# Last batch results



## rickbb (Jan 27, 2020)

Results of my last batch. I had been saving it up to process all at once. Weight is 1.08 ozt


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## anachronism (Jan 27, 2020)

Looks very Nice 8) 8)


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## FrugalRefiner (Jan 27, 2020)

Nice bar Rick. It filled your mold out well.

Dave


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## rickbb (Jan 28, 2020)

Thanks, it looks like a little loaf of bread. :lol: 

Was almost too much for that mold. Terrible problem to have, more gold than your mold will hold. 8)


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## kurtak (Jan 29, 2020)

Very nice & well done on the pour :!: 8) :G 

Kurt


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## MGH (Mar 21, 2020)

Rick,

I wanted to ask this when you first posted, and especially now. How did you melt your gold?

I like the smooth top and sides of your bar, and have been trying to get the same on mine. I melt in a dish with an oxy-acetylene torch, then pour into a graphite mold. For this bar, I kept a propane torch on the side of the mold in the hope that the gold would stay molten long enough to settle completely and produce the nice smooth sides you bar has. It may have helped a tiny bit versus previous bars I've poured, but still doesn't have near as smooth a surface and edges as your bar. This bar is 1.01 ozt, about the same as yours. Any tips?

Thanks,
Matt


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## FrugalRefiner (Mar 21, 2020)

MGH, what kind of mold are you using? Are you preheating it? Are you sooting it?

The rough edges and concentric rings indicate that it's cooling and freezing quickly.

It's still nice looking gold!

Dave


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## MGH (Mar 21, 2020)

FrugalRefiner said:


> MGH, what kind of mold are you using? Are you preheating it? Are you sooting it?



It's a graphite mold I made myself (possibly overly thick walls). I've tried sooting molds before, but it seemed to do more "harm" than good as I think the carbon off gassed as CO2 and I'd get large voids in the bottom of the bars and sometimes some dangerous sputtering.

Before today I'd preheat the mold using the oxy-acetylene torch, then try to keep it hot by going back and forth between the mold and gold before pouring the gold in. With this bar I still preheated with the torch, then also kept the propane torch on the mold (as pictured below) while melting the gold and during the pour.


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## anachronism (Mar 21, 2020)

Yeah whilst sooting has it's place- the place is not in a graphite mold . 8) 8) 

I use similar molds but I heat my gold to almost white hot with the torch before pouring and I also use oxy acetylene. That makes a difference. The waves are formed by flame washing the gold as it solidifies. A smoother top can be poured without washing the solidifying bar. 

I don't leave heat on the graphite - I just wave the oxy flame over it occasionally to make sure there's no moisture.


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## Shark (Mar 21, 2020)

Very nice bars, guys. I really need to get a small mold and give it a try.


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## Smack (Mar 22, 2020)

That's a lot of graphite to try to keep hot with one little propane torch.


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## kurtak (Mar 22, 2020)

MGH

First I have a question - what is the depth of your mold --- in other words you poured a 1 ozt bar - but - will your mold cavity hold more then 1 ozt --- I ask because you want to be pouring into a cavity that "tops out" to the size of the pour - if the cavity is to deep for the pour it "may" (or not) cause the molten gold to "start" freezing before it hits the bottom of the mold (your mold pic looks deeper then your bar - but pics can be deceiving)

Example; - if your cavity is capable of a 2 ozt pour - then its to deep - you are better off spreading the cavity out & making it shallower

My graphite mold has multiple cavities ranging from 1/4 ozt up to 5 ozt (so I pour to the cavity that matches the pour size)

Also - with the torch set on one side of the mold - one side of the mold is hotter then the other side (your mold is not evenly heated) & as well your mold is sitting on a fire brick so is "sinking" heat way from the mold - more on the side opposite of the torch flame then the side the torch is on

I pour many 1ozt bars & up to 2 ozt using a MAPP gas torch (beyond that yes O/A torch) & here is how I do it to get my bars to look like Rick's bar

First I put my mold on a hot plate (turned on high) so that it heats the mold evenly

Then once my gold is molten (with a good orange hot ring showing in the bottom of the dish all the way around the pool of molten gold)

Then I bring the dish up to the mold cavity (keeping the flame on it at all times) & then tilt the dish so the molten gold is very close to pouring out (but not yet pouring out) & I keep the pour spout as close as possible to the cavity so that the torch flame is playing on both the dish (at the spout) & as well on the mold cavity

I hold it in that position until the tip of the dish spout gets to an orange hot - once the spout is orange hot you can make the pour in one "quick" motion - move the dish away - BUT - keep the flame on top of the poured gold for just a few more seconds

It is also important that when making your pour - you want the pour spout to be a bit off center of the mold cavity - you want the pour spout a little further away from center then center of where the torch flame is playing on the cavity - other wise the gold will flow more in the direction of the flame but start to freeze as it tries to flow back under the dish side of the cavity

It takes a few pours to get it just right but once you get it right you should be able to pour bars that look just like Rick's with maybe only one or two out of ten needing a repour to look just like Rick's :mrgreen: 

Kurt


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## MGH (Mar 22, 2020)

Thanks everyone! Let me see if I can summarize this input. I'll probably wait until my next bar to try all this out.

To pour bars with a smoother appearance and rounded sides/edges:
- Heat gold to almost white hot
- Use a mold with minimal excess material (The wall thickness and depth of my graphite mold is more than is needed, and is likely sucking a lot of heat out of the gold very quickly)
- Pre-heat mold using a hot plate (for even heat distribution)
- When pouring, tilt the melting dish toward the mold so that the torch flame can hit the gold, spout of the dish, and the mold cavity - allowing all to heat up
- When pouring, keep the spout of the melting dish a little father away, off center of the mold, so that the gold will flow toward the flame and have less chance to freeze as it fills the mold underneath the dish

Thanks again, everyone. I look forward to implementing these techniques next time, and will update when I do. Hopefully it won't take too long...

Matt


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## Shark (Mar 22, 2020)

Can someone recommend a place to get a mold. I hate to order one right now and find out it needs to come from China. One mold that would do 1/4oz, 1/2oz. and 1oz. would work for me.


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## anachronism (Mar 22, 2020)

Shark said:


> Can someone recommend a place to get a mold. I hate to order one right now and find out it needs to come from China. One mold that would do 1/4oz, 1/2oz. and 1oz. would work for me.



tbh mate the ones from China usually get there within a week or so. Even recently. Local sellers usually buy the Chinese ones and increase the price dramatically.


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## Shark (Mar 22, 2020)

I can live with paying a bit more, I just don't want to find out it may take weeks or months to get it.


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## Goldman94 (May 5, 2020)

Shark said:


> Can someone recommend a place to get a mold. I hate to order one right now and find out it needs to come from China. One mold that would do 1/4oz, 1/2oz. and 1oz. would work for me.



Amazon has these molds


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