8. Top half
I've added the top half of the flask, and started to fill it with moulding sand. I've pushed a 20mm steel rod down slightly into the sand. This will eventually be the route by which the molten metal enters the mould. The steel rod came from the off-cuts shelf in a nearby metal shop. I got several such rods for a token amount.I should make an attempt to remember the "casting jargon". The bottom half of the wooden flask is called "the drag". The top half of the flask is "the cope" (mnemonic: "cope" has two letters in common with "top", the "drag" drags along the ground). The hole left by the rod will eventually be the "sprue pin". Yawn.