Butane blowrorch

[TheMonkey]

I have a small amount of 9ct and 24ct gold to melt and possibly try in lewellery making. I am a complete newbie and do not want to invest in a major setup (furnace etc) until I know if it suits me.

I have seen Butane gas blowtorches advertised which state they heat up to 1300c and wonder if they would suffice for the moment. Out here (France) we use 13kg Butane bottles (No mains). Obviously I would need a crucible and mold (could I melt both 9ct and 24ct in the same mold (not at the same time of course)

I am looking for any advice and thank you in anticipation.

B

 

[MysticColby]

ideally, you want to keep crucibles and melting dishes isolated for what they are used for (use one designated dish for 24 karat, and a different one for 9 karat, and a different one for 12 karat), but this depends on what you are using it for. At the very least, I recommend two different ones: one dish for 24 karat, another dish for all other gold purities.

butane may be able to melt gold. but you will need a torch that can put out enough btu, and an insulating furnace. according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adiabatic_flame_temperature, butane in air will burn to a maximum of 1970ºC, while propane will get to 2392ºC. gold melts at 1064ºC. now these are theoretical maximums, which you most likely will never observe in practice. the more insulation, the closer you can get.
For small amounts, the furnace does not need to be very big. I described a mini furnace I made here:
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=13162
I recently melted 22g of ~99% gold in it, using propane and a bernzomatic ts8000. It took noticeably longer than melting 100g of silver (about 30 minutes vs. 20 minutes), which goes to show that those last hundred degrees are the hardest to reach.

 

[TheMonkey]

Thanks so much MysticColby

I can see I need a hell of a lot more education in these matters before I even commence. Wish I'd studied a bit of science when at school but it's too late now. Appreciate the link although that posting just goes to emphasise how ignorant I am of these things.

I think before I go any further (and possibly waste a lot of money) I'll do a lot of reading.

Once again, thanks from an appreciative newbie



B

 

[MysticColby]

your welcome
definitely have a plan that you are confident will work before starting. Otherwise, you could end up wasting money at best, injured or dead at worst.
Butane may not be the best fuel to start with. It is one of the lowest burning temperature fuels, meaning it will take longer and require a bigger torch and more insulation in order to melt precious metals.
It might not be a bad idea to practice melting metals with a cheaper and easier-to-melt metal, like aluminum. Aluminum melts around 660ºC, and a small amount can definitely be melted by a butane torch without insulation. Just don't forget safety.
It's never too late to learn science!

 

[TheMonkey]

Certainly makes sense & a suggestion worth doing. Glad I found this forum and thanks once more.

B

 

[Jimmy]

Its best to have a oxy/fuel torch for this.
France is a little too cold for Butane so you probably have a gas mix or propane anyhow.
A good place for burners is AGF. They have been around for a hundred + years and know their stuff. They are also a very small company. Only a handful of people work there. All sorts of different types of torches. Anything you can dream of.
Down load their really sad and poorly put together catalog http://www.agfburner.com/images/AGF_Burner_Catalog_PDF.pdf and look thru it. Then send them a e-mail and they will help you out. Not even very expensive.


http://www.agfburner.com/

 

[TheMonkey]

Gosh Jimmy - what a wealth of info that gives - probably take a month or two to take it all in (if ever I can!).

I have more or less decided to take a while and go through many of the posts in the forum and get a 'feel' of what might be possible.

Thank you for your input - it is appreciated.

B