When in doubt, flatten it out!!!

[philddreamer]

It has been mentioned in this great forum before, but I would like to remind all of us who melt, that when we come across items that could be hollow,
make sure, & flatten them out, because they WILL explode!!! . So, take the time & make sure they won't blow up in your face when you add them to your melt.

I take the precautions of doing so, but today, as I was adding the last 2 items into my 11.5 oz sterling melt, one earring ball exploded like a gun shot.

I had tried crushing them with my channel lock, like I did all the other hollow items, but these 2 had a solid inside & didn't collapse all the way.
But, these where the last 2 items... what could go wrong? KA-POW!!! Needless to say, it scared the crap out of me!
I can laugh @ myself 'cause fortunately I didn't get hurt. Not a drop touched me. But I guarantee you all, it won't happen again!

When in doubt, flatten them out! Take the time I save yourself some serious pain & tedious clean-up.

Take care!

Phil

 

[goldenchild]

Did you add those earrings to already molten metal?

 

[philddreamer]

Hi Mario!
Yeah, I'm afraid so. I had a few item that didn't fit in the dish, so as the material melted I added the remaining items, & those 2 where the last.
I'm always careful with the items that look hollow, but not careful enough with these 2. Vital lesson learned.

 

[goldenchild]

I think the problem was more that you added cold metal to molten metal. But it could certainly have been a combination of the two. If you absolutely need to add other pieces into the mix either let the molten metal skin over and freeze a bit or heat the item to red heat before adding. Even with these two methods there's no certainty that it still won't happen. Glad you are ok. And nice rig 8)

 

[philddreamer]

I've melted so far a bit over 200 ounces of silver & never had any problems, except for the hollow items. Most melted after a small puff, & this was early on.
I realized then, that I best flatten them before melting. But again, these two were hard to crush because they have something rattling inside.
I'll take extra precaution next time, since I have another 75 ounces that I need to melt.

Thanks for the advice Mario!

Phil

 

[stihl88]

The rest of it goes, "If unsure flatten some more".

Good to hear your ok, you don't think of small things like this that could go wrong.

 

[glondor]

Wow imagine that, I had a similar thing happen on Sunday. An aluminum heat sink with small copper pipes thru it. Heating up the little pipes to melt the solder to separate the metals and KAPOW. The side blew out of the little copper tube. The ends had been crimped and soldered shut. Nice to see you back posting Philddreamer, I always enjoy your posts. Flat is where it is at!

 

[seawolf]

You stated you heard something rattling inside. If its just a little solder flattening is fine, but if it is some hard wax it should be cut open as the gasses given off buy the heat will increase the pressure several fold.
Mark

 

[element47]

I've had a similar experience taking apart sterling handled knives. There are several different types of material used to anchor and attach the stainless blade to the hollow sterling handle. Most just use what I presume to be very fine casting sand, so just beating on the handle will generally split the handle or at least open it up and then working the blade to and fro will allow more and more sand to sift out until the stainless blade just drops out.

Others, however, use a material that resembles "hot glue", and I've beaten on the handle to a point where I thought and gas could escape, but a time or two I did not. Upon heating, pressure built up and blasted the blade out, but worse, blew the hot molten material everywhere. And that's the danger of this. Losing $5 or $10 or even $50 of metal is one thing, but getting a serious eye burn could be forever. A word to the wise.

 

[philddreamer]

Stihl you're right. We get used to having things go right for a good while & take unnecessary chances. I've pounded on it since & it won't give. I think its a piece of metal. I'll be cutting it open!

Thanks glondor!
I've been buying silver on & off from e-bay, & also the regular buys of scrap gold from some folks. Refining some, most other times just melting & selling it.
I just had 40 Pc's given to me & every little bit helps.
Always grateful to the folks on this great forum.

Hi Mark!
I'll be cutting it open to find out what the heck is in there !? I'll let you know.


Hi element!
True, molten metal burns are bad news indeed! I suffered a couple thru the years as a welder. They leave a mark. And depending on the type of metal it can take a long time to heal. Better safe than sorry! If one is in a hurry, better melt @ another time.

Thank you all!

Phil

 

[philddreamer]

I was able to finish the "project" before the day was over. It weighs 311.2 grams & came out looking pretty good for sterling.
I used plenty of borax & pre-heated my mold.

Experience tends to "hurt" when one is acquiring it, but indeed, it's most effective. We all learn when we share it.

Great Forum! 8)

Phil

 

[nickvc]

I think I have mentioned this before but clever clogs here dropped a cold karat bar into molten karat gold.......I knew my error as i did it and leapt backwards but the molten gold was every where including my hair....
Always be very aware when melting it has it's own particular dangers!

 

[Harold_V]

Could have been much worse!

In order to eliminate the possibility of a steam explosion (that's generally the source of the pop), all metals added to molten material should be heated beyond the boiling point of water. Just placing cold metal in the exhaust stream of a furnace can condense enough water to create huge problems. Once heated beyond boiling, it doesn't happen.

Harold

 

[nickvc]

It certainly could have been, I only ever did it once and that was over many years of melting virtually all day every day, it's an event that tends to stick in your mind!
Most melters do it once and get away with it if their lucky but those that don't the injuries can be horrific..... Hence the caution to the forum.

 

[Harold_V]

I recall my one and only experience---pouring silver to my anode mold without preheating. Amazing how quickly one learns the lesson.

Harold

 

[Fournines]

I once saw a melter pull a pin sample from a gold melt, quench it in water, cut it into a few pieces, and give it to the customer for inspection. For whatever reason the customer didn't like how the sample looked and wanted another one pulled. The melter then tossed the now cold and wet samples directly back into the induction melter. He realized his mistake right away, but couldn't stop in time.

The pieces were then immediately and violently ejected from the melt, along with a sizable quantity of molten gold. Luckily he was wearing protective gear, but that still didn't stop some molten gold from burning straight through one of his boots and into his foot.

 

[samuel-a]

Yup, those steam explosions are nasty. Happened to me once, scared the life out of me, since then i make sure it's will not happen again.

 

[Irons]

Mine was just as stupid. Last Year, I set a hot melting dish full of molten Inquart onto a cold tile to cool. The dish shattered and molten metal spilled onto the floor. Not as violent as some of the previous examples, but still was a dumb thing to do. Now, I use a dish full of Sand.

I learned my lesson Arc Welding many years ago. That was to not tuck my pants into my boots. A hot ball of slag burned a hole into the top of my foot. Ouch!

 

[sharkhook]

I once talked very badly to a friend for bringing a glass of tea with dripping condensation on it near my lead pot, with 40 pounds of molten lead in it. He got a bit hot about it and went home to make his own sinkers. Shame he didn't listen the first time. Never wear nylon around molten metal, as he did, never have liquids around them, as he did and do not wash a piece, get it cold and wet, then drop it back in the pot, as he did. He also learned the hard way why I went ballistic on him, and he will never do that again. On and he melted it on his kitchen stove as well.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

The moderators would like to thank all of the members who contributed to the original thread that this post was based on, as well as those who asked questions showing what was missing. Because of the extra length and interest in this thread we have created the above, consolidated version making for an easier read. We encourage all members to read, comment, and ask questions in the original thread, When in doubt, flatten it out!!!.

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