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 Replies: 20 / Views: 3,308 |
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Pillar of the Community
1283 Posts |
My scrapper buddy just started turning his .925 scrap into bars but they look very rough. I have never tried to make any bars but I see a lot of scrap and am thinking of trying it myself.
Does anyone here smelter their own silver? Not looking at refining just melting into reasonable looking bars .
Anyone have a furnace?
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
834 Posts |
I've thought about buying a smelter, but if I was going to go that far I would want to learn how to refine it.
I have melted some scrap with a gas torch, takes a bit but in the end came out with the same rough looking bar
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
834 Posts |
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Rest in Peace
United States
2668 Posts |
I've poured aluminum and brass before. Brass and silver have about the same melting point - derned hot!
I really wouldn't do it unless I was considering doing it repeatedly. Then the production loss would be minimal.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1620 Posts |
wouldn't be worth all that work for just doing it part time unless y'all wanna give me all yours lol
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2335 Posts |
I don't see the point. I buy scrap 925 at garage sales, estate sales, antique malls, thrift stores, etc. I resell to a refiner who melts it all down, assays it & pays based on purity/weight. They don't care if it's in bar form or in it's still jewelry/flatware/whatever. Any other buyer wants the silver to be in recognizable form. Melting 925 into bars limits the pool of buyers.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5953 Posts |
What he said... I send to the refinery they send me a check and any stones recovered form the jewelry.
Why would you want to go to the trouble of making bars which would have to be assayed anyway to sell.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
834 Posts |
I think alot of you are missing the point on why
Because it's a fun experiment
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3670 Posts |
I would think an assay would be as simple as slapping a stamp on it once you have smelted it.... Now then, is it gonna be trusted like APMEX, no. But us that have clanked silver bars enough, we know what silver is an what foreign metals are, the detail is in the sound it makes.... Allen an big Ton Jones on the auction hunters show, the one which comes on Spike T.V., they find scrap all the time in storage lockers, an they started smelting it down in the same melting pot my father once used to melt led in to poor his own fishing jigs.... Ton knew what he was doing, cleared the slag poured the bars, stamped an cooled them. And they had no problem moving them along for a profit an still use that system when they find scrap pm's.... Edited by Silverhawk74
04/24/2012 11:28 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
863 Posts |
I hate seeing coins melted for their silver :(
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3670 Posts |
You would like to think some of these refinery's would just melt down the rubbed down smooth coins which are like just considered good. Where as the XF an up would be saved, one likes to think but I am sure some the best of the best items get melted down as well, just all part of the endless cycle....
Just like water, it flows through us, evaporates back into the air, rains back down, and the cycle continues. Of course, pm's can be lost forever in things that are non-recyclable as we all know as well....
I still cant get over the South-Park "We buy gold episode", as they had the process down to a T. The little poor kids in India were doing all the work crafting the jewelry T.V items, they shipped it to JTV. Someones grandmother bought it for their children as a gift. In turn the children took it to the "We buy gold" places an sell it for next to nothing. Then it went back to the refinery's an they actually took you inside of their idea of a working refinery, and of course the raw products went right back to India to start the process all over again. I had to chuckle over that, they don't miss anything.....
Edited by Silverhawk74
04/24/2012 11:39 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1454 Posts |
I have an old friend who's in the process of making a sword in a homemade backyard forge he's designing. He made the forge out of a 55 gallon steel drum with heating elements that look to me like they came out of a furnace, but I think it will be propane powered when complete. Anyway, the point is he could have just bought a sword and saved himself a ton of work and chances are it would have been a better product than what he'll end up with. But this is a hobby for him. It's something he enjoys doing and has done in the past with knives on a real bellows blown forge. In a similar vein, I'm taking a ham radio class this summer, even though I don't even own the equipment. It just always seemed interesting to me, and being a ham radio operator is a skill I'd like to master someday. I think that's the angle TBK and swr are approaching this from. Just leaning a new skill set that could be of use one day, and if not, smelting silver could be fun, in and of itself. Designing your own personal seal might be interesting if you're artistically inclined. I could see it. I hope they show off their work once they're done.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2335 Posts |
Making your own silver bars for personal enjoyment is one thing. Thinking homemade bars are as readily marketable as silver in a universally recognized form is quite another.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3670 Posts |
Good call T, as I could see a day where knowing how to use a ham radio could be the difference between life an death....
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
Quote:
I would think an assay would be as simple as slapping a stamp on it once you have smelted it.... That's not an assay, Hawk, that's merely a sign. Anyone can slap a sign on anything but that does not change the inherent character of the item in question. Fake coins and bullion very often have signs of value stamped into them, even though they are basically worthless. All part of the con game that low-life individuals continue to perpetuate upon the unwary. |
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Pillar of the Community
 1283 Posts |
Yeah it looks like it would be a pain unless you had someone to teach you all about it. Maybe there is a college course or something? I just get the opportunity to buy a lot of cheap sterling jewelry and besides selling it on ebay I would love to make my own bricks. I do understand that it would be hard to market a sterling bar from a no name like myself. I guess i'll keep filling a zip lock with old jewelry. Came across a real cool charm bracelet from the 60's last weekend, paid almost melt for it but I imagine it would go for more on ebay. Anyway, thanks for the help, it is much appreciate as always. |
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Replies: 20 / Views: 3,308 |
Posted 04/23/2012 10:04 pm
