BigStackD Casting is a YouTube channel with a simple formula: an Australian guy in his garage breaking down scrap metal, melting it down and casting it into ingots, coins and other trinkets. There's no music or commentary, just one guy quietly salvaging metal, melting it in his furnace, pouring the molten metal into moulds, cooling it, then finishing and polishing his trinkets before adding them to his burgeoning collection. And what a collection! As of mid-2022, it's over 800kg (1,800lbs), with the ultimate goal of getting to 1 metric ton (1,000kg / 2,205lbs), and takes up the entirety of a substantial bookshelf, the floor in front of the shelf, and a treasure chest.
The channel started in 2015, and quickly settled into its formula. BigStackD salvages aluminium, copper, brass and other metals from old industrial equipment, appliances, beverage cans and other scrap, and makes them into ingots, coins, medals and sculptures. On occasion he will work with more precious metals, such as silver, and sometimes makes his own alloys (including "Nordic gold", a combination of copper, aluminium, zinc and tin that is commonly used in Euro coins). He also takes time out to hunt for snacks in his garage, cook up some food using the leftover gas from his furnace, and play with his French bulldogs Bullion and Ingot. He has 1.41M subscribers as of May 2023.
This show contains examples of:
- ASMR Video: No commentary, no music, just the sounds of scrap metal being broken down, melted and recast. Aside from that, we also get the calls of various birds outside (which he sometimes identifies in subtitles), the hiss and bubble when he places freshly-cast metal on a block of ice, and the occasional break to cook up a snack or to feed and pet his dogs Bullion and Ingot.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The very earliest casting videos have BigStackD narrating the process of melting and casting metal. After the first few videos they take on the ASMR-like approach he has used ever since, with only the sounds of the workshop and its surroundings.
- The Faceless: We never get to see BigStackD's face - the closest we get to a direct shot is when he is wearing a full-face respirator while grinding and polishing pieces. In reflections, he will usually be wearing a clown mask or similar.
- Pirate Booty: Many of BigStackD's castings are pirate-themed coins and props, and he stores some of his hoard in a treasure chest.
- Running Gag: Many!
- BigStackD will often take a break part-way through a day's work and root around the workshop for hidden food, usually finding snacks in unlikely places (a burger in a trashcan, a sub sandwich hidden in a pipe, etc.)
- Any time he finds a 10mm socket he will carefully place it in a giant plastic storage box dedicated to holding his collection. On one occasion he takes one out to dismantle some scrap components and comes back to find the entire collection has been pilfered.
- He will sometimes be interrupted by the ice cream truck arriving. He will charge out in fury to chase them off, but just ends up buying an ice cream.
- When he polishes any of his castings to a mirror finish, he will tilt it to briefly show a reflection of his face, usually wearing a funny mask of some kind.
- After a day's casting, he will note down the weight and value of the metal he recovered in a notebook that looks like it belongs in a 9-year-old girl's schoolbag.
- At the end of each videos, he kicks his boots across the garage, sits down with a beer, and raises a toast to the big Australian flag on his wall.
- Shout-Out: BigStackD sometimes casts replicas of props from movies and other media; the earliest casting videos on his channel showed off replicas of the Copper Bones key from The Goonies. Other props have included the idol from Raiders of the Lost Ark, medallions from Far Cry 5, and coins and the Idol of Many Hands from the Monkey Island series.
- P.O.V. Cam: Usually used when BigStackD is moving around the workshop, heading out to collect scrap, or stopping for a break.
