That is a very sweet furnace!

ONE WORD OF CAUTION! DON'T do a Dakota fire hole ANYWHERE close to TREES! You can catch the entire root system on fire underground and the WHOLE TREE can catch fire up to a week later, even if you bury the coals with dirt! It's best to flood the hole with water really well before back filling the dirt if it's even "remotely" close to trees. (You might even want to pin this or modify the description to include this.)

I enjoyed this video, and I'm subscribed!

Great video!! :D

This is awesome!

My shopping list 1. A shovel 2.Wooden Planks 3.A small metal fan 4.A steel pot 5.100s of Pop cans Not suspicious at all.

Liquid aluminum is so fascinating... Great video!

Hi Ben (Nighthawkinlight), I just make this forge and successfully melted aluminum. I should mention that I had to dig through about 1.5 ft of solid sandstone down AND diagonally. This took me about four hours but it was well worth it! Burs AMAZINGLY hot! Started to melt the steel rod I was using. Thanks for the great projects ;).

Great work, QUALITY content!

Nice! So simple to make too, now that we know how. Thanks.

I'm here for the debate over the spelling of aluminum/aluminium! :)

Great fire pit design. I think my dog has been trying to dig one of these in my garden for awhile lol. :)

YOU saved my summer! I was going crazy for an optimal design just for a dozen cans I wanted to smelt and didn't want to build an high effort forge! thank you! :)

NightHawkInLight I dug a hole in my garden for this with a air tunnel for a little fan like yours. The fire got nice and hot! When I tried to melt the cans it wasn't hot enough. We got out the skid steer with a post auger. The hole got loaded with large logs and a for fan we used a large box fan. I put the pot on the fire started loading it up with cans they melted but there was no aluminum in the pot I put kept trying to melt the cans but the was no melted aluminum so finally i lift the pot out and discover that there was a hole melted in the side of the pot. Lesson learned Don't try melting aluminum cans in a aluminum pot! I am off to the store to find a new pot that is STEEL

Kipkay, MatthewSantoro, TKOR, and even alltime10s watched the video, and it only has 1.5 million views. It deserves WAY more.

That´s awesome my friend, very cool, like a Dakota fire pit times 10.

Really cool idea and great video! -Ritchie

I saw one of the guys from Cottage Life cutting open an oil drum. I heard of an accident at my father's work where some guy decided to do that. Nothing but shoes were left for the coffin. If you don't know how long ago and what kind of liquid was stored in oil drums and you really have to cut them then do it when they're filled with water displacing any potential flammable liquid vapor.

all of your videos are fantastic and super creative. high production value also doesnt hurt.

You have an amazing channel man. All very interesting. I like how your projects may not go as expected but you upload it anyways so we can see the results. Really cool stuff.

ah nostalgc video of your just appeared on my recommended.

Always have to be really careful about moisture in your pour. Like in the video it can cause bubbles but if you're unlucky the bubbles may pop/explode sending liquid metal everywhere. That is why you may see some people preheat their mold before a pour to drive out any moisture.

nice way to do it, extremely cheap on materials needed, and simple to do and understand. Great job.

I'm fucking high

I was very worried those moisture bubbles were going to pop molten metal all over you. I want to try making Silumin, aluminum alloyed with silicon using a thermite reaction between the molten aluminum and some clean sand to produce the silicon. I read that a eutetic mixture is good for forging and a hypereutectic mixture would be good for casting engine parts

I love this guy, he is like the caveman of all the sciency-diy channels, go dig a damn hole and fill it with coal, the fire needs air? dig another hole!

I literally had the idea to make an in-ground foundry/furnace in my head for the longest time and now I've stumbled upon this!! Lol awesome

Thanks for the idea! I might try casting a few machine parts using this method.

I've been doing this for years. Great minds think alike! For the air tunnel, I use a scrap piece of pipe from a fence post driven down at an angle to the hole bottom and a vacuum cleaner rigged as a blower. I fuel mine with wooden blocks cut on the chop saw from scrap lumber and dead tree limbs. I suggest a cover on the crucible as sand and ash sometimes blow over the top. As the dirt in the hole dries out, the sides tend to crumble so this is only good for occasional pours where a permanent furnace is not worth the effort. Aluminum cans are a poor choice for metal as there is so much surface area on the cans, they oxidize and create lots of slag. Better to add them to an already molten pot of metal if they must be used. Steel muffin tins are good to pour left over aluminum in to make ingots. Beware! Molten metal is no joke. It will burn right through your shoe and molten metal poured on concrete or wet ground can explode from the steam created.

Woah! I always wanted to make an aluminum furnace,but its to complicated,finaly a a.f. that is easy to make

Good idea, looks so simple but yet it works so great!

I like that you don’t need to buy an expensive foundry. Thank you. I’ll will do this to melt my Aluminium cans and pour them to make projects. Excellent video.

Your video is much more watchable than the "professional" video that sponsored you. At least you keep your camera still.

DUDE! Thanks for confirming what I was wondering/figuring would be a great way to melt aluminum. I can't recall the name of the fire pit you made (Think it was related to a Native Indian Tribe, read it in a Survival Guide), but was thinking that would be the best way to economically force air into the fire area. Some modern tech (small fan powered by solar) to spare having to use a bellows or long pipes and communal lung power. I can chop wood, that's no money, I can dig a hole, no more money, and I have solar panels to run a small fan, and a cheap pot can be found at Goodwill. Now hopefully, I can talk the local mills into letting me get some scraps or shavings. (Lol, just read your description, "Dakota Fire Hole")

I thought your forge build was simple, but this is even more impressive.

This was absolutely 100% nice. Gonna try this next summer

I LOVE YOUR SOIL. All I have in PA is rocks...And more rocks..

Neat project. Another fun video!

I searched 15 videos and yours finally works

This is how I melt aluminum since I don't have enough money to build the mini metal foundry Grant Thompson made yet. Keep making new videos they're really entertaining.

You're totally cool. :-)

why the fuck are there too many awesome youtubers in this video? Kipkay, The King of Random, Alltime10s, ZombieGoBoom, HouseholdHacker, GreenPowerScience, Mathew Santoro, and Hybrid Librarian. I may have missed some more!

Love this video, Super cool way to get liquid Aluminum for casts.

During melting of aluminum is formed on the surface Al2O3

I tried a stainless steel pot to melt copper but it ended with the stainless steel melted and not the copper...

Will this help with melting bodies down?

Great idea, I'm going to try this out. I had a brake drum setup but it's not really big enough. Thanks for the video!

Great video - I loved the background music. Very soothing.

I gave this a try over the weekend, and it worked great! I made the same mistake of using a pot with aluminum rivets. I was able to melt down a few cans and get a handle on how this works (burned myself a couple times). I'm planning on making some little ingot casts, along with out of plaster of paris. Is that possible?

Sigh, this is only a dream for people who live in Georgia.

Well, I'm gonna have to try this!... Great video

Very cool, or hot I should say. Its these types of videos that are a real asset in the event of a catastrophe like the grid getting fried and having to survive without electricity. I would imagine this is an ancient method for casting and things evolved along that path to the modern day smelting and foundry operations. When its all said and done the same principles apply, getting the material hot enough to make it molten and cast something usable. Thanks for the video.

Ah, a Dakota Fire Hole.

Digging a hole digging a hole too much minecraft parodies

Im happy i found this i just dug a hole a few days ago. Ive got about 300lbs to melt and cast

A very sophisticated idea to build a furnace. Thx for the idea. Will try and if sucessful then i'll put the link in the comment for the video

Need an idea? Throw in some gallium into molten aluminum. i wanna see what's happening to the gallium ..

you know what's a good fuel there? Anthracite coal.

One of the best videos ive seen in a long time. way to go

okay this is awesome! you just gave me an idea for any survival needs in scouts! ill be sure to give you credit when i bring it up. please make more videos like this! you are awesome

2:27 "with the crucible sitting directly on the holes." *FARTS*

Why didn't the steel melt, soften, or collapse from the fire like the world trade center? I'm confused by reality and science...

I really Love your Channel and Congratulations to 1 000 000 subscribers. You deserve it!!!

When I first saw how you were melting it I was concerned that it would not melt but amazingly it did melt great video

Thank you so much for the idea. I am attempting to build one of these in my brother in laws back yard. I look forward to more ideas from you in the future. subscribed

Man, I've always liked your channel, but this is by far the coolest video that you've ever made!!!!!

Ingenious!! Great video too, thanks for sharing

what i mean by that is that when i go camping this is perfect for warmth during a needed time. what i thought about it is if digging a hole preserves heat then wouldn't that be a perfect way to cook with the titanium pots/pans, as well as to preserve heat for the camp fire on a cold night or any other needs that include heat. thank you again! i promise to like and subscribe, just as long as you make more vids like this.

THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH

great idea, i tried it today and it totaly works

I also recommend removing the slag before pouring, but overall very nice set up!

EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED.THNX, YOU GOT A NEW SUBSCRIBER.

Sweet! First thing I'm going to build on summer vacation

A Dakota fire pit is a wonderful thing! This will make casting so much cheaper, thank you!

That's awesome! Can't wait to see you make some cool stuff with that!

thanks i always go camping just out in the forest not a campsite but this will help a lot

I did this about a year ago trying to melt cans and I think I have the exact pot that you're using except one size bigger but everybody talked me out of it saying it's too good of a pot to use so. I tried to use a steel cap off a big pipe a friend of mine made but the empty weight of that still bucket was probably 40 to 50 lb and would probably hold 20 pounds of melted aluminum. I piped PVC underground and I used my leaf blower, just at idle. . So then I bought a crucible which came in broke so waited on the next one and then I broke it on the 2nd melt.. So I'm going to replace my screws first before I even start using my large pot. Glad I stumbled across this I may finally be able to pursue Milton all these cans which I got plenty of wood to use no worries there. Also went to the local hardware store called harbor freight and picked up one of those flamethrowers you hooked to a propane tank actually about two of them but once I tested one of them I was a little skeptical of the safety of it plus I got to get rid of this wood anyway.

hey man, I enjoyed helping add some holes to that aluminum with you yesterday! good times! I was really surprised that the 9mm didn't punch right through!

awesome furnace idea! you should do more videos on what to do with the liquid aluminium

I loved this idea and will be making 1 Thank you for all your help

Very nice what I use for my air intake is the blower from an old vacuum duct taped to a simple vent pipe causes a constant positive pressure much better than a fan

useful knowledge, for many reasons. THANK YOU

I love this guy and would love to learn from him first hand.

Very very good idea, for possibly the cheapest way to melt Aluminium. I cannot think of a cheaper or easier way to do it. Fantastic video NightHawkInLight, absolutely awesome brother, thank you for sharing. For anyone looking for a better, more economical way of melting Aluminium, I know of none.

Pretty cool! Overall good quality overall! Good job

I like your ideas keep up the good work , it has given me some to . Thanks for your video

I am so excited to try this at home.

I've used this method twice now, with a shop vac to stoke, and for fuel I've tried both charcoal and coal, worked like a charm both times. absolutely dirt cheap (heh heh) and produces very satisfying results.

I really like your forge videos, like the ones where you demonstrate casting and melting metals. You should make a video showing start to finish from an aluminium can to a knife or something, That would be really cool You should make a cool looking dagger or something.

I have been looking for a good video to melt some cans thank this really helped

Wow I really liked the video alot will be tell my friends and family about you page. Looking forward to see more. Thank you that was awesome

Oh brilliant idea you are using , I can use this by using a group , thanks

Great vid.....learned more in 4 min here then I did watching many other vids. Keep up the good work.

this is really cool! it works perfectly, and using a hairdryer instead of a fan works really well! this is a great method, and i hope to use it again in the future!

This is very cool! Thank you

Wow that was amazing.

this was very helpful, my kids want to try making an anthill sculpture. Let the fun begin. Thanks....

Really cool and simple idea. Simple ideas are the strongest

Was looking up how to melt aluminum didn't realize that you had made an in ground rocket stove. Thanks.

Fantastic video! Thumbs up