Getting Silver hot enough

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colu41

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 15, 2012
Messages
50
Finally got my hands on an oxy acetylene kit and some graphite in which I make the molds.
My problem is. The silver is still pouring like I'm using a Mapp torch. It fills in the molds very well but the top still stsys bubbled sort of. It doesn't level out. Seems like the silver isn't hot enough? Do I need to turn up the acetylene?
I don't crank the gas or oxy on it so. I'm not sure how to get it into that nice liquid form instead of that "mercury" look.
 
Is your mold Hot enough?
Maybe use bricks to surround the melting pot as well as the mold. From what I've read here n there, keep everything HOT untill settled and let cool slowly.
Haven't been there so no clue but hope it sparks the light on.

B.S.
Never stick your tonge onto metal on a cold day...
 
Everything is on a stone while melting and pouring. Also have a torch on the mold the entire time I'm melting. Hm.
 
When you say level out are you talking about like being flat and smooth?
When you say bubbled are you talking about physical bubbles or are you saying the top of the bar is round like a bubble?
 
If your torch is set with too much oxigen, you'll have that problem. Silver has an affinity to oxigen!
This is how my silver looked on my first melts:
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=7119&p=63965&hilit=silver+affinity#p63912

After been tought the proper procedure by some fellow members, they look much better now.

Take care!
Phil
 

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That was my 2nd thought to Phil. With acetylene you may be getting it way to hot and with to much ox in the flame it is absorbing it and gassing as it cools. I just ain't sure of his question.
 
Phil you may be right. Its not bubbling. It has a bubbled top to it. Like its not pouring hot enough. I will try turning the oxy down and see. Thanks for the tips guys!
 
How much silver are you melting at a time,what type of tip are you using,and what are your guages set at.
john
 
JHS honestly i don't know much about the oxy setup at all. Its my brothers. I just adjust the gas and oxy to what I think would work lol.
And currently I just got done making a 20 gram and a 1 ounce kit kat mold. I want to do a lot of small bars. Before that I made a few 5 ouncers which turned out nice but. Ill have to fiddle with the oxygen a bit. Maybe turn it down.

Here's a pic of one of 5s
Sorry it came out upside down
 

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It may well be that the silvers surface tension is too great in a small melt, it doesn't want to form a flat bar but rather button as its easier for it to form. Small melts are never easy to get flat I'm sure the rapid cooling in a small mass of metal probably also hinders its forming.
 
I build bedford county flintlock rifles.I use silver to pour the inlays I use on them.Most of the time I am using a sand casting.When I pour the silver I use the smallest crucible possible and keep the tourch on the spout as i pour.this keeps the silver in a liquid and most of the time makes a good casting.There have been times that I did not let the sand dry long enough or it was too damp outside and the casting was junk.I have always used a brazing tip and set my gas to 5 or 6 lbs.I set the air to 15 lbs.when i set the flame,I set it to a short blue candle shape.if you turn the oxygen up too high you will get a very small blue flame and you will get a cracking back flash noise when you get real close to the silver.I do not usually worry about the shape of the ingots,because they are going to be melted again anyway,but I use the same method to pour them and get good results.
john
 
Keep everyting hot and oxygen away.
You would want to pour at about 1000-1010 C.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEGkoTc17Zw[/youtube]
 
Nice video. A furnace would fix my problem! Lol.
Ill have to try a few new things and see how they turn out. May be because of how small ill trying to pour.

Btw, a little off topic but. Will a 10 gram gold mold fit 20 gram silver?
 

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