kurtak
Well-known member
Can you melt gold in an iron, carbon steel or stainless steel crucible
Simple answer = yes --- because the melt point of gold is lower then the melt point of iron/steel/SS - so as long as you don't bring the melt temp up more then a few degrees over the melt point of the gold - yes it will work
The risk is (or at least one risk is) getting to hot & melting the iron/steel/SS along with the gold
so yes - you can get away with it - BUT !!!
With that said - I would NEVER melt gold in anything other then an actual "melting dish" or crucible
Why ?
Because gold alloys with iron (as well as other metals of course)
For gold to alloy with iron - you do NOT need to get the iron up to its melt point
Why ?
Because "lower" melt point metals - once molten - becomes a solvent for "higher" melt point metals
In other words - though the iron - as a whole may not be hot enough to melt - the molten gold - that is on the surface of the iron - is going to dissolve iron at the contact point of the molten gold & the iron
That dissolved iron is going to then alloy with the gold - your gold is now contaminated with iron
In other words - the molten gold (acting as a solvent) "lowers" the melting point of the iron (where the gold is in contact with the iron) allowing the iron to alloy with gold (though the iron - as a whole - is not hot enough to melt)
Therefore I would NEVER "melt" gold in anything other then actual melting dishes/crucibles
For what it is worth - silver does NOT alloy with iron (though it may act as a solvent for iron)
Therefore - because iron will not alloy with silver - any dissolved iron will phase out to the surface & can be removed with HCl
So you can use iron to melt silver in without concern of iron alloy/contamination
Kurt
Simple answer = yes --- because the melt point of gold is lower then the melt point of iron/steel/SS - so as long as you don't bring the melt temp up more then a few degrees over the melt point of the gold - yes it will work
The risk is (or at least one risk is) getting to hot & melting the iron/steel/SS along with the gold
so yes - you can get away with it - BUT !!!
With that said - I would NEVER melt gold in anything other then an actual "melting dish" or crucible
Why ?
Because gold alloys with iron (as well as other metals of course)
For gold to alloy with iron - you do NOT need to get the iron up to its melt point
Why ?
Because "lower" melt point metals - once molten - becomes a solvent for "higher" melt point metals
In other words - though the iron - as a whole may not be hot enough to melt - the molten gold - that is on the surface of the iron - is going to dissolve iron at the contact point of the molten gold & the iron
That dissolved iron is going to then alloy with the gold - your gold is now contaminated with iron
In other words - the molten gold (acting as a solvent) "lowers" the melting point of the iron (where the gold is in contact with the iron) allowing the iron to alloy with gold (though the iron - as a whole - is not hot enough to melt)
Therefore I would NEVER "melt" gold in anything other then actual melting dishes/crucibles
For what it is worth - silver does NOT alloy with iron (though it may act as a solvent for iron)
Therefore - because iron will not alloy with silver - any dissolved iron will phase out to the surface & can be removed with HCl
So you can use iron to melt silver in without concern of iron alloy/contamination
Kurt
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