I got the MDF cut into 2 13inch by 4 foot boards so that I would have to make less cuts. I then cut up the MDF into 13in by 6.25in sheets and stacked and Araldited them. Once I had a 13in by 6.25in by 6.25 inch cube, I took it to put it on the lathe machine to make it round. However, it was too heavy to put on the lathe so I had to do the whole thing by hand. Once I got it as round as possible I put it on the lathe and got the exact shape I wanted. 
Then I cut it in half at the timber mill and then had to find a lathe big enough to fit the piece so I could hollow it. I finally found one in Old campus and got it on the lathe. However the lathe could only remove 2 inches and there was still about an inch that I would now have to do by hand. So I picked up my dremel and hollowed it the best I could. This was very important because this determines the cost of the metal also, because of the weight. Aluminium is about 600 Rupees a Kg.

The next Monday, a couple of us went to the metal casting place. We reached and were told to wait for an hour because the Aluminium was still melting. So we just walked around and looked at the entire process. 

 As the aluminium was almost done melting, the man working there started making my mould. He started by placing my MDF half cylinder upside down. Then he started filling it with sand, making sure he packs it into every curve and corner.

Once he packs the area around the shape, he starts filling the metal bracket to the top. Then he uses this stomper type of thing to pack everything down for the final time and flatten it square. Once he thought it was packed enough, he flipped the mould over to expose the hollow inside of the cylinder. To make the cast, a couple of extra pockets and holes must be made in the form of a channel for the aluminium to flow through. To do this, the guy put a metal cylinder into the mould and hammered it into the mould. Then he connected that channel to the hollow mould so the aluminium could go. The would piece was removed and white powder poured to see air holes and uneven surfaces. These surfaces were evened with a flat knife. Then this mould was refilled with sand to the top and packed hard. Once both the outside and inside moulds were ready, he powdered both and we waited for the aluminium to reach pouring temperature. Meanwhile, both the moulds were cleaned with a moist brush to remove and any dirt and dust to get a clean and smooth cast. Once the aluminium was ready, he put one mould on top of the other mould, and packed it with sand for the final time. Then the air holes and the pouring holes were made. The pouring hole was about 2 inches in diameter and the 3 air holes about half a cm each. He then scooped up the molten aluminium with a pre-heated ladle, and then poured it into the cast in one smooth flow, that way no air holes or imperfections occur. The aluminium is poured until it starts to float on the surface on the pouring hole and comes out of the air holes. A little bit extra is poured to make up for shrinking. Excess metal can always be remelted. 

 

After about half and hour the moulds are flipped and hammered until all of the sand has come off. Then the pieces are carefully set to the side to cool for an hour. We took a lunch break and by the time I was back it was cool enough to touch.
 

The guy then picked up the whole cast and cut off the extra part from the pouring channel. I now had my final casted cylinder ready to be sanded, polished, and made into a barbecue.

The next week, I got all of my stuff to the wood workshop and set up everything on one table. I had already bought everything at the hardware store and i had my dremel for sanding and polishing. I also bought lots of grades of emery sand paper for metal to bring to aluminium to a nice clean matt finish. Before I could use the sand paper to clean of all of the scratches, I had to use the angle grinder to flatten the surface. I put on my safety goggles and gloves and started grinder. After about 15 minutes, I was done with one half. I quickly finished the second so I could get on to sanding. I got out my Black & Decker sander and started sanding away. I started with 36 grit. Then 80, 100, 180, 320, 400, and 1000. After I got all the visible scratches off and to a point where I was satisfied I hand sanded with water a little bit to give a final finish and was done for the day.

The next day, I went and bought hinges and handles. I started with the hinges. I placed the 2 halves together and marked the holes, and drilled them all out. I then placed the hinges and put the bolts through. I put a washer and nut each on the other side and tightened it with a screwdriver. Then I did the same thing for the handles and put all three on. Two of them go on to the side of the bottom half to lift the whole barbecue. The big handle went on the front center of the top half, to lift the lid of the barbecue. 

The next day I went to the workshop and came to the decision that I wanted to make a foldable stand and not legs so that I can keep my portable design. I wanted to keep it simple and classy so I went with the X shape foldable stand.

I left Old Campus and went to the hardware store to buy all of the necessary hardware items. I wanted the barbecue at about waist hight, so about 3 feet. So, I both 4 pieces of 3ft stainless steel pipe. Along with that I bought some threaded rod to connect the two cross sections, some nuts, washers, and nylon rope to act as the limit for the stand. 

Since the stand is made with a threaded rod and washers and nuts, it is movable and foldable. It can be folded completely flat to the thickness of the metal pipe, 3/4 inch. The ropes just fold in on them self and open out easily when needed.

I learned a lot in this course, the best part about the techniques i learnt about was that I barely even knew they existed or how they functioned and now I ended up making my own sand cast. It was quite a rigorous process, but I loved the way it went along.