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 Replies: 13 / Views: 3,076 |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1563 Posts |
Hi all. I buy a fair amount of 'scrap' silver and have just begun to play with nitric acid and refining therefore being left with the silver in a powder type form.
I was wondering if anyone knows a good supplier of graphite moulds that I can use to safely return the powder to its metal form without having to buy mould after mould after heating? You will never soar like an eagle if you hang around with turkeys.....
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3733 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1476 Posts |
Have you tried one of the jeweler supply shops?
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Pillar of the Community
 United Kingdom
1563 Posts |
Found a supplier thanks Dar. Found a guy that will make me a graphite mould to my requirements. @ silverwolf, thanks but no thanks.
You will never soar like an eagle if you hang around with turkeys.....
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1476 Posts |
By the way, What are you making if I may ask? I have always loved doing projects myself and would LOVE to learn more about smithing and the like. My interest was formed in 1976 when my family went on a LONG road trip to all of the main historic sites up and down the east coast, (From Maine to LA), and the Shop Paul Revere worked was my favorite stop. I've always wanted to do something like that.  Anyway. Thanks |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1563 Posts |
I buy and sell metals, that's my job but I recently became interested in making my own fine silver bars. I have attempted a few, but it's not as easy as it looks!! I can dissolve and purify the silver easy enough, it's generating the heat to get it back into a metal form that I am having trouble with! I am aware that I can buy a little furnace, but I like to be hands on and want to see it melt before my eyes before being poured into a mould. I am using a propane torch and a crucible for melting before pouring into a graphite mould..... not working for me yet...
You will never soar like an eagle if you hang around with turkeys.....
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1476 Posts |
I wouldn't think propane would reach the temp needed to melt it. I cant remember but when I was fixing silver before I had to use a different gas, I wish I could remember the name. It was in a Yellow container instead of blue.  If I remember I think I had to have 2 different gasses to mix. I had one of those mini, hand held torches.. Was it Mapp gas or something? Now I have to go look it up. Edited by Dar
07/24/2014 10:42 am
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New Member
United States
1 Posts |
*** Edited by Staff - Please review the rules that you agreed to when you registered. ***
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
I can sell you an electric furnace if you like, used only a handful of times. 1kg maximum pour, perfect for graphite, smaller than a coffee maker. This is the "craftsy" non-professional way to do it. Shoot me a PM.
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New Member
United States
1 Posts |
Hey Libertad send me an email with your price and info about the furnace I'm interested in it. I can send a PM as I'm newnew.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6384 Posts |
To keep the silver molten so it will pour smoothly into a mold you will probably need a furnace. A "muffle furnace" sold by laboratory supply companies will achieve temperatures up to 1200 decrees C, high enough to melt both gold and silver. They will probably run you over $1000 though unless you can find a good deal on a used one. You will need to either use a protective atmosphere like nitrogen or else cover the silver with a flux chemical like boric acid during the melting. Otherwise the molten silver will absorb oxygen which then bubbles out as the metal hardens, giving a very rough surface full of craters. Here's a photo of a 5-ounce silver ingot I poured many years ago before I learned about the oxygen problem. It's a very interesting shape (I thought it kinda looked like Jesus in the manger!) but probably not what you would prefer for your silver ingots.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7390 Posts |
Wow, that IS baby Jesus! If you could prove that was a random event you'd be rich Does anyone know how easy or hard the process of separating the AU from 1/10 gold filled items is? Is it a little knowledge and a bit of acid or more involved? Edited by Cascade
10/01/2015 10:47 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6384 Posts |
Quote:
Does anyone know how easy or hard the process of separating the AU from 1/10 gold filled items is? Might be pretty easy. Try simmering the gold-filled alloy in dilute nitric acid. Most alloy metals dissolve readily in nitric acid but gold is completely insoluble as long as no chlorine is present. The alloy should disintegrate, leaving the gold behind as an insoluble powder. Pour off and discard the liquid, then rinse the gold with at least two more simmerings in fresh, dilute nitric. Give it a final rinse with deionized water and dry in an oven. You can then carefully pile the gold on a heat-resistant surface like ceramic firebrick and use an ordinary "Bernz-O-Matic" propane torch to carefully heat the gold. It will melt together and form a lump. Purity should be very high as long as the original jewelry did not contain any platinum metals. Here's a photo of a gold lump I prepared using a similar process:  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
$1000 is too much. There are easier ways if you know what you're doing. That's the price you pay for not knowing what you're doing a.k.a. the hard way.
The best (free) advice I can give you is that if you're not the experimental type that records reactions on paper and learns what can be done better the next time, then avoid things like this. One has to know what is going on in the metal and alloy, the type of flame and atmosphere, the temperature, the environment and tools/materials, metallurgy, and best of all experience. Records your results and then READ because no one will just teach you. Knowledge is money, to rephrase a famous quote.
I always think about the four elements (earth/ground, water, air, fire) when I work because even though they are all different, they are the same on a philosophical level. It's a kind of understanding that's taken me years to realize because of my iconoclastic and free-thinking nature; I don't take things at face value and am a skeptic by nurture.
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Replies: 13 / Views: 3,076 |
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Posted 07/20/2014 1:37 pm
