Results from my first time pouring silver.

Friday my crucible, whip and mold showed up. I couldn't be happier. After watching hours upon hours of videos it was finally time.

I head out to the barn and get the fire started to help keep everything warm. It's still in the 20's at night here.

With the fire blazing and the temps in the barn getting up in the 40's it was time to get this party started. First I warmed the crucible then added small amounts of borax around the inside. This was my first attempt at seasoning a bowl. When it appeared to be good in my eyes I turned off the torch and got the rest of the supplies ready.

I measured out a 1/2oz of shot to begin with. Carefully I warmed the bowl until it was glowing hot and added a little shot. In less than a minute I had a nice little puddle rolling around inside. I added more shot until it was all in the bowl rolling around like liquid mercury. Then I begin to bend over to get closer to the mold on top the stove. When I do this my torch starts hissing and spitting and burns itself out.

I sat the bowl and whip on the stove, reached in my hoodie and grabbed my lighter and re-light the torch. The silver had cooled to a large red glowing mass in the middle of the bowl. I put the flame back to it and soon enough it was rolling around again. Bend over to get closer to the mold and.....poof. Torch goes out again. Repeat this paragraph about 30 times, add a copious amount of 4 letter words, then throw some beer in the mix.

After about an 2hrs of that I decided to strategically place the mold higher. Thoughts behind this was the angle of the torch. First try in the new location. Silver rolling in the bowl, torch not going out....closer to the mold, closer and PLOP...POOF. Right as the silver was leaving the bowl the F'n torch went out again. I ended up with this.

I poured a couple more blobs and called it a night. Results from Day 1.

Begin Day 2
Now I'm pissed. The videos made it look so easy. I started looking at torches. Found a nice one that works inverted and headed out to pick it up. This one works much better and has a self ignition system (no more reaching in my pocket for a lighter). I was able to get some semi recognizable silver to pour today. One is a 1/8oz button and the other is almost 1/4oz in the bigger mold. I have a long way to go, but it's really fun. Kind of a mix between soldering and welding. More updates of my journey to follow.