So, in my perpetual researching of crazy projects, I have discovered backyard metal foundries. The following video is to a how-to on making your own backyard metal foundry to melt down things like aluminum, brass, copper, tin, bronze, etc:
https://youtu.be/hHD10DjxM1g
This is a video of someone casting a backyard brass viking axe:
https://youtu.be/OKp-GkRqMb8
And this is an interesting look at the casting and post-casting process for making a bronze age sword:
https://youtu.be/R62TPFzBQ40