  We report the design of a radio-frequency induction-heated rod casting
furnace that permits the preparation of polycrystalline ingots of intermetallic
compounds under ultra-high vacuum compatible conditions. The central part of
the system is a bespoke water-cooled Hukin crucible supporting a casting mold.
Depending on the choice of mold, typical rods have a diameter between 6 mm and
10 mm and a length up to 90 mm, suitable for single-crystal growth by means of
float-zoning. The setup is all-metal sealed and may be baked out. We find that
the resulting ultra-high vacuum represents an important precondition for
processing compounds with high vapor pressures under a high-purity argon
atmosphere up to 3 bar. Using the rod casting furnace, we succeeded to prepare
large high-quality single crystals of two half-Heusler compounds, namely the
itinerant antiferromagnet CuMnSb and the half-metallic ferromagnet NiMnSb.
