First attempt at casting copper bars

[Administrator]

Made a platform that I can level with a bit of angle iron and some nuts and bolts.

The pours are getting a lot better. Have a bigger and better tapered graphite mold (left). And now have better methods. A bit of borax, preheating the molds ... etc.

 

[STKR]

Apparently you've gotta heat the fk out of those moulds to get a good pour. You'll probably need two torches for the larger one. What size is that anyway? Looks like a 100oz or 5kg.

 

[Administrator]

Apparently you've gotta heat the fk out of those moulds to get a good pour. You'll probably need two torches for the larger one. What size is that anyway? Looks like a 100oz or 5kg.

The bigger one is just under 2kg of copper when full. The mold is tapered which makes for a nicer bar.

I've got a gas torch to pre-heat the molds. It takes a few minutes to get them to glow red, then I pour.

 

[STKR]

The bigger one is just under 2kg of copper when full. The mold is tapered which makes for a nicer bar.

I've got a gas torch to pre-heat the molds. It takes a few minutes to get them to glow red, then I pour.

Pretty cool. Keen to see what you produce. You could make it official and grab the silveroos.com stamps from Smithy.

 

[Administrator]

Keen to see what you produce.

Here's one of the bars from the bigger mold. Just under 2kg.

 

[GoldenEye]

Nice.

 

[Administrator]

Polished this one a bit.

 

[STKR]

Very impressive. How are you sourcing your copper scrap?

We all think the premiums for silver are crazy, but the premiums for copper bars are astronomical. If you have a good source of premium grade copper scrap and find a way to sell them, it's a license to print $$. Or even better, trade copper bars for silver and it's like your paying 2001 prices for silver again.

 

[Administrator]

Very impressive. How are you sourcing your copper scrap?

Have some plumbers who sell clean pipe, and some electricians who supply stripped wire.

 

[GoldenEye]

Have some plumbers who sell clean pipe, and some electricians who supply stripped wire.

Do you know the purity of these?

 

[Administrator]

Do you know the purity of these?

I haven't had it tested, but I know the wire is 99.9% copper, and the water pipes are 99.9%.

I don't use any of the solder joints, or any other impure parts.

 

[Silver Soul]

Polishing that lump is a waste of energy and profits