[Jewelry making - Article 00141] - Re: [Orchid] How to make a good metal ingot?

[geo]

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    John Burgess, I'm glad that you mentioned the use of a reducing
    flame for ingot making. My teacher didn't mention the fine points
    of if, just telling us to make sure the flame was soft and didn't
    hiss. Considering that I have over 15 more years experiance using
    an oxyacetylene welding torch than the school's oxypropane
    rosebud I find that I get a much better result using my old Sears
    Robuck torch and a number 3 tip. Acetylene has brighter color
    contrast and IMHO easier to read even through number 4 welding
    glasses or gold didymium glasses than propane without the
    glasses. I find that with acetylene if one just turns down the
    oxygen until the flame shows a good inch long feather in the
    middle but stops before getting significant orange/yellow color
    nor smoke silver melts and pours clean. 

    I use a Rio Grande open ingot mold which is covered with a
    crinkle finish stove paint, but the ingots come out just fine. A
    problem thought with the oxyacetylene is that if you get the
    flame too much reducing (yellow flame means that soot is coming
    out) and the silver gets too sooty and then too hot you can get
    subsurface carbon inclusions which then form bubbles when it is
    rolled then annealed. Nasty little buggers which have to be
    burned out with a remelt.. Geo  

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