# My first Button



## TigWiz (Jul 7, 2011)

I had a few old broken silver forks that tested as silver and were marked 800. I finally decided to melt them into a button and this is the result. It isn't very pretty, but I feel that much of that is due to impurities that are still present.















I plan to refine it in the near future, and I'm currently waiting for the DVDs I ordered from lasersteve. I think there was too much borax in the dish as it formed a small pool around the sides of the silver. I don't know what this would cause exactly but I feel it should be mentioned. This was my first experience melting anything so I'm happy thus far. Any tips, advice, or criticisms are welcome.

TigWiz


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## Militoy (Jul 7, 2011)

Not meant as a criticism - I'm a newbie on this site and certainly am in no position to criticise; But I'm curious why if you are planning to refine, you would first melt international coin silver into a button? Seems to me the original fork parts would have exposed more area to the processing chems. Melting practice?


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## TigWiz (Jul 7, 2011)

Militoy said:


> Melting practice?



Precisely. I'll melt it and form it into shot to create more surface area. At least that is the plan as of right now.


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## patnor1011 (Jul 7, 2011)

And that mean wasted gas. I believe that fork as is has a lot of area for acid to work.
When we do this we need to count everything. Your gas and time spent are eating profit.


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## jimdoc (Jul 8, 2011)

But now he can sell it on Ebay because it looks like the moon, and get crazy money for it.

Jim


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## Ian_B (Jul 8, 2011)

or alloy it to .999 then sell it as pure on E-bay, what do you think Jim?


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## TigWiz (Jul 8, 2011)

jimdoc said:


> But now he can sell it on Ebay because it looks like the moon, and get crazy money for it.
> 
> Jim



Do you think that is something I should really consider doing?


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## jimdoc (Jul 8, 2011)

I don't know. Ebay is pretty crazy sometimes, you never know what things will sell for. Just describe how hard it was to get it to look like the moon, or maybe just say it was an accident?

Jim


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## TigWiz (Jul 8, 2011)

I have a graphite mold I really want to fill so I'll probably hold out. Ebay can be a bit nutty from time to time.

Here she is:





I'm hoping to pour a 10oz bar sometime soon.


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## Militoy (Jul 8, 2011)

TigWiz said:


> I have a graphite mold I really want to fill so I'll probably hold out. Ebay can be a bit nutty from time to time.
> 
> I'm hoping to pour a 10oz bar sometime soon.



I kind of like the "moon" idea better. I think I can just make out Mare Imbrium and Copernicus in your button! :wink:


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## TigWiz (Jul 8, 2011)

Militoy said:


> TigWiz said:
> 
> 
> > I have a graphite mold I really want to fill so I'll probably hold out. Ebay can be a bit nutty from time to time.
> ...




Guys, help me come up with a good description and title for the auction and I'll throw it up lol. We'll see what happens.


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## patnor1011 (Jul 8, 2011)

We can do it for lulz sake. :mrgreen:


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## Sodbuster (Jul 8, 2011)

Didn't someone once find a silhouette of Mother Marry or Jesus in a slice of toast?

Something like that will skyrocket some crazy bidding. 

Fraid all I can see in the first close up though is a rat (dead center facing to the right) or is that a coon? 

I don't guess that will Command big bucks though.
Silly me :lol: 

Ray


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## juxtaposedsoul (Jul 8, 2011)

TigWiz,

The auction MUST be titled "By The Light Of the Silvery Moon" like that old song says. But seriously, not a bad looking melt for the first try. Extra borax was not a problem, although you will find you need less or even none the next time you use that dish. Discoloration comes from impurities and oxidation. At least that is what my limited experience has indicated.


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## Sodbuster (Jul 8, 2011)

I kind of like allot of flux when melting up a silver button, it helps to hold the button into a thicker button and not so thin and flat. 
But that's just my preference I guess, it doesn't seem to hurt anything. You will need to pluck it out of the dish as soon as the surface frost over though.

Ray


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## goldenchild (Jul 11, 2011)

Militoy said:


> Seems to me the original fork parts would have exposed more area to the processing chems.






patnor1011 said:


> I believe that fork as is has a lot of area for acid to work.



True but... Sometimes shotting is the way to go. Think on a slightly larger scale. What if you were trying to fit say 20 forks into a 1 liter beaker. You would have to bend all the forks in such a way to get them in the vessel that it would be like a puzzle. Now if you shotted them you would have nice uniform shots/cornflakes that could neatly stack on each other and only take up a few inches of the beaker from the bottom. That would equate to less volume/efficiency/chem savings. We are all so Edit: Most of us are used to thinking on a small scale (myself included!)


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