Member Masterclass: Tin Can Furnace

Member Events

Join the Institute of Making gang to build your own iron-melting furnace from a humble aluminium tin in this two-day-long masterclass.

The workshop will teach you how to construct an experimental blast furnace that should, fingers crossed, be able to melt cast iron by the second day of the workshop. This masterclass, run by Stephen Coles from Coles Castings, will demonstrate basic foundry processes and provide an introduction to casting metal. After making their furnace, participants will carve out a relief-work to cast with iron melted by their newly made furnace.

Iron as a material dates as far back to the use of meteoric iron in ancient Egypt. Predating the smelting of ore this material was revered as coming from the heavens and was held in higher esteem than gold. One of the most famous examples of a piece of meteoric iron is that of the dagger produced for king Tutankhamun.

Stephen Coles is a sculptor and founder based in the Dorset countryside, and has been working with molten metal for fifteen years. He established and runs Coles Castings, a fine art foundry, which offers a range of casting services across a variety of disciplines and specializes in the production of cast iron and cast bronze sculpture.