Do It Yourself

Survival DIY: How To Melt Aluminum Cans For Casting

Published

on

Feature | Aluminum Melting Bars | Survival DIY: How To Melt Aluminum Cans For Casting

Learn how to melt aluminum cans here and earn yourself another invaluable survival skill!

Backyard Blacksmithing: How to Melt Aluminum Cans

Blacksmithing Is an Essential Survival Skill

blacksmithing, forging, knifemaking, make your own weapons

When SHTF, the survival skills you have on hand become incredibly priceless! One skill that has sadly fallen to the wayside in recent years is the art of blacksmithing.

purple-banner-gear
yellow-square-gear-testers

Blacksmithing is a DIY survival skill that will turn out to be more useful than you thought.

Knowing how to melt aluminum is an essential survival skill to master, indeed. That is because you can't trust that, in an uncertain future, someone else will do it for you.

You've got to know how to make your own materials.

1. Building Your Own DIY Blacksmithing Tools

Unfortunately, forges and furnaces will be in high demand but not readily available. You must then be able to produce your own melting furnace to start producing the raw materials you need.

Thus, having your own crucible will set you up to have a small-scale metalworking industry in your backyard (or bomb shelter.)

Survival DIY

The term “survival DIY” can be easily misunderstood when taken literally. It simply means being able to do most things on your own.

When SHTF, the power grid might fail, along with other sources of energy. The possibilities are endless and unpredictable.

You are then unable to make it without the proper everyday tools so learn to DIY for long-term survival.

Work with what's around or what's left because it will be the only way. You will have to recycle or repurpose materials to fabricate weapons, tools, and even utensils.

orange-banner-gear
tan-square-gear-testers

2. Make Your Own Metal Foundry

Aluminum alloys can be hard to produce on your own, but having a stack of ingots you made from molten aluminum can supply you with a heavy amount of raw materials to build tools with.

Luckily, with a little time, effort, and a few household items, you can build your own! Before you start melting, you have to produce a foundry.

With your own foundry, you can melt down metals like aluminum and repurpose them into the tools you need. We have the step-by-step instructions for how to make your own mini foundry and how to melt aluminum.

Now that you know how to make your own aluminum melting furnaces, you have more room to be creative with your tools.

Check out the video tutorial below to learn how:

3. How to Turn Scrap into Muffins

Once you get this bad boy built, you can do all sorts of things with it! Check out this short instructional video below that shows how to turn scrap into “muffins.”

Basically, the muffins are made of molten aluminum. After melting your aluminum cans, you can turn them into many nifty things to use for survival purposes.

After you make “muffins” in your mini foundry, use them to cast survival tools or supplies. Of course, you have to remember to be cautious when handling molten metal.

RELATED: Homemade Aluminum Can Burners

4. How to Melt Aluminum Cans at Home with a Mini Metal Foundry

Learning how to melt aluminum can save your life when you're in need of a self-defense tool or something to trade.

With the number of soda cans floating around in garbage cans everywhere, you won't have to look very far to start melting. This does not even limit itself to just cans; you can use aluminum foil or any aluminum-based products.

There's a bit more work involved if you want to make aluminum alloys, but this survival DIY skill is worth your time. Melting aluminum for raw materials is a good way to set yourself up when a global crisis comes down.

A word of warning: This foundry can reach temperatures well over 1200 degrees Fahrenheit! Make sure you use all the proper safety equipment before you attempt to use your foundry.

5. Metal Casting or How to Melt Metal into Useful Tools

Metal casting is an art form, and formal education will certainly help you. You can't just put things in an oven and expect them to come out useful, of course.

So, try to find a metal working class to join. If you can't find one, YouTube has a wealth of information ready for your picking.

In time, you might even be a post-apocalyptic Legatus Legionis with your own private army equipped with your homemade survival tools.

You can also forge metal at home with this product.

No products found.

Check out how to melt soda cans in this video from The King of Random:

The whole aluminum melting process down to casting seems pretty complicated but once you get the hang of it, the skill will stay with you. In fact, a lot of people take time to learn the skill only for entertainment value.

For now, melting aluminum cans for profit is trending, but when SHTF, they'll have a super valuable skill they can use to survive. So take the time to learn the skill both for fun and survival value!

Survival Skills Everyone Should Know for When SHTF

Our world is one disaster away from becoming a wasteland. When that happens, you have no choice but to live the way our forefathers used to some centuries ago.

That means learning unfamiliar survival skills, like the aluminum melting process. You never know when you might need a DIY survival weapon or homemade items to trade.

Scrap metal will be hard to come by and having a stock of soda cans ready will be useful. So, hoard what you can, while you can.

It needn't only be soda and beer cans, though. Foil, aluminum powder, and the like can produce valuable ingots you can use to craft more tools.

Having plenty of scrap metal and molten soda cans is a good way to have raw materials on hand.

What do you think? Is backyard blacksmithing a skill you have on hand? Is it worth adding to your survival skill set? Let us know in the comments below!

For awesome survival gear, you can't make at home, check out the Survival Life Store!

Up Next:

 

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter Tumblr and Pinterest!

Disclaimer: All content on this site is for informational purposes only. Please read our full disclaimer here.

How to Melt Aluminum | Survival DIY: How To Melt Aluminum Cans for Casting

Editor's Note: This was first published on April 16, 2018, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.

Last update on 2024-12-04 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Continue Reading
36 Comments

36 Comments

  1. Markusdecarcus

    July 26, 2015 at 9:48 AM

    Dont need the sword, need the foundry. Need details to make…

    • Raymond Luck

      July 26, 2015 at 9:58 AM

      Got to king of random web page he has instructions there

      • Markusdecarcus

        July 26, 2015 at 11:22 AM

        Thanks….found it..

      • George Al Collins

        July 26, 2015 at 3:05 PM

        sorry but where do you find that

      • Anonymous

        August 1, 2019 at 12:36 AM

        Concrete shall make the inner core and a face mask shall stop polluted air from reaching me.

  2. fgduncan

    July 26, 2015 at 10:00 AM

    This is really great! As a chemist, though, who used to work at an aluminum plant, if you want to make stuff from cans, you must remember that they are made from very pure aluminum and hence, very soft. If you were to melt other forms of aluminum, extrusions or castings cut to fit the furnace, the alloy will be MUCH stronger and more useful-and, by the way, melts at the same or lower temperature.

    Congratulations on a really great video!

  3. markrb

    July 26, 2015 at 10:14 AM

    Awesome video, but dude…..as someone who cast lead to make bullets, I think I’d be wearing a bit more protection than you are. If I remember right, lead is about half the temp of aluminum at 700 degrees(+-). I wouldn’t want something 1000+ degrees spilling on my bare arm! Also, I don’t know about aluminum, but when you’re melting lead, a single drop of water getting into your melting pot can be disastrous! Keep up the cool videos….just be safe!

  4. frofer

    July 26, 2015 at 12:36 PM

    where can i find the plans or videos on how to make the mini foundry

  5. jan kanieski

    July 26, 2015 at 2:06 PM

    could you melt steel in this contraption?

    • Jerry McMains

      January 18, 2018 at 7:48 AM

      I don’t think so Jan, it takes 2500 degrees to melt steel, this is a single burner
      furnace. It’s temp is only about 1200 degrees. Hope this helps.

  6. duggy_dugg

    July 26, 2015 at 7:26 PM

    dang cool … the gloves are firm grip found at home deep and others …

  7. frofer

    July 27, 2015 at 7:25 AM

    Randy, thanks for the link.

  8. Jeronimo Dan

    July 27, 2015 at 8:45 AM

    Damn Joe, and I was trying to figuring out how to cross the street with out my walker?

  9. Russell C Smith

    July 27, 2015 at 10:38 AM

    Joe, you are awesome!

  10. Pingback: How to Melt Aluminum in Your Mini Foundry | Survival Life

  11. Pingback: How to Melt Aluminum in Your Mini Foundry | Savvy About Survival

  12. ExpatDavid

    December 27, 2016 at 8:05 PM

    I was fortunate to be taught metalworking / blacksmithing and woodworking at school. I doubt that is available to many nowadays.

    However your article has inspired me to build a forge.

    • Kevin Davison

      January 29, 2018 at 9:02 AM

      I took welding and woodworking classes in high school and had enjoyed it. I still love making things out of wood.

  13. Roy Ashing

    August 22, 2017 at 10:18 AM

    Is there a place that i can find the written instructions for making this

  14. Charles Ridgway

    January 22, 2018 at 9:49 AM

    Want to do something Really Cool with your Silver left over, find a used ant bed and pour it in it and let it cool then dig it up, makes a interesting conversation piece.

    • Anonymous

      January 22, 2018 at 9:53 AM

      Sorry, not Silver, leftover aluminum, thinking of the silvery color.

      • Johnnie Anthony

        January 23, 2018 at 12:01 PM

        Have done it with both aluminum and copper, they do in fact make great conversation pieces….. but they are very marketable at art festivals too.

  15. Anonymous

    March 5, 2018 at 8:27 PM

    Why would anyone want to melt down aluminum for ANY so-called “survival” situation?

  16. Jim

    April 2, 2018 at 7:21 PM

    Still trying to figure out how this can help me in a SHTF situation?

  17. Jcondliffe

    April 4, 2018 at 9:16 AM

    How does this skill help you? Well, when the larger society falls apart we will still have our neighbors, a small village, so to speak. We will depend on each other to get things done. If you are a blacksmith and I have an apiary and the guy down the street makes biodiesel we are in good shape. And we will learn to get along. We will give locally to the widow and the lame, but not so much to the lazy. I am increasing my skill set to be more valuable in my community since I don’t care to be viewed as a burden. If I am respected for my contribution my family is safer. Bottom line!

    • FuzzyLee~

      April 6, 2018 at 1:13 PM

      Well, now Jc, I like your thinking ,, Welcome to my Community.! Ya’ ain’t gonna go
      hungry or without shelter with that attitude for us….. FuzzyLee~

  18. AD

    August 14, 2018 at 12:28 PM

    You know most people use Celsius degrees and metric system? When SHTF (by the way, the fan goes m³/h or cfm?) give us a unit converter.

  19. Pingback: Survival DIY: How To Melt Aluminum Cans For Casting | Primitive technology

  20. Eowyn

    January 14, 2019 at 9:45 AM

    Great skill to learn ahead of time. Remember to be very careful when handling any of the metals and their scrap as there are many that can build up to toxic levels in your body whether by handling or breathing in the fumes. Heat is not the only danger. Remember the Mad Hatter? He was “mad” because of mercury toxicity from the felt used to make hats, it was a real problem. People who work in radiator shops can suffer from lead toxicity.

    I also say amen to jcondliffe’s comment about learning useful skills now and community.

  21. Pingback: Survival Uses For Coffee Cans And Coffee Filters – Sprent Brass

  22. Pingback: Wilderness DIY: How to Make Your Own Bushcraft Camp Chair | Survival Go Bag

  23. Pingback: Wilderness DIY: How to Make Your Own Bushcraft Camp Chair – Sprent Brass

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Trending

SIGN UP NOW

Enter for a chance to WIN a pair of these Tactical Boots when you sign up today for our exclusive email newsletter subscription.