# more silver buttons please



## goldenchild (Jun 4, 2011)

Taking a page out of shyknee's book I'm starting this thread to get the best pictures of silver buttons, bars, shot and such that this forum has to offer.
To start it off...






















Here is a video of me melting one of these bars.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnMkz_uXlPw[/youtube]


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## stihl88 (Jun 4, 2011)

Nice work Goldenchild! That's pretty much how i do it except for the heating box under the melting dish, where do you get these heating box's from or the name of them? They look like they have a ceramic insert of some sort.

Nice looking bars, try heating the mold next time to see if you can get rid of the rings on the bottom of the bar.


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## qst42know (Jun 5, 2011)

I like your electric preheater, but one speck of silver might just put an end to the open element. It might be better to move the melt to the brick when you get it hot.


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## goldenchild (Jun 5, 2011)

stihl88 said:


> Nice work Goldenchild! That's pretty much how i do it except for the heating box under the melting dish, where do you get these heating box's from or the name of them? They look like they have a ceramic insert of some sort.
> 
> Nice looking bars, try heating the mold next time to see if you can get rid of the rings on the bottom of the bar.



You can get the hotplate here http://www.pelletlab.com/distillation_accessories It's used for distilling but I found it gets way too hot. It isn't adjustable. The only settings are off and atomic. 

You're correct that it's a ceramic hotplate with what looks to be an iron coil running through it like a maze. I highly recommend using it or something similar. It gets extremely hot and keeps the crucible evenly heated. That dish in the video is advertised to only hold 6.7 ozt. sterling but with the hotplate I can easily do 10(pure). I bet I could do 20 if I used my oxy/acet rig but 10 is a nice rounder and safer number :lol: It also comes with an attachment that focuses the heat for round bottom flasks. You may be able to use it on salamander type crucibles in addition to a torch to melt large quantities.

I was doing it backwards at first heating the mold on the hotplate and pouring onto that but as you know silver is notorious for quickly freezing. That method yeilded crappy results. So I switched it up. I suppose if the mold was small enough I could heat both at the same time. I will try it on my next ozt. of gold.


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## stihl88 (Jun 5, 2011)

Wow, for that price you could get a 2nd hot plate and heat the melting dish and mold at the same time. Great find G'Child.

I personally don't mind the swirls on the bottom as it brings some sort of homemade nostalgia to the bars.


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## Claudie (Jun 5, 2011)

Very nice video! Pretty cool bar of silver too!
Thank you for posting it.


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## shyknee (Jun 5, 2011)

thank you goldenchild.
those shinny bars make me smile and smiling makes me feel happy.
thank you again for the hard work of making and posting the video for all.
if that doesn't get some newbies and old members motived to post some resent silver pours I just don't know what will.
soon I will post some pics of something I am trying to complete ,your post motivated me to get back at it.
8)


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## philddreamer (Jun 7, 2011)

Bravo, Mario, bravo!!! Well done.

I've met Steve & some of the other folks @ Pellet. I've been there, it's about an 8 hr round trip drive for me. 
I bought a case of 6 - 2.5 qt's of nitric @ Action Mining in Sandy, OR & Pellet is across the Columbia River in WA.. I saved $110.00 by picking up the nitric @ Action & picked up some glassware @ Pellet while I was down there, but not the hotplate, I was short on funds, so had to settle with the alcohol burner. 
But after watching your video I will order the ceramic hotplate later this week.
Is that a hydrogen torch you are using? 

Thanks Mario!

Phil


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## samuel-a (Jun 7, 2011)

Absolutely fantastic Mario.

I'm with stihl88, get s second plate to heat the mold to avoid the wired looking freezing shapes.
The ripples are pretty cool though.


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## philddreamer (Jun 7, 2011)

Hi Samuel!

It's true, if one pre-heats the mold, the puddle has more time to settle into shape, thus, a more even & smoother surface. I use an electric burner to pre-heat the mold, & just before pouring, I'll heat a bit with the torch. 
This pic is from what I could pick up from the mishap. :mrgreen: 10 ounces. I used my cast iron, 5/10 ounces, mold.

And, of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder... 8) I know a guy that buffs his ingots & gets a very nice shine on them.

Phil


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## goldenchild (Jun 7, 2011)

I agree Phil. The folks at Pellet are really nice people. And their customer service is spectacular. 

The ceramic hotplate will make all the differece if you are doing an open melt with a big quantity of metal. The torch in the video was an ordinary MAPP gas torch. 

By the way. Nice bar. That's a silver brownie


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