Been a bit slack lately with updates, I harvested my cell and did a small pour from the silver crystal, the bar XRF'd at 9999. Its been a very long road and a long time coming but am finally there. My mate Serial shot the same bar over in 3 different places, must be doing something right for a change Here's a few kilos of crystal after clean up, and the XRF's.
Fantastic What a great achievement, I know the work that goes into this refining process your doing and it's not all for money. Can we get a sneak peek at the bar? If you're like me, you'll find it hard to sell any of it. Well done and thanks for sharing with us. Look forward to seeing the next stage
Hmmm, yes considered that when I was writing the post and had to stop myself but have no fear all will be revealed soon, and seriously that's all I can say for now apart from yes its pure silver.
I like your soapstone mould, how many pours have you got from it so far? Well done on your efforts too.
Hey guys Thanks. I really appreciate the support. I guess I've done about 30 in each of the soapstone block. Figured it was soft and easy to carve. I didnt really know what else to use. Occasionally Id see ppl cast in wood but thats destructive and seems like would take forever to rebuilt. How do you make molds? Wax and plaster? Idk really whats out there
I see most people using store bought graphite. Plaster molds don't last long, really only good for a one off casting. I have been looking for soapstone ever since seeing yours. Seems like a really good choice. Do you pre-heat it before pouring? I am guessing it would have good insulation properties and would not cool down very quick... Have seen cast iron molds used to pour gold bars for rolling in rolling mills, I have tried pumice and also cuttlefish bone, but they are porous.
Back from the days of doing casting I used a silica called cristobalite for lost wax casting. You mix it as a thick slurry then pour into your cast mould and flask, vibrate to expel any air bubbles then fire in the kiln with slow increases in temp otherwise your mould will blow up from steam explosion. I have thought of experimenting with this material, graphite moulds are costly and an ongoing expense, and I can never find the correct size for my bars so you can custom manufacture according to your needs, but you must have a kiln to fire it, pour molten silver into a wet mould and your health and wellbeing will deeply regret it. You can buy cristobalite in large boxes, I use kerrcast for jewellery. Fair bit of stuffing around for a mould so I can understand the convenience of graphite. When used in lost wax casting, mine operates under pressure forcing the metal into the blank left from the wax, you leave it for a few minutes then hold the flask in water with tongs and the cristobalite boils out leaving the metal blank behind. You may be able to just fire the blank mould and re use it for bars but I don't know about the lifespan of the mould when used in that way, I know that heating metal directly in the cristobalite has immediate effects on its condition, going to have to try it out, graphite molds are getting really exxy from some USA ebay sellers and are beyond what I am willing to pay, the Chinese ones do the job but the sizes are all over the place.
Hi Ben, I have been using phosphate bonded "fast" dental plaster for lost wax. It can go into the furnace at around 900 C after 20 minutes curing. No slow ramping, just straight in and burn out for 30 minutes.
Awesome thread! Here are a few of mine. I started hand poring some of my own so I could add things I wanted to my own collection. I sell some of them to fund making the things I want, though lol
My favourite is the tree and Knights having a stoush, nice, wish I had the time for art nowadays, life seems to have taken over
Are you making copies in wax of those plastic soldiers or just burning out the plastic? What investment material do you use?
How do you buy your silver material? I tried to buy silver granules, but was told I had to pay GST :-(
