[Jewelry making - Article 00895] - [Orchid] Casting small round bars

[Brian Barrett]

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    I have been making jewelry from jump rings from a number of years. I
    have progressed to making everything from Alloying silver/gold for
    solder or different carrat values, and drawing all my own wire. My
    problems are all derived from the casting of the bars. I know to
    watch for anything that can fold into a cast as I am working it on
    the rolling mill, but regardless of how often I anneal the wire, I
    am getting cracks. When I coil the wire and cut the coils, it's not
    a big deal as I remove the damaged rings adn amounts to less than
    5%. But it does make the wire hard to handle and such tasks as
    weaving are impossible. When I say hard to handle, It can be like
    razor wire at times and I have bled more than once. 

    When I am finished casting a silver bar, it's surface looks very
    smooth with large snowflake pattern on it. It looks great, but never
    fails to crack, at least partially, during the wire making process.
    I do heat my mould, use oil and borax. If the problem is the metal
    is too hot (I try not to boil it), the question is how to get the
    "Right" time to pour. I wait until the molten pool can have the heat
    removed and swirl for a second, then I pour through the torch flame
    into the mould. I have read books on casting, but am having trouble
    getting rid of this problem. Gold seems to have much less tendancy
    to crack, but due to it's cost and my lack of sales, silver is my
    most used medium. 

    Any tips would be much appreciated. 

    Brian Barrett 

    P.S. I am a hobbyist. I make 1 or two pieces a week and have never
    taken this is school.


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