To melt brass, you’ll need a metal melting furnace and brass items to melt. You also will need a crucible, which is the piece of equipment that holds the melted brass in the furnace, and a skimmer spoon which is used to transport the material. Put your crucible in your furnace following the instructions of your particular furnace model, light your furnace, and then start to fill your crucible with brass after fifteen minutes or so. Keep the furnace going until your brass has completely melted. Once you start to see discolored material on top of the molten brass then you’ll know your brass has melted. Remove the discolored material using your skimmer spoon and discard it in a box of sand or a heat safe trash can.
You’re making a three dimensional prototype of whatever it is that you want to cast. If you want to make basic shapes like a simple doorknob, you can design the prototype on your own using some sort of clay or the materials named above. Whittling a block of wood is always a good option too. Otherwise, if you want a more complex pattern, you’ll need to buy it. Oftentimes these patterns are made by experienced metalworkers.
Don’t leave the pattern pieces in the sand once you have made the holes, obviously.
