[Jewelry making - Article 00090] - [Orchid] Using Antique Brass Mold?

[Hopkins, Barbara]

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Hi Folks:

    Here's my question...and I thought you would know... 

    A good friend of ours (very knowledegable antiques dealer and French
    & Indian War expert) has an early 1700's -ish mold for original
    trade silver... it is brass and about 1/8' thick. He would love for
    me to pour some silver pieces...but here's my question... 

    This is a valuable piece and I do not want to hurt it. Can I safely
    cast molten silver in a brass mold? It has 5 little hearts and
    circles with a flat back piece and pouring spouts for each. So it
    looks like a mold.! They don't seem to fit tight enough so there
    will be some air space and I imagine that this would allow the air
    to escape. What do you think about this? Have people used cut brass
    molds with molten silver? I am concerned b/c the melting point of
    silver is higher than that of brass? But then again the brass is at
    room temp and there isn't a huge difference in melting point. The
    brass has some kind of blackening...probably oxidized over the
    years. The impressions are pretty small and about 2mm deep. What
    keeps the silver from adhering to the mold? Do I need to worry about
    a mold release of some sort? 

    My husband and our friend are very excited by the possibility of
    trade silver from an authentic mold. But I do not want to ruin it.
    Any ideas? I thought if anyone would know...you might. Thanks..for
    any ideas or suggestions that you might have! 

Barbara
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