Flutterby™! : Oh you wicked, wicked child.

Mark over at Brainwagon had a pointer to Microwave melting:

Research is nearing completion on a system that will allow the melting and casting of bronze, silver, gold, and even cast iron, using an unmodified domestic microwave oven as the energy source.

I'd still love the leisure time and energy necessary to build a complete metalworking shop from scratch, but on a small scale being able to melt iron to do casting for a small positioning table would still rock.