# having trouble with first melt



## gbaldwin75 (Aug 19, 2009)

i have some gold powder that i recovered from fingers that is ready to melt, the only problem is that when i try to prep the melting dish the borax clumps up and turns to grayish beads, it doesnt turn to a nice liquid like steve's videos. i am using a cheap bernzomatic propane torch and not sure how to fix this. thanks


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## Harold_V (Aug 20, 2009)

I'm inclined to think you don't have the required heat source. Could be wrong. 
Is your melting vessel clean? Is it one of the accepted varieties, or are you using something that, maybe, contributes to your problem? Might help to see a picture, or if you provided more input. 

Harold


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## jimdoc (Aug 20, 2009)

You can try MAPP gas in the same torch.


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## 4metals (Aug 20, 2009)

Neither propane or Mapp gas can attain the required temperatures without oxygen. It may be possible to get the required temperature by entraining air into the burn by venturi action or by a blower which mixes air and gas before ignition but alone with a standard torch nozzle won't do it.


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## jimdoc (Aug 20, 2009)

I disagree, mapp alone can do it because I have done it.
It may not be fun or the best way to do it, but I did it.
I have a setup to use oxygen now, but didn't before and
it melted. 
Jim


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## qst42know (Aug 20, 2009)

You are loosing heat faster than you can provide it with a small torch. Insulating fire bricks such as Steve's mini furnace should make a big difference. With a small torch you will need to get the whole dish up to melt temp.


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## lazersteve (Aug 20, 2009)

I've posted a few videos on my website where I use straight MAPP to melt gold. 

The main key is insulation. You must add heat to the reaction faster than it dissipates. 

Another key factor is to control the size of your high temperature zone. There is no need to heat a large area, only the immediate vicinity of the melt.

The mini-firebrick furnace uses both of these principles to easily melt several ounces of gold in a few minutes time with straight MAPP gas. You can watch the video on http://goldrecovery.us .

Steve


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## 4metals (Aug 20, 2009)

Steve,
I must confess I've never visited your website before but I just looked at your mini furnace video and I stand corrected. All of the torch melting i have done is in open dishes very much like your avitar shows, and in that case Mapp alone won't put enough heat in to heat the dish to temperature and maintain it without a cover. 

I think the service you provide to a lot of the members is great and I applaud your efforts.


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## Platdigger (Aug 20, 2009)

Jim, how much gold did you melt?
Were you using a melting dish?


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## jimdoc (Aug 20, 2009)

My first couple buttons were melted in a dish with mapp gas.
They were about 8 grams and 11 grams. I had the dish sitting on a fire brick, but didn't cover the dish. I kept the flame alternating back to the dish and to the gold to keep the heat up.
I will try again with my next batch in a few days and let you know how I make out.
I also have a 4.8 gram button I melted with mapp gas that I forgot I still have that one. The others were sold.
Jim


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## gbaldwin75 (Aug 21, 2009)

thank you all for your help, the melting dish is a 4" fused silica dish, i will try mapp gas and see how that works.


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