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 Replies: 21 / Views: 10,057 |
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Pillar of the Community
1283 Posts |
This is my buddy's first try at making me some sterling bars out of all the scrap sterling jewelry we buy. And let me tell you this, though I wasn't there while the melting was taking place, taking jewelry and turning it into bars that look descent is no small feet. I know these won't be the easiest sell down the road but they test out and they are cheap. I would love to buy a furnace to melt these down proper but those things expensive, like $500 for a cheapie. Just thought I would post some pictures for those interested.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2049 Posts |
Those are kind of cool. What would it take to remove the rest of the impurities to bring them to 0.999? Is that doable?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7840 Posts |
It all depends on what the impurity is, usually copper (melting point; 1,083° C (1,982° F)) takes a bit more to separate from silver (melting point; 962° C (1,764° F)), then you can skim the copper layer off of the top of the silver since silver has a higher density (mass per unit of volume) than copper.
However it is harder than this layman's phrase of words.
Edited by oih82w8
05/29/2012 3:57 pm
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Valued Member
Canada
178 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3670 Posts |
Those are way cool, bout the size of an old match box....
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2120 Posts |
a note, I would mark the weight identifier (oz, g) the first picture I thought it was g for some reason.
Second one, realized it was ounces.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2150 Posts |
Has he tried to polish them out?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10284 Posts |
I would think that there is a certain specific gravity for sterling .925 silver. Those are neat! Quote:
No small feet!  |
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Valued Member
United States
76 Posts |
I'm surprised the CR Scientific article didn't mention wearing a vapor-cartridge respirator. I certainly wouldn't try messing around with these dangerous fumes without one!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
808 Posts |
Those mini-bars of Ag look great! And I completely agree with your decision to skip refining to .999 given the unpleasant and hazardous byproducts involved in the process.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2269 Posts |
Instead of purchasing a foundry, you can do what I am in the process of doing, building your own. There are many websites that give great tutorials on how to build your own, and the cost is far less.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1454 Posts |
Cool. I remember a thread discussing making silver bars a while back. You mentioned doing this, right? How much of the process were you able to take part in or observe? Overall, how difficult was it?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2335 Posts |
I took part in the last discussion about doing this & didn't really see the point....unless you just wanted to be able to say you did it. Having said that I'll admit I melted sterling & poured a crude bar back in the mid 80's. At the time I was a plumbing contractor. I placed the sterling into a cast iron ladle, heated it with a standard plumbing torch & poured it into a mold I made in a raw potato. The end result was a reasonably rectangular bar that wasn't quite as pretty as the bars shown here. It ain't rocket science.
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Pillar of the Community
 1283 Posts |
Yeah, I was mainly just an observer in the process. We did not get into any type of refining because like someone else said it involves some pretty nasty stuff. Getting the sterling to melt really isn't the problem. I think our main problem was the fact that it cools so quickly using the torch we couldn't get an even melt. Probably just a novelty for me right now and at like $15 per oz I figured who cares ill buy 3 1 oz bars.
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Valued Member
Australia
216 Posts |
I've melted a lot of lead at home, car battery's and such, and that is easy due to the low melting point.
The problem as you get up in temp is the difference in temp over your crucible. Hot on one side, cold on the other.
To overcome this you need to contain the heat from your torch using fire bricks.
Build an enclosed space out of the bricks with openings, (closeable ones are even better), for the crucible and torch.
Can be pretty cheep if you do it yourself.
Then the only problem you may have is the time to pour, but that can be overcome by the crucible you use. The heavier the better to retain heat during the pour.
Cheers
Pete
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Pillar of the Community
United States
745 Posts |
I would prefer weight identifier be shown in g (grams).
when you go to sell .925 silver & 10k-14k-18k Gold; it is by g (grams)!
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Replies: 21 / Views: 10,057 |
Posted 05/29/2012 3:56 pm
