what’s up guys we are casting metal
pokeballs today so this is a true story
I was trying to find my mini metal
foundry and it just disappeared I
checked my side shed I checked on my
workspace and it was gone
I was about to make a new one and then
last night it finally hit me you know
what I did with it I stuck a plant in it
and turn it back into a plant pot and I
know that that was its original purpose
and design but it’s kind of funny that I
lost track of it
ok so let’s jump right in you remember
in the last video we took whacks
pokeballs and we encapsulated them with
plaster of Paris and then I baked those
in the oven to melt the wax and leave a
cavity where we could pour in molten
aluminum so next item in business let’s
get back to the stove pull out our
plaster molds and see if we can cook up
some molten aluminum today whoo these
things are toasty warm and the cool
thing is they’re completely hollow as
well all the wax that was in there
melted and dripped out upside down and I
removed that wax and then let them cook
overnight at about 325 degrees
Fahrenheit so most of the moisture is
cooked out now and these things are nice
and warm which is really good but I do
have a little bit of a concern though in
a previous video I tried making a
plaster mold of Han Solo and pouring in
molten copper and the heat of the copper
was enough to vaporize materials in the
plaster which left bubbles and pock
marks all over the final casting will it
turn out with a reasonable result I have
no idea this is purely experimental so
you’re seeing this for the first time as
I do and if any of you are experienced
metal workers know the better way to do
this then please let me know because I’m
here for the experience in the education
as well they’re really warm it’s
actually starting to burn my hands so
let’s go whip up a batch of molten
aluminum pour these molds and see if
they actually work
now this is a brand-new clay graphite
crucible and technically you’re supposed
to let it run through a cycle of warming
up and cooling down or there’s a chance
that it could split but I’m not really
that patient so I’m just going to throw
this thing in fire it up and hope that
it survives okay so for aluminum scrap
here I’ve got some of my mini metal
biscuits I’ve also got this old aluminum
master sword it was a little bit bent
and wonky so we’re going to melt that
back down and use it to make some
pokeballs today right on time to fire it
up
[Music]
so I just got this out of the oven it’s
extremely hot but I’m still expecting
the molten metal will probably crack the
plaster it’s just what it does but it’s
completely cleaned out now let’s set
this thing down and pour some metal in
okay this thing is molten I don’t want
to spill it that would be very very bad
[Applause]
[Music]
it’s still lighting on fire
now that plaster is still burning I was
wondering if it was going to do that so
I’m wondering if that’s going to cause
imperfections to the metal I’m hoping
that has a chance to settle down before
that cures maybe we can get a little bit
more in there that’s a pretty good pour
I have to say I’m pretty impressed with
myself for not spilling even though I
cook these things overnight at 350
degrees you can see the plaster still
releasing flammable gases so I obviously
didn’t cook it all off and we’re getting
a nice big crack here as the metal
starts to cool but I do have my fingers
crossed I’m hopeful that we’re going to
get something good here you had a crack
down the side of my crucible so we’re
gonna have to do this quickly
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
oh no I’m out of aluminum no that’s not
good you got to be kidding me
there’s 40 bucks down the drain we’re
just going to salvage as much of this as
we can
another cool design of the mini metal
foundry I should have done that earlier
though that thing is cooled down too
long I think we lost most of it
okay so update guys this is why you
follow directions the crucible maker
told me I needed to warm it up and cool
it down or it may crack I was expecting
some little cracks I wasn’t expecting it
to break in half holy heck and that may
have cost us one of my pokeball castings
so check it out guys we’ve let these
things sit for about an hour they should
be nice and cold now and you can see the
plasters stopped burning it’s left a
nice black residue everywhere and
surprisingly this metal is actually very
warm to the touch not so much down here
but up here is still really warm
unfortunately I cracked my crucible and
lost half of the aluminum before I could
get this poured I think the mold is full
but I actually not sure what to expect I
am curious to get inside this and see
how it turned out so let’s take these
bad boys back inside grab a hammer smash
them open see what we got it took so
much work to make these plaster molds
and now we have to smash them open they
are one-time use you only get one shot
so you’re seeing this for the first time
as I do this thing filled up completely
with aluminum the only way to get our
metal mold out now is to smash it with a
hammer let’s get to it
one shot and check that out oh my
goodness you know what that kind of
worked out the first thing I notice is
the cracks and crevices are all filled
up with sand and plaster but I’m
thinking if we just took something like
a screwdriver we could probably chisel
those out even after an hour and a half
to two hours of cooling down this thing
is still ridiculously hot oh and just as
a point of interest there’s that little
point on my hand where the liquid
nitrogen burned me two weeks ago just
randomly out of nowhere it started
blistering this thing seems to be in
pretty good condition there was a little
bit of shrinkage here apparently when
the aluminum cooled down so we don’t
have a perfect sphere unfortunately but
the rest of it looks to be in pretty
good shape
we got one solid pokeball now I am
excited to see the second mold here
either we have a solid pokeball
all or we have two halves that are
joined together but did they fuse
together or will they fall apart I guess
it’s time to find out sweet look at that
it almost looks like the Technodrome if
you’re a ninja turtle fan from the 80s
you got like the eye on the Technodrome
there this stuff is so brittle I could
probably just pull it apart with my
hands look at that so what did we get
here so far it’s actually looking pretty
good every sphere we cast we get air
bubbles trapped in the top I’m not sure
how to avoid that so you can actually
see the seam where the two metals joined
together this first pour went up to here
and then the second pour actually join
in there let’s see if we can get these
things cleaned up a little bit shall we
there we go I’m going to use a little
wire brush here oh yeah look at the way
that just falls away that actually looks
pretty sweet these things might clean up
relatively nice whoo I’m starting to see
potential here guys so here’s the
difference after 30 seconds of a wire
brush it’s already pretty dramatic it
looks like it turned out great I kind of
like that dirty look to it though it
could just cut off the base rounded up a
little bit have ourselves a cool little
paperweight solid metal pokéballs
that’s awesome
so there you have it guys I’m actually
super surprised that casting and plaster
is actually a viable option and I think
if we were to take our silicone molds
and our wax sculptures and make them a
little bit more perfect I think those
results would show up on our end product
as well what do you want to see me cast
next put your comments and suggestions
down below maybe I’ll pick one of them
and put it to the test in the future
video thanks for joining me for this
series of experiments it has been
awesome hanging out with you and I will
see you in the next video I’ll talk to
you that cool the world’s first gummy
pokeball
[Music]
you
[Music]
pokeballs today so this is a true story
I was trying to find my mini metal
foundry and it just disappeared I
checked my side shed I checked on my
workspace and it was gone
I was about to make a new one and then
last night it finally hit me you know
what I did with it I stuck a plant in it
and turn it back into a plant pot and I
know that that was its original purpose
and design but it’s kind of funny that I
lost track of it
ok so let’s jump right in you remember
in the last video we took whacks
pokeballs and we encapsulated them with
plaster of Paris and then I baked those
in the oven to melt the wax and leave a
cavity where we could pour in molten
aluminum so next item in business let’s
get back to the stove pull out our
plaster molds and see if we can cook up
some molten aluminum today whoo these
things are toasty warm and the cool
thing is they’re completely hollow as
well all the wax that was in there
melted and dripped out upside down and I
removed that wax and then let them cook
overnight at about 325 degrees
Fahrenheit so most of the moisture is
cooked out now and these things are nice
and warm which is really good but I do
have a little bit of a concern though in
a previous video I tried making a
plaster mold of Han Solo and pouring in
molten copper and the heat of the copper
was enough to vaporize materials in the
plaster which left bubbles and pock
marks all over the final casting will it
turn out with a reasonable result I have
no idea this is purely experimental so
you’re seeing this for the first time as
I do and if any of you are experienced
metal workers know the better way to do
this then please let me know because I’m
here for the experience in the education
as well they’re really warm it’s
actually starting to burn my hands so
let’s go whip up a batch of molten
aluminum pour these molds and see if
they actually work
now this is a brand-new clay graphite
crucible and technically you’re supposed
to let it run through a cycle of warming
up and cooling down or there’s a chance
that it could split but I’m not really
that patient so I’m just going to throw
this thing in fire it up and hope that
it survives okay so for aluminum scrap
here I’ve got some of my mini metal
biscuits I’ve also got this old aluminum
master sword it was a little bit bent
and wonky so we’re going to melt that
back down and use it to make some
pokeballs today right on time to fire it
up
[Music]
so I just got this out of the oven it’s
extremely hot but I’m still expecting
the molten metal will probably crack the
plaster it’s just what it does but it’s
completely cleaned out now let’s set
this thing down and pour some metal in
okay this thing is molten I don’t want
to spill it that would be very very bad
[Applause]
[Music]
it’s still lighting on fire
now that plaster is still burning I was
wondering if it was going to do that so
I’m wondering if that’s going to cause
imperfections to the metal I’m hoping
that has a chance to settle down before
that cures maybe we can get a little bit
more in there that’s a pretty good pour
I have to say I’m pretty impressed with
myself for not spilling even though I
cook these things overnight at 350
degrees you can see the plaster still
releasing flammable gases so I obviously
didn’t cook it all off and we’re getting
a nice big crack here as the metal
starts to cool but I do have my fingers
crossed I’m hopeful that we’re going to
get something good here you had a crack
down the side of my crucible so we’re
gonna have to do this quickly
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
oh no I’m out of aluminum no that’s not
good you got to be kidding me
there’s 40 bucks down the drain we’re
just going to salvage as much of this as
we can
another cool design of the mini metal
foundry I should have done that earlier
though that thing is cooled down too
long I think we lost most of it
okay so update guys this is why you
follow directions the crucible maker
told me I needed to warm it up and cool
it down or it may crack I was expecting
some little cracks I wasn’t expecting it
to break in half holy heck and that may
have cost us one of my pokeball castings
so check it out guys we’ve let these
things sit for about an hour they should
be nice and cold now and you can see the
plasters stopped burning it’s left a
nice black residue everywhere and
surprisingly this metal is actually very
warm to the touch not so much down here
but up here is still really warm
unfortunately I cracked my crucible and
lost half of the aluminum before I could
get this poured I think the mold is full
but I actually not sure what to expect I
am curious to get inside this and see
how it turned out so let’s take these
bad boys back inside grab a hammer smash
them open see what we got it took so
much work to make these plaster molds
and now we have to smash them open they
are one-time use you only get one shot
so you’re seeing this for the first time
as I do this thing filled up completely
with aluminum the only way to get our
metal mold out now is to smash it with a
hammer let’s get to it
one shot and check that out oh my
goodness you know what that kind of
worked out the first thing I notice is
the cracks and crevices are all filled
up with sand and plaster but I’m
thinking if we just took something like
a screwdriver we could probably chisel
those out even after an hour and a half
to two hours of cooling down this thing
is still ridiculously hot oh and just as
a point of interest there’s that little
point on my hand where the liquid
nitrogen burned me two weeks ago just
randomly out of nowhere it started
blistering this thing seems to be in
pretty good condition there was a little
bit of shrinkage here apparently when
the aluminum cooled down so we don’t
have a perfect sphere unfortunately but
the rest of it looks to be in pretty
good shape
we got one solid pokeball now I am
excited to see the second mold here
either we have a solid pokeball
all or we have two halves that are
joined together but did they fuse
together or will they fall apart I guess
it’s time to find out sweet look at that
it almost looks like the Technodrome if
you’re a ninja turtle fan from the 80s
you got like the eye on the Technodrome
there this stuff is so brittle I could
probably just pull it apart with my
hands look at that so what did we get
here so far it’s actually looking pretty
good every sphere we cast we get air
bubbles trapped in the top I’m not sure
how to avoid that so you can actually
see the seam where the two metals joined
together this first pour went up to here
and then the second pour actually join
in there let’s see if we can get these
things cleaned up a little bit shall we
there we go I’m going to use a little
wire brush here oh yeah look at the way
that just falls away that actually looks
pretty sweet these things might clean up
relatively nice whoo I’m starting to see
potential here guys so here’s the
difference after 30 seconds of a wire
brush it’s already pretty dramatic it
looks like it turned out great I kind of
like that dirty look to it though it
could just cut off the base rounded up a
little bit have ourselves a cool little
paperweight solid metal pokéballs
that’s awesome
so there you have it guys I’m actually
super surprised that casting and plaster
is actually a viable option and I think
if we were to take our silicone molds
and our wax sculptures and make them a
little bit more perfect I think those
results would show up on our end product
as well what do you want to see me cast
next put your comments and suggestions
down below maybe I’ll pick one of them
and put it to the test in the future
video thanks for joining me for this
series of experiments it has been
awesome hanging out with you and I will
see you in the next video I’ll talk to
you that cool the world’s first gummy
pokeball
[Music]
you
[Music]
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