Silver Casting | SilverSmith

Golden ChipMunk

Golden ChipMunk

Well-Known Member
Invitation to All SilverSmith / GoldSmith


Love to see SilverSmith that doing casting, jewelry ... etc; your work or some work you bought.
Rookies to Experts , Can you show us..... what you make and have....
 
Some amateur casting's
Cougar belt buckles -sand cast
Thor's hammer pendant(Un polished)-Delft clay
Large rippled bracelet (3rd in from pic)-Carved cast

Quick run down for people.Bear in mind I am a beginner so I'm open to all advice.
  • Delft Clay is the most expensive clay but gives excellent detail without to much fuss but affordable supplies tend to be sporadic in Australia, so I just import mine from the USA.
  • Casting sand is very affordable & great for most projects but requires a little bit more clean up to achieve detailed finishes.
  • I was taught a great method by a very experienced sand castor to use Delft clay combined with Casting sand.Basically the cheaper casting sand comprises 90% of the material with about a 5 to 10mm layer of Delft clay on top to capture beautiful intricate detail.I have yet to try this as I just received my new order of Delft recently
  • If there are any wax carver's out there that can do up smaller Celtic/Maori styles shapes I am keen to get my hands on some carvings to cast in silver!
The Belt buckle's show the grainy finish of the casting sand I was using from PMC Supplies in the USA.I might make one using Delft/cast sand combo to show the difference in finish.

cougar.jpg 20211118_125644_resized_1.jpg 20211118_125648_resized_1.jpg cast B.jpg
 
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Some rough Jewellery workings for men
  • 14ct I think from memory Mens Cuff
  • 24ct Viking weave ring
  • Failure! work in progress Viking weave neck ring.This is my second attempt at a neck ring the first done in Argentium silver with a larger 2mm individual strand robust weave was done using a twist method that I just couldn't get right.I am having a third go with Sterling wire and and the same twist technique as the one in the picture.
14ct mens cuff.jpg 24ct gold weave ring.jpg failure.jpg
 
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Golden ChipMunk said:
The weaving looks very amazing @REDBACK ;)
Is that like a plait? or multiple twists combine together?
Click to expand...
Its a variation that uses a central round wire core surrounded by 5 clockwise twisted pair's, then an anti clockwise twist around the central core.No tapering on any of the round wires.
I learnt a lot about dimensions from this failed neck ring, the weave should have been longer and I should have done a quick mock up in soft tinned wire to get all the measurements right for the sizing.But its really a hobby that I use to get away so most things are unplanned off the cuff so to speak.

20211118_013654_resized.jpg vice.jpg
 
crucible.JPG

Part One

Crucible is a container / pot that will withstand greater heat for melting your metals.
Can be made from various materials, you will be surprise when I mention Platinum crucible ( commonly in Lab use ).
Commonly crucible are made from Silica , Graphite and etc...

- Choosen the right size crucible for your melting.
- Preparing your crucible , initial cook it with High heat without anything and slowly cool it off.
- Don't forget your prong and safety gear such as goggles, thick leather gloves.
- Choosing The right burner.
 
Yes look up lead shot towers, meaning lead gun shot production in day's gone past.
Height = cooling b4 hitting water
Haven't been able to reproduce perfect round shot yet on a larger practical scale.
 
REDBACK said:
Yes look up lead shot towers, meaning lead gun shot production in day's gone past.
Height = cooling b4 hitting water
Haven't been able to reproduce perfect round shot yet on a larger practical scale.
Click to expand...
All the shot towers I've seen have all been over 10 metres, so I wouldn't expect it to be worthwhile unless you really needed that ball shape.
 
Shot towers are only required for spherical formed silver, I think "Cornflake" silver is more what you're after right?
Just drop it out of your crucible a not too small drop at a time into a deep bucket of water.
That's my method for inquarting
 
OzBenzBitz said:
Shot towers are only required for spherical formed silver, I think "Cornflake" silver is more what you're after right?
Just drop it out of your crucible a not too small drop at a time into a deep bucket of water.
That's my method for inquarting
Click to expand...

I'll try to get this improve but is not crucial , most important is to divide them metal accordingly by weight as they will be remelted again.
 
Golden ChipMunk said:
I'll try to get this improve but is not crucial , most important is to divide them metal accordingly by weight as they will be remelted again.
Click to expand...
So the smaller the shot, the better for you.... essentially it all comes down to the size of the droplet you allow to drop from the crucible to the water.
Cornflake silver is useful for refining due to it's large surface area.
 
Golden ChipMunk said:
What did I produce??
1 ozt Bars , Repeat the processes until I am good at reproduction.

Plain Bar

View attachment 68075


Wavy Bar

View attachment 68076
Click to expand...


Plain vs Wavy in my personal experience is the temp of the pour including the heat of the mould.

ie just barely melted silver in to warm mould vs super heated silver into a hot mould.

note: super heated -> I dont mean 50 degrees more but likely just 2 or 3 degrees. ie if you look closely as the silver melt the flow goes from melted honey to water like with extra 5 minutes of heating

Hot mould = a mould that has residual heat from a pour or two in the last 15 minutes or so
 
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