Small Jewelry Smelter

DesertRat

Anyone here ever run across small jewelry type smelters that are capable of melting old gold/silver jewelry? It would be nice to be able to melt down my own scrap jewelry without having to ship it off to a third party who will pay less than melt to do it for their profit.

shudson

I've seen a few for these for sale on eBay, and I believe they run around $6000 - $7000 for the smelter, which doesn't include all the tools, molds, etc.

These things get pretty hot too, so it's not something you want to setup in the basement of your house... I don't think your insurance would cover a house fire caused by "hobbyist smelting"!

If you want to get a larger cut of what you take to a third party to be smelted, save it up. I've been told that the more metal you bring in, the higher the return. It has something to do with there being a base price of firing up the smelter...

ASUtodd

Look online for plans to make one. My father, a avid metal worker, made one for himself in his garage. He melts down aluminum, copper, brass, lead, and other metals in it with no problems. I'll ask him where he got the plans from.
Todd

ricko

The melting point of gold is 1947 F... pure gold that is... 18K is 1675F and 14K is 1550F. Silver is 1764F... with alloys usually melting lower. These temperatures are not hard to reach - a crucible of suitable alloy will achieve this with gas heat. Cheers, RickO

ASUtodd

Link
Here is a site that has pics and a how to on making a foundry. Seems to work well for them.
Todd

crispy

<< <i>These things get pretty hot too, so it's not something you want to setup in the basement of your house... I don't think your insurance would cover a house fire caused by "hobbyist smelting"! >>





My wife gets nervous enough what with my cigar smoking in the garage, so the smelter is definately out.

ASUtodd

To be honest it's really not much worse than you common backyard grill.....
Todd

ricko

I have known people that do it on the kitchen stove. Cheers, RickO

DesertRat

Thanks for the replies.

I also found this site for making backyard furnaces.

shudson

<< <i>I have known people that do it on the kitchen stove. Cheers, RickO >>



There must be some serious modifications to that stove to reach 2000 degrees!

Either way, I can't see an insurance company covering something like that in your kitchen, no way no how.

Although I would love to hear the details... lol

ASUtodd

Thats why you buy a second elcheapo stove to put out in your garage!!
Todd

shudson

Also, it should be worth mentioning that there's a process used to seperate the different metals once you have a big pot of molten metal. It's a chemical process if I remember correctly... not sure if it's toxic or not.

ASUtodd

I believe it involves borax and scraping off the slag. I've never done this so I'm only guessing.
Todd

shudson

<< <i>Thanks for the replies.

I also found this site for making backyard furnaces. >>



Wow, that's one great site, DR... very imformative and quite entertaining too!

Just in case some folks don't want to learn how to build their own foundry, they sell kits on this site for a couple of hundred bucks here.

Sorry for the edit, but I just came across this question in his FAQ which I thought was worth posting:

Q:Can I melt gold with the homemade equipment on your site?

A: The equipment and methods detailed on backyardmetalcasting.com are not designed for precious metals. Special crucibles are needed for these metals to keep losses to a minumum. The furnace may reach the proper temperature to melt the gold or silver but without a special crucible and other materials the metal losses from oxidation etc will be expensive.

ricko

shudson... it was a gas stove... and the only metal I am sure both parties melted was lead for casting bullets.. but it was on their kitchen stove. Cheers, RickO

grip

I have also melted lead on a stove .Home made sinkers.

Al