Hi from Australia

[Keia]

Hello! (too soon for xmas welcome? =O)

[jenfay]

Thanks for all the messages of welcome. I have been busy making some more pieces as well as dealing with the normal domestic chaos. I have nearly finished a broach exploring the same theme as the piece I have already posted.Summer is coming here so I hope to spend more time in the studio which is in the only air conditioned space at home. BTW this morning we had a solar eclipse, only partial where we live so to mark the occasion I am posting a photo a piece I made earlier this year to mark a lunar eclipse at the time. The disk is a combination of .925 silver and Shibuichi (25% silver, 75% copper).

[Carl Grigg]

Hi and welcome. Loved the tree, I have tried casting once but without success going to get me a hotter torch and try again.

Carl

[ShinyLauren]

Hi Jen! Love the tree

[jenfay]

Hi Carl

When I started casting I used a torch and an open crucible. In my case the torch was a Smith's Little Torch with a rosebud tip running on oxy-propane. With that setup I could manage maybe 40 grams of silver. I then got a propane fired crucible furnace. The largest melt I have done in this is 100 grams. i expect it could manage more but 100 is as big a casting as I have done. It is quite possible to make your own crucible furnace to work with a large propane burner using kiln building materials available from a pottery supplier. When I first started casting I was with a club that hat a centrifugal casting machine. In that case we torch melted the metal (silver or gold) in the crucible on the cradle. We used a fairly large propane torch. $0 grams was probably the largest casting we did and most were around half that. I expect we could have done larger melts with oxy-acetylene but there was no need.

[Carl Grigg]

Hi Jen

Thanks for the input. Just weighed my previous attempt and it is a lowly 10 grams. Am looking into torches and the little torch is definitely on the list I am also considering a self build furnace originally for aluminium as I cast a pewter belt buckle and although it came out reasonably was way too heavy, but had thought that it could be used for silver. I have got a steel keg to cut up some cast-able refractory cement and a week off next week so you never know.

one last thing loved the $0 I am glad I am not the only one who does that

Cheers
Carl