In my (admittedly limited) experience metal casting is a waste of time if you want to produce usable parts. It never goes right. It always has porosity. It very rarely even fills the entire mould.
And preparing the mould and heating the metal takes forever, so it doesn't take too many failed attempts before you have sunk days into a project with nothing to show for it.
It's fine if you just want to cast metal shapes as a hobby, knock yourself out. But if you are casting because you want to make parts that you can use, then you're better off machining them out of solid material if you can. You'll save yourself time and trouble.
And preparing the mould and heating the metal takes forever, so it doesn't take too many failed attempts before you have sunk days into a project with nothing to show for it.
It's fine if you just want to cast metal shapes as a hobby, knock yourself out. But if you are casting because you want to make parts that you can use, then you're better off machining them out of solid material if you can. You'll save yourself time and trouble.