# Melting Copper powder



## hrushi (Jun 15, 2010)

How to melt copper powder which is recovered from iron or Aluminium
tried different ways and flux?
Hrushi


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## lazersteve (Jun 15, 2010)

Here's a wiki link on copper smelting:

Copper Smelting

Steve


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## Harold_V (Jun 16, 2010)

hrushi said:


> How to melt copper powder which is recovered from iron or Aluminium
> tried different ways and flux?
> Hrushi


It's not hard to melt. Simply fill a crucible, fire, then add flux when it's molten, or when the material is hot enough to liquefy the flux. If you choose to use anhydrous borax, or borax glass, even that's not a problem. It can be added when the charge is cold, because it's much heavier and doesn't get blown out of the crucible as easily. 

Sadly, I think you'll find the damage done to your furnace and crucible due to the use of flux, plus the cost of fuel for melting, will result in a net loss of value. 

If you have access to a cupola, it can serve nicely to melt this stuff. Much cheaper to fire, and very adequate for the task at hand. 

Harold


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## Oz (Jun 16, 2010)

Cupola furnaces are great because the oxidization stays above the tapping point. They can also be run on cheap fuels.


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