and oven gloves to play with the aluminum as it heated.

What a cool dude, I didn't find these videos until after his passing, it's too bad because they are very inspiring and neat for helping and motivating and what not

Thanks for a very informative tutorial and the great tips! You Rock!

It is 230 am still gonna watch the video tho

Okay, some words of caution are necessary here: 1) Anyone determined to melt aluminum drink cans should be mindful that they have proper masks for filtering fumes and are in a very well-ventilated area (outdoors is best), because the cans are coated with vinyl to prevent corrosion, which when burnt produces carcinogenic gases. 2) Make sure that any fire extinguishers you are going to use as crucibles are completely empty, because sawing through a pressurized container=Explosion hazard. That aside, this is a neat idea for a lower cost foundry, I might have to try this model sometime.

Excellent precise with clear audio

I've been wanting to make one of these for years. I saw this video before the accident. I hope to Make it weel and keep it DIY like you intended. thank you TKOR

I want to build my first metal foundry just because of you. RIP 😭

This is great, lad. I think mixing melted aluminum, copper and tin together is a great one to do making your own kind of bronze.

Very, very well put together video. Great work!

You (The King of Random) are amazingly smart, very intelligent, full of innovation & ingenuity, it just blow my mind to think that you are from this planet Earth! You must be from another higher advanced civilization world \ planet! I want to thank you for posting updates, tips, improvements and the don'ts & do of mini metal foundry for all hobbyists out there!

"The foundry will reach about 2,000 degrees and I know that because it will melt copper" *throws in brass*

Finally got all the materials to make this. Visited Home Depot and Ace Hardware and utilized some of his Amazon suggestions. If you only get the components for the Foundry(buckets, plaster, sand, crucible, u-bolts, and air pipes) it costs around $94 total. If you don't have hole saws, or tongs, etc it can be up around $135 which is still amazing for such a viable backyard foundry. I went a little extra on amazon, got me some nice tongs, a slag ladle, etc. Combined I spent about $150. Saved about $12 at Home Depot though as they offer a Military Discount again finally. Update - So I made this today(day after buying everything) and used the exact measurements for sand/plasterparis/water and it took well over 40 minutes before it began to solidify. I'm assuming it's due to me being in Florida with a higher humidity, however it did end up firming up quite nicely and holding the center bucket. Took about an hour and 20 minutes to cure. After removing the bucket(slid out easily) it turned out quite nice. The vent-hold was easy to cut, though I cut mine slightly lower, using the second line down and it came out about the same distance up. This entire process was so easy, curing time was really the only thing that wasn't nearly instant with this project.

First time here. I love it. I will make me one over the weekend. I got so many can caps it is sick. That is gonna be fun. I know my wife will freak out about the fire but I think I can manage. Thanks so much for the video. Awesome, fun and creative.

One material I'm probably going to try when the weather gets a little warmer here. There is an old trick where you can carve a foundry from a loaf of stale bread then thoroughly char it over a grill. This creates a carbon foam. The problem with that foam is that it's not very dense and crumbles easily. However the density of the foam is proportional to the density of the bread. So my line of thinking is to set up a pipe inside the bucket the size of the cavity you want. Pack bread down into the section that will become the insulated wall as tightly as you can. Bake it over a fire until the bread is thoroughly charred into carbon foam and when it cools remove the pipe used to form the cavity.

i initially had no interest in this but somehow my youtube turned this on and now im heavily considering making this in my backyard lol! i wanna make all kinds of things

Rewatching and makes me sad. Miss you man. Rip

Great video, I built one a long time ago with heating elements wire that worked pretty well

So sad to here about your passing. You seem like an awesome and friendly person. Hope your family and kids are holding up ok. R.I.P

I have absolutely no idea what any of this means but I find it interesting so I'm watching it

2:27 so jetfuel cant melt steel?

WOW!! Excellent video. So much info. Thanks

Durring the summer I'm getting a job so I can get the materials to make my own foundry. I'm trying to get into the RU-vid business and I'm starting from the bottom and going up. Your videos are very helpful and are really interesting. 👍

Taken from us way too soon. All the best ones are. RIP legend!

*_Where can I buy propane and propane accessories?_*

Great to know! Thanks for all the pointers!