Hi all,

I am a relatively novice jewellery maker working in sterling silver. I have a Max Flame Pro hand torch and have successfully used this for soldering and annealing. I recently bought a Delft clay casting set and Carved a simple pendant to use as an original and try casting. Using the online calculators I found that my 1.1g wax model needs roughly 11g of silver so I am trying to melt down 22g to allow for the sprue etc.

I tried with one torch and the results were a greenish flame (I imagined this was oxides?) and slight melting (my scrap silver pieces fused together) but nothing like pouring consistency.
I actually have a slightly faulty one of the same torch (valve doesn't entirely shut when off) so, having read people on here say 'you could always use two torches to double the heat' to others, I tried this too. I did get more melting and some glimpses of that mercurial silver but even with two Max Flame Pro hand torches on the crucible I couldn't achieve a good melt.

I have no idea what I could be doing wrong. I am using a fully glazed crucible which I have resting on a hardened charcoal scorifier, adding flux when it gets red hot and then again when it begins to melt, working indoors with no breeze etc. I know the torch is hot enough to melt silver because I have accidentally melted the ends of 1mm silver wire I was working with.

I have seen people on this forum suggesting this torch is capable of achieving this so cannot figure out what I am doing wrong.

Could it be that resting the crucible on the scorifier is leeching heat? I hoped it would help it retain the heat. Or are these hand torches just not capable of melting 22g of silver? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated as right now it seems I have spent money and time making wax models and getting the casting rings etc but cannot use them!

Thank you in advance!