I agree, mapp pro is what I use and I'll need more than one torch when I start making my 4 and 5oz bars hopefully next week
Well I have been able to get around 10x1 oz pours out of a bottle. I did find that trying to melt anymore than 2ozs at a time was taking a lot longer but I was melting down silver nuggets and not silver shot. For the bigger pours it might pay to use oxy/acet or get one of the numerous types of small kilns that you can buy...just my 2 bobs worth
i have noticed the same when melting larger amounts. Im going to be buying another mapp pro torch so my girlfriend can add extra heat to my melt or making a stand to hold my second torch for me to help at the heat. I have thought of oxy set up but unless you have a whole bunch to melt it could be too expensive. Im saving my pennies for a melting furnace which looks a lot faster melt and less hassle
what size bottles are you using? I get in excess of 30 1oz pours from a bottle. Probably around 20 x 2oz. We must be using different sizes. Also found i didn't need to run the flame full-on. Maybe doing a 5oz i may have to.
THANKS, You just saved me a HEAP of $$$$ I've been GOING to start casting my own bars for a while but thought I'd wait until I had enough money to buy THE WHOLE SET UP (including furnace) so I could do it PROPERLY from the outset. Having read this thread & particularly that last post, I won't be wasting my money on a furnace! I've looked up the "Mapp Gas Torches" at Bunnings & they're really rather cheap, "Refills" of the Gas Bottles are only about $8 & about $40 for a decent torch "Head" (?). SO...... Now it's just a matter of ordering my crucibles, Molds, Tongs & SAFETY GEAR & then I'm SMELTING AWAY! QUESTION Do I need Flux when using Borax when re-melting & pouring .999 Silver or is that only necessary when smelting scrap to remove impurities?
Yes mate they do come in a couple of different sizes and I was only able to get the smaller ones as that is all they ever seemed to have. This is just my opinion but after playing around with this way of melting and pouring silver product I am now looking forward to buying a small electric kiln as it just looks to be a lot easier to use and its a more consistent heat. Having said that though if you are on a limited budget like a lot of people then the Mapp Gas system works just fine especially if you are only melting a small amount at a time
I might just not have the patience to work thru the learning curve. You need to learn what temperatures to use for different amounts of silver. I enjoy using the torch, and the furnace can be quite boring. I will probably buy a kiln next year, as there are a few things i want to make that will just work better being melted that way. Rodebaugh uses a furnace, and he is a master with it. Every one of his bars turnes out exactly like the one before it. He's got it down to a science. You don't need flux with remelting 999 silver. If you use borax, you will want to mix up some sort of pickle to soak the bars in to take the borax off.
