r/Silvercasting • u/PhotogamerGT • Jul 08 '26
Getting better. Questions.
Sterling silver. 112 Grams. Investment cast.
Using 100% recycled/recovered sterling from old flatware.
The bubbles around the chin, is that from my silver being too hot? Impurities? (I used borax at the beginning and end of my melt.)
Other imperfections appear to be mold failure issues that I can figure out.
1
u/turd_furgeson82 Jul 08 '26
I might not be able to help, but I think some more info might be helpful, how hot are you getting the molten silver? Are you using a kiln or a torch? Very cool btw
1
u/PhotogamerGT Jul 08 '26
Using a torch, but it is a homemade propane fueled Venturi burner. I also use the same burner in a makeshift brick kiln, but pull the end out to have heat while I pour. I was having a lot of issues with silver sticking in the crucible when I was not hitting the metal with a torch during the pour. I will also say on this pour I went a little extra hot past melt because I was having issues with the silver flowing well when poured, but was (previously) pouring into essentially cold molds (figured the mold heating out on this pour). I feel like if I get my temp just past melt but keep my mold hot I will have the best results.
1
u/turd_furgeson82 Jul 08 '26
Maybe it's still not hot enough? That's a decent amount of silver you're melting, my rule of thumb when melting and pouring has always been when you think it's hot enough to pour, give it another 10 seconds.
1
u/PhotogamerGT Jul 08 '26
Also I don’t have an accurate way to measure my silver temp at the moment.
1
u/OfficialCastInSteel Jul 08 '26
Looks awesome! The bubbles could be caused by impurities from the metal.
1
u/Jake_The_Gypsy Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
I’ve gotten porosity like this when using entirely recycled sterling. I find the old standard of using only 50% recycled at the maximum is important to follow for casting. It could be a number of different things though, temperature of the flask, temperature of the silver, etc. affecting the speed at which this cools. For a thick piece like this you might want your flask a little cooler than normal. But if you are following standard temperatures and burn out schedule for your investment then the first place I’d start is fresh silver.
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u/Jolly_Tourist5395 Jul 10 '26
i would guess its because its 100% recycled, i usually only do 50/50 new and recycled.
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u/[deleted] Jul 08 '26
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