[RightWhale]

Can you smelt it in your garage for example?

I would not do that, no. Nor under the spreading chestnut tree. The 5 gallon furnace [the small one] is capable of raw heat enough to ignite a green tree 20 feet away, and that's if everything is under control.

[Rebelbase]

I made alum. castings for company I once worked for. We had a small outdoor furnace that sounded like a jet engine when it was running.

[E Rocc]

Can you smelt it in your garage for example?

I would not do that, no. Nor under the spreading chestnut tree. The 5 gallon furnace [the small one] is capable of raw heat enough to ignite a green tree 20 feet away, and that's if everything is under control.

A lot of people don't realize that molten aluminum casting alloy contains almost as much heat energy as molten steel, due to the silicon content.

Secondary aluminum processing often also requires the removal of magnesium, which is present in extrusion/forging alloys but not in many casting alloys. This is done by adding either chlorine gas or aluminum fluoride salts. It's not something you want to be very close to, especially without proper protective equipment.

-Eric