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Advise please


mccombie48

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Good morning all

I am after a bit of advise / help if possible, I have recently purchased an electrical furnace and various other pieces of equipment to start melting pure silver. I think I have covered all the bases with things needed but there are a few things I am unsure of. Firstly do I need to clean out the graphite crucible of any debris before I start applying the protector paint? and do I need to spray the moulds before I use them to ensure the silver doesn't stick inside once I have poured the silver If so what do you use? I have seen a few products advertised but they are in America and finally do I need to preheat the furnace before first proper use? Sorry for the questions but I want to get it right. 

Any help would be greatly apricated 

Best regards

Iain

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@mccombie48

Great to hear you are trying this wonderful hobby out!

So, graphite protector paint. You should try to get your crucible as dust free as possible. I tend to not actually use the graphite protector paint too often but when I have done so on a new crucible I will always wipe it down with a dry kitchen towel so that there is as little dust on the areas you want to apply it. 

Moulds

Silver does not stick to graphite (otherwise how would it come out of the crucible to begin with!)

The products you have seen are likely for use in Cast Iron moulds - they are needed so that the silver can be more easily extracted from the moulds. 

So, for graphite moulds you don't need to treat them with anything. Also, doing so will actually potentially lead to some explosive molten silver. 1000+ degree silver hitting any kind of liquid will cause immediate conversion from liquid to gas and can be very very dangerous. 

Graphite will naturally absorb moisture from the air, so when you are pouring silver I would highly recommend always heating up your moulds with a blowtorch. I use a tiny little butane one that you can buy off Amazon for making creme brulee! It is not going to get the moulds red hot, but it will get them to a temperature where any moisture is long burned off. 

The hotter your mould the easier it will be to fill it before the silver melts. Pouring hot silver into a cold mould will lead to a lot of air bubbles and/or cracks and crevices as the silver cools quickly. Hot moulds allow the extra half second for the silver to settle and fill the mould better. 

Furnace care

I don't know which furnace you have, but the ones I use have a recommendation to leave it on, with the lid off, for at least 45 minutes so as to burn off any residue that may be on the heating elements or in the chamber. If this is not done it could lead to problems in heating (when you have the crucible in). 

Hope that helps! Good luck, stay safe and make sure to showcase your results on the forum!

Visit my website for all my Hand Poured Silver: http://backyardbullion.com

And check out my YouTube channel 

https://www.youtube.com/backyardbullion

 

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Thank you very much Backyard Bullion, that clears up the last few bits in my head, the furnace is an R9 D-33 which I am hoping will be a good one to start with. I will be sure to post pictures when done. Once again thank you for the assistance it has been brilliant

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