The starting idea here is a good one: MARVELOUS METALS took leftover graphite blocks that most people would toss and turned them into molds for a set of custom Pirate coins. This is the second run of the Backyard Metal Foundry project, and the whole thing centers on casting metal tokens from open-face molds carved by hand.
The build itself is satisfyingly low-tech. Triangular scrap graphite blocks get clamped in a bench vise, a hand drill with a hole saw bit cuts the circular recess, and a Dremel 3000 hollows out the cavity. A Westward engraving pen then carves the details, including cross motifs and a crowned heraldic shield. The charcoal-filled bucket furnace, running with an air blower pipe attached, had to climb past 2,000F for the pour, and copper melts at 1,984F, so there was no margin for a lukewarm fire. Molten copper went into the recesses of four triangular molds.
The metal came from flattened scrap copper tube segments, which I think is a great fit for the reddish-brown pirate coin look. After cooling, the cast discs were held in a vise and polished with a drill fitted with a brass wire cup brush. Seven finished coins ended up arranged on a metal workbench around the molds, and that final display reads as a proper little treasure pile.
There is an honest lesson baked in from an earlier attempt: a lid built from sand, plaster, and concrete split in half during a burn because extra concrete trapped moisture, and the maker took from that the knowledge that more concrete is not always better. As for what comes next, the last shot shows a blank mold with a paper question mark on it, so the next project is still an open question.
Project by MARVELOUS METALS. Watch it on their YouTube channel: