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I am in the process of doing this as well, but I’m trying to stay on a tight budget. After 10 failures and different trials, this is my rough process: - Melt f
by ulysses1244 2y ago
I am in the process of doing this as well, but I’m trying to stay on a tight budget.
After 10 failures and different trials, this is my rough process:
- Melt fine silver with a butane torch
- Pour it into a circle mold with a metal rod in the middle (makeshift ring mold). I tried sand casting with a wax mold but couldn’t keep the metal hot enough to fill the chamber.
- Hammer the ring on metal ring mandrel to shape and increase the size. This took probably 5,000 light hits with a metal hammer, periodically annealing.
- Use a dremel and grinding stone to further shape it
- Sand and polish by hand
Since I shaped it with a metal hammer, it has a really nice and natural hammer finish that I plan to keep.
I’m considering trying to electroplate it in palladium since the fine silver will tarnish and scratch over time, but it’ll be harder to fix inevitable mistakes.
- ggreer 2y agoHow did you deal with the molten silver dissolving oxygen from the atmosphere? Even if you keep it under a reducing flame, you'll have to take the flame off eventually and some O2 will get in, which will cause defects as the metal solidifies.
- bigiain 2y agoI wonder if using the gas shroud from a mig/tig welder might work?
- ulysses1244 2y agoYes this definitely happens to an extent. I mostly solved it by grinding away the outside. I used 2x the amount of silver that I ultimately needed, knowing I’d have to remove some. I’m figuring it out as I go, but it doesn’t seem to be a major issue.