Here is the first attempt I made at casting an anthill.  Inspired by an extremely popular video that probably almost everyone has seen by now.

Here is mine:

The original date of this attempt was June 15, 2014.

Here is the finished product:

 

A few lessons: first, always wear safety protection.

Second, do not use pipe for a riser, because the pipe ends up essentially welded to the piece and very hard to separate.  A berm of sand works much better.

Third, do not attempt to cast abandoned ant colonies.  In this case there had been an ant colony but it was no longer active.  This causes the casting to be of poorer quality, as there are many cracks and collapsed tubes.  I also believe the explosion is partly due to the anthill being abandoned.  A small pool of water or an underground earthworm or grub worm may have been the cause of the explosion, and it stands to reason these may be much less likely in an actively maintained ant colony.  Of course this does not negate the necessity of safety protection.

A later video will describe the set up I use for the furnace and crucible.