Pouring a Sterling Silver Bar! Silver Pouring - .925 Sterling Silver
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- Опубліковано 21 чер 2019
- In this video I show myself melting down some sterling silver and pouring a sterling silver bar. The sterling silver I use to melt down is in the form of silverware. This was my first time melting sterling silver. I do show the whole process of how to make a sterling silver bar in this video. Sterling silver is .925 silver.
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Topics I cover in this video: sterling silver, sterling, how to make a sterling silver bar, sterling silver bar, poured silver, silver pouring, sterling silver pouring, poured sterling silver, pouring a sterling silver bar, how to make a silver bar, sterling silver bar pour
#SilverPouring #Sterling #SterlingSilver
Those were silver plated spoons that were brass underneath. The smoke you saw was the zinc in the brass. Sterling silver when melted looks and acts like 999 silver. I’ve melted a lot of sterling silver and you would not be able to tell it from 999, unless you tested it. You should post at the top of comments letting ppl know those spoons were not sterling. This video could scare a lot of ppl from melting sterling which would be a shame. Sterling just takes a little more heat but is a cheap way to make bars and coins.
One accustomed to pouring .999 fine silver might run into problems pouring sterling if using the same methods, but you managed to pull it off pretty well. I pour almost exclusively larger (using 10oz mold) sterling bars and my biggest issues at first were in not heating the material enough, so the metal would begin to solidify as I was pouring it into the mold! This caused my first bars to have "lumpy" tops. I find it odd that Sterling melts at a LOWER temp than .999, as the 7.75% of copper in most sterling alloys has a higher melting point than the silver. Yet still, every chart you look at shows sterling melting at over 100 degrees F cooler than .999 fine.
As for clean-up, I have found that sterling will tend to have more junk on the outside surface after pouring than .999. This isn't difficult to remove, however, and my favorite way to do so is using a jewelry polishing motor with a satin finishing wheel which kind of resembles the consistency of a "brill-O" pad. This obviously doesn't put a high reflective luster on the bar, but it is effective at removing fire scale and gives the bar a bright and clean finish, and it does so quickly. It also serves to accentuate the natural features of the bar such as those stripes or wrinkles. I use a medium texture wheel as opposed to fine which isn't effective enough, or coarse which will remove more material than desired. Don't use these to remove flashing, overpour tabs or other anomalies as it will wear the wheel prematurely (and these wheels aren't terribly cheap, particularly the good weighty ones made to go onto a tapered spindle). I recommend grinding such things off with a belt sander. You can probably get by with one of these wheels mounted on an arbor for a drill. I would NOT use a wire wheel- it's too abrasive. We want to remove just what's needed and not more.
The fun thing about sterling is that in addition to copper, your alloy may also contain zinc, nickel, or even palladium and platinum. "Argentium" sterling is often higher in silver content than .925, sometimes around .950, so that throws an additional curveball when trying to figure out what the melting point is, but you won't typically find such alloys outside of jewelry. As I've done more sterling bars, I've found that going ahead and cranking the furnace up an extra 150-200 degrees past the melting point has yielded more predictable results, albeit with some caveats: For instance, the beautiful "wrinkles" you got on the top of bar are in my opinion the optimal aesthetic result for a sterling bar, but if you pour hotter your top will likely be smoother. This isn't necessarily bad either, particularly if you plan to stamp the top of the bar, or if you like to make "ripples" in the surface (something I am still not good at, but I sure enjoy the Silver Dragons videos as you have obviously mastered that process). The size of the bar you pour also plays into this dynamic. One thing I had to "get over" was the fact that my bars weren't always going to be exactly 10 oz. I've come to appreciate nice texture or good symmetry far and above achieving uniform weight. These days I get as much satisfaction from a 3.5 oz "bottom of the crucible leftovers" pour as I do the initial main pour(s) as long as the leftovers come out nicely.
The best things about pouring these sterling bars:
a) I don't have to worry so much about impurities slipping into my pour. Impurities are actually expected to a degree and account for the rainbow of colors you see in sterling bars sometimes. Nobody is expecting .9999 fineness here, and honestly most people in the trade know that .925 probably isn't gonna happen either depending on the source of the scrap you use. When I used to have silver jewelry and scrap refined, it would rarely assay at over 85% purity. There is so much stuff floating around out there with a .925 stamp but unscrupulous manufacturers often use 80% stock or even lower. And this happens just as often with gold. My stamped 14k gold yield was almost always around 55%, not the advertised 58.5%. Also bear in mind that if you use a lot of scrap jewelry, you will have a higher content of things like cadmium as a result of solder used in the manufacturing and repair processes. Take into account that chains will have a higher average amount of solder than rings or pendants or earrings, as every single link in a chain will have at least some solder. Another thing you deal with when melting jewelry are stones and enameling. If you have a bigger stone it is wise to go ahead and remove it, but tiny accent stones such as CZ's, turquoise, onyx or marcasites will typically float themselves into the boric "slag" and usually aren't much of a problem. If you do get them into your actual pour, they tend to gravitate toward the outer surfaces of the bar and are usually easy to remove. I can't really advocate that others throw such stuff into the furnace, but we are talking about sterling here, not gold, and we aren't casting a piece of jewelry either, but a bar.....and let's face it - nobody wants to spend hours and hours removing worthless stones. Often what I'll do is make a bar specifically out of such pieces with accent stones or enameling, that way whatever the results are, it is confined to a single bar. Frankly, it is difficult if not impossible to tell these bars from the ones I make from "purer" scrap. One thing you don't want to toss into the furnace are any type of chain clasps which utilize a hardened steel spring which will NOT flow into the mixture. These will almost always wind up embedded on the outside of your bar and are difficult to remove and they will scratch your hand. Avoid!
b) There is rarely a premium assigned to scrap jewelry. You can load up on ebay at or near spot price after doing the calculation. If I buy .999 casting shot from RIO or whoever, I'm going to be at a 10-15% premium already before I invest in the tools or the supplies needed to do a pour; Outside of the cost of furnaces, crucibles, molds, and hand tools, consider also the ongoing cost of electricity to run the furnace, as well as buying those $10 containers of MAP gas needed to warm the molds. Crucibles have a lifespan as we see in this video (and actually that one isn't too bad - you should see one I used up until the top lip was literally gone!). This doesn't include one's time, which may or may not be a factor because some people do it as a hobby or even for therapy. In my case, I do it more for the latter, but also I do it because I'm a silver stacker and this has proven to be more satisfying than buying a monster box of eagles, which brings us to the third reason for making sterling bars:
c) Each one of these bars is a unique creation and truly enjoyable to produce. While it is a bit more difficult to quantify my stack than if I were completely divested into Eagles or Maple Leaves or .999 stamped bars from respected refiners, I can estimate the value closely by doing a bit of math and assigning a realistic expectation to the purity levels. As for transferability, I always say that if silver goes up to the point where I want to cash out, I'll have no trouble selling my bars. Somebody somewhere will produce the ability to perform an assay because it will be a chance to buy hundreds if not thousands of ounces at once, possibly at a time when physical silver is difficult to procure. But the truth is, I also maintain a considerable amount of factory-made .999 stuff, as well as a respectable stash of constitutional 90% silver coins for the SHTF transferability/recognizability apocalyptic commerce scenario, but nothing has been more satisfying or more cost effective than the sterling bars I've made for myself.
Thanks for the input and sharing your experience.
I have a question about cross contamination. Let’s say you pour some 925 and the later you pour some refined 999, will it get contaminated with some product on the walls of the crucible. Should you use a different crucible for the different metals?
Very cool! Thanks for sharing!
That’s probably the nicest sterling pour I’ve ever seen, very difficult to work with normally but you pulled it off for sure! Nice job!
Stacker Noob UK wow thanks so much!!! it was fun to do 😁🔥🐉
Wow so cool thanks for sharing my friend 😊❤️. I love to watch you melt silver☺️. Best wishes.
Very interesting for sure. Thanks for the show my friend.
Alexander R De Voogt thanks it was very much different! 🔥🐉
Interesting. Cool and different. Thanks Dragon's
Awesome pour! Thanks for sharing
Ron F thanks for watching my friend! it was fun 🔥🐉
Awesome video Dragons! Very interesting. 👍👍
Stacks & Stuff thanks so much!!! it turned out cool 😏🔥🐉
Pretty cool pour. Thanks for sharing and take care.
Clayton County History Hound thanks for watching it was fun! 👍🏽🔥🐉
That is one BAD-LOOKING BAR! (in a good way) 😍
A great bar, well done.
at the end looks cool nice texture for sure very unique nice job 👍👍👍😀👍👍👍
Congrats on another first! Good looking bar
Silver Ripples thanks it was very fun! 😏🔥🐉
Interesting experiment. I've learned a lot from your channel. Thanks for the lesson.
Michael Bajorek thanks my friend it was very fun 😁🔥🐉
Great fun!
Pour Me Metals thanks it really was fun! 🔥🐉
Very interesting, finished product looks like something you would find in an ancient Spanish Shipwreck.
Very cool. Yeah, I have messed around with 925 silver melting it and it really is so different. It looks very neat! Nice job!
SalivateMetal thanks Sal! it is a whole new beast 😏🔥🐉
Makes me really appreciate 999. Very cool!
Love it very unique
The copper really changes the silver! Nice bar
Alex Coin Roll Hunter yes it does for sure Alex! thanks! 🔥🐉
This is Awesome!! Silver Dragons!! I have a few 925 Silver jewelry that I'm planning on making a video once I get my Gopro in the mail!! Just ordered it today!! I'm using it for the rest of my channel videos!! Instead of my phone! I have a small crucible and map gas
Super interesting..
Yoooooooooooooo My friend nice pour!
Awesome man much nicer as bar
Metal Bum thanks I love the way this one turned out! 🔥🐉
Like #41! Nice! Just did my first .925 pour! I did my whole channel name with a piece of drywall for the mold. 15oz in 14 letters and the drywall worked great! Keep Pushin!
Full Push Metals wow that is very cool! what a great idea!! 🔥🐉
Good job, like all first pours we work out the issues and get better at it.
Pretty nice. The pours are always interesting. Good job.
You may have been able to get a smoother pour if you added flux or Borax to thin out the dross, and maybe let the furnace get to 1095 and hold for a few minutes at almost 1100. I know that with my copper, it pours smoother if I do the above versus if I don’t. Either way - love the uniqueness of the bar!
Thanks to your video i was able to melt my little hoard of sterling to a 11.5 oz bar it came out ok just a few minor mistakes looks good shined up and heavy
Interesting!
Investment Future Finances thanks so much my friend! 🔥🐉
Nice change up!
🇺🇸🗽
Tom McStacker thanks Tom! Why not 😁🔥🐉
I've never melted any silver or sterling silver but that was pretty cool.
Slick Silver thanks it was fun to try something new! 🔥🐉
I actually melt down Sterling Silver as well, but I also do refine it. It's fun process to refine it.
3:43 that pour at that time looks like he original book of the dead from the first evil dead movie! Haha! Nice!
Very nice bar. I would take either one.
Barbara Seaverson me as well 😏 these are off to their new home 🔥🐉
Sterling Silver is a different bird for sure my friend 👍👍 I have done it myself and looks the same😐 very different for sure!
VCcoins Nevada yeah super weird doing something other than 999 😂🔥🐉
Hi Dragons. 5 dragon bar! Lots of impurities in 925 silver. *:-)*
Donald in New Mexico lol yes lots of impurities 😂😁🔥🐉
Wow that's something.
Christopher Sanchez thanks it was fun! 🔥🐉
Christopher Sanchez thanks it was fun! 🔥🐉
Great video. Glad I found your channel. Tried it myself just now and loving the character on the top of my pour.
My problem has been getting either few large bubble cavities or lots of small ones at the bottom. I've used borax, made sure my silver is very fluid and then wait some more before pouring, used a second torch to heat the graphite mold, poured slowly, evenly or fast. I still can't get the bottom to come out flat for stamping. The mold is perfectly flat, so I'm confused.
Any tips and tricks is much appreciated. Keep up the good work.
Lol wow very brown. Congrats on that Bar. 92.5
SilverLimey 79 thanks limey and I think it’s the copper in it 🔥🐉
The texture reminds me of dragon skin👍
Andrew Furlong yeah pretty much 😂🔥🐉
A different kind of pour :)
That silver bar looks like gold
I invited ‘Yankee’ over for dinner, and forgot to count my spoons
😡😡😡😡
Silver Heist lol 🔥🐉
Looks like you got brass in there. Are you sure one of those weren't silver plated?
Very cool. Reminds me of when Han Solo was carbonized. 🤣🤣🤣
Add some borax and you could get it to .955 pretty easily
Where did you get the tongs that you used cause I do alot of pours of sterling and I have the same set up but my tongs suck but nice job
Love your content! Thank you for sharing. Most sterling that I have found is weighted with wax, sand, or some kind of white clay looking stuff. I always cut the handle to get all that crap out of there. Heating it with a torch first helps with purity as well I think.
How many forks/ spoons did you use?
Looks like you got a huge yield.
preston lewis I think it was something like 15 or so... someone sent them to me to melt for them... do you mean cut the whole handle and just throw it out? 🔥🐉
No no I just cut open the handle to see if it’s weighted. If it is I get rid of the wax, or what ever crap is in side.
preston lewis oh I see! thanks for the info! 👍🏽🔥🐉
👍👌 not that I know anything
I just started
Sweet... pour that float copper in that old crucible before you throw it away or retire it from use... would make a Great Video...
ECP - EAST COAST PROSPECTING lol in due time my friend 😏🔥🐉
2:29 what was that in top left corner 👻
Curt 👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽🔥🐉
I'm late to the show. Nice pour for your first time. Next time get the sterling hotter before you pour. Pickle it in muratic acid then transfer directly to a sodium bicarbonate slurry. After that rinse, clean it up with a wire brush on a dremel or polishing wheel then polish to your prefered shine. It makes them look nice and shiny.
I pour .925 all the time. It acid tests blue unless i file way down.
Pickling solution, dilute sulfuric acid, will remove the surface copper/copper oxides.
Sterling Ideas yeah iv seen people do that.. thanks for the tip! 🔥🐉
How do you do this?
The smoke coming off was zinc, as it begins to boil at the same temp the metal melts
Dragon scale bar
draco's Dragon pretty much this thing ended up looking epic!! 🔥🐉
Where is good to buy silver for melting
Now do you have a video on how to purify sterling so you get only the silver and not everything else out of it?
Borax
Likely impurity’s have separated from the Silver is why it is a different color... my guess...
ECP - EAST COAST PROSPECTING yeah it’s a whole new beast for me to figure out 😏🔥🐉
Sterling? Heresy!
Mineral Miscreant lol he sent it to me to melt 😂🔥🐉
Many utencils that say sterling silver are actually plated with sterling silver.
The white dust looks like you had some brass in there. Maybe one of the forks was plated?
XdebugX Games not sure they weren’t my silverware just what someone sent me... I think it might be zinc or something 🤷🏽♂️🔥🐉
@@SilverDragons47 Zinc is used to make brass, which is common metal for plated silverware. I've made a few sterling bars and they never had a gold color. They're dark at first but almost industingishable from fine silver once cleaned up.
#learningcurve 😂💪 try putting some flux in it might get rid of the impuritys
Wait, so was there 13.9 ounces ASW, or 13.9 ounces total?
The furnace...aka the mouth of the dragon
Vin's World lol pretty much 😂🔥🐉
You need to use a graphite rod to get out the impurities out
Pour Me Metals yeah or iron 👍🏽🔥🐉
Interesting indeed maybe
.925 don't like graphite..
Who knows you gotta try stuff to find out like a mad scientist.
rox dude yep eventually i’ll master the 925 😁🔥🐉
so the sterling ruined the crucible?
I got about 150oz of heirloom sterling utensils I’ve been thinking about turning into a few bars. Unless I want to do one at a time it will take forever
But they are worth far more unmelted
If you dip it in ezest maybe the silver color will shine through.
M- Nice yeah i’m thinking I should have thrown in some borax and flux then taken the top layer off.... oh well there is always next time! 🔥🐉
Did smaug enjoy the new flavor?
Silver Wheels lol yes he did 😂
I'm pretty shure u had some brass or zinc in ur silver
I don't think you had the furnace hot enough because of the copper content. I've had better pours but with a torch. Both with sterling and coin silver. I haven't use pure silver yet
Ehren Krause interesting... I think I might have needed to get it hotter as well 🤷🏽♂️🔥🐉
Sterling should be as white as coin silver after polishing the black off from the fire it's purer than 90 percent
That’s cool. Yeah the golden color is different and kind of cool...
Silver Wolverine yeah something different 😏🔥🐉
Don't breath any of that smoke!
Borax
#freebaggins dragons
You didn’t put in any “flux” ?
Is it possible to refine Sterling to .999?
Yes
But on the other hand can I have the extra bar
Those are elegant looking forks and spoons. Shame to melt them. Would have been nice to see markings. Hopefully not ‘Tiffany’.
Silver Heist people send me stuff and I melt it 😏 I don’t judge 🔥🐉
Slag is your issue, Silver is heavier than copper/nickel I think, both should float to surface....don't quote me word of mouth🤞
Hi Ozzy. Yeah, a bit of flux might help float the impurities. *:-)*
Ozzy Alchemist yeah it was my first time.... next time will be better 👍🏽🔥🐉
@@SilverDragons47 I'll be watching, I have a lot of Sterling and I am considering melting it all. So very curious to see the process & how you can refine out the nickel (7.5%). Good luck🤞😊✌
That's not sterling silver, it was clearly contaminated with brass evidenced by the zinc smoke coming off it when it was in the crucible
I thought being "born with a silver spoon in your mouth" was a good thing!? That was cool! Thanks.
You completely skipped over the 'cleaning' process of the bar.. .
is not a silver . this is an alloy zinc
you seriously need tools to polish those things.
I have been looking for cheap Sterling for melt but all I am finding is plated garbage. 🙄
K9/Handle Shep2 iv never tried to find any... this was all sent to me by a viewer 🔥🐉
The colour is suspicious. Sterling should be very white.
That white stuff is poisonous.
Shame on you, they are a work of art too! But Kool!
Bricktown Silver lol he paid me to do it
thats a bad poor never had sterling do that and it looks like you had zink or something in it the bars look badly contaminated
That white dust and smoke is. Zinc bro. Hope you didn’t breathe any of that crap in. 😳not sure that was pure .925. Looks just like zinc and that crap is highly toxic
Silver Mac 😮 you wanna buy some death sticks? 😂🔥🐉
@@SilverDragons47 I was going to say the same thing....I've seen it on BigstackD's channel when he accidentally overheats brass....very toxic to breathe.
Fish Geek lol... yeah gotta get those temps locked in! 🔥🐉
It would have been nice to see the spoon markings. What if it was “International Sterling”? That is plated I believe.
Silver Heist I mean I sent it back to the guy who sent me the silverware 🤷🏽♂️
Wait you should sell these.
Vin's World I just did this one special custom pour... I don’t even have any sterling! 🔥🐉
congrats you just turned something useful into something almost useless. And you can travel with sterling flatware without any eyebrows raised at the airport but they will definitely ask when you have a bar.
Horrible pour