First Gold Pour.... and more!

[chickenminer]

Okay... I'm getting braver now. One pour under my belt so next step is a larger lot.
I weighed out 27 ounces of clean placer ...



Here it is in a #3 crucible ...


I'll be doing the maiden burn on the larger Devil Forge furnace since I am using a
#3 crucible.

So hopefully tomorrow's weather will cooperate. I'll try to take a few more detailed
photos.

[Lanny]

Okay... I'm getting braver now. One pour under my belt so next step is a larger lot.
I weighed out 27 ounces of clean placer ...



Here it is in a #3 crucible ...


I'll be doing the maiden burn on the larger Devil Forge furnace since I am using a
#3 crucible.

So hopefully tomorrow's weather will cooperate. I'll try to take a few more detailed
photos.

Good luck with the pour. I've been around a few, and it's always exciting when you pour that molten metal and then plunge that bar into the cold water.

Hope it all works out great.

All the best,

Lanny

[Lanny]

I have been wanting to pour my own bars for awhile now to get away from the melt loss issue when sending
placer gold to the smelter. So this winter I bought a couple of furnaces, one small that will hold a #2 crucible and
a larger one that will hold a #4.
With this incredible 50 degree March weather we have been having I decided to break out the furnace and take a shot at my first pour.

I had already gone through the process of removing the moisture from my new furnace and crucible. Everything was ready.
So I started the furnace and placed the crucible inside to preheat. Since this was my first pour I limited it to a small batch of pretty clean placer gold.
Removed my preheated #2 crucible from the furnace, dumped in 11.5 ounces of placer gold, added some borax
and placed it back in the furnace.

The little Devil Forge furnace worked like a charm. In 15 minutes I had liquid gold ready to pour!



Getting hot !


Gold and flux poured into 20 oz graphite mold ..


Ingot popped right out of the mold ..


Ingot with flux removed and cleanup up ...


I started out with 11.5 ounces and after it was all cleaned up I ended with a 10.4 ounce gold ingot.
Learned a lot with this first pour. I'm ready to try a 25 oz bar next !

Nice doré bar!

Well done on the pour.

No matter how many times I heft them, always amazes me how heavy (dense) those bars are.

All the best,

Lanny

[chickenminer]

Did another pour today with that 27 ounces. Wasn't good at taking photos though.
Here is the crucible with gold/borax in the furnace...


Furnace going and gold/borax mix almost all liquid. 50 oz mold on top preheating...


Gold mixture poured into 50 oz mold ...


Bar popped out of the mold and slag removed....


All cleaned up. Next to the 10 oz bar..


So, started with 27 ounces of clean placer and my finished bar weighed 25.8 ounces.
I'm beginning to like this pouring gold bars

[Jim_Alaska]

Good job Dick, thanks for posting all the pics, it really brings life to what you are doing.

[gabbie]

wow nice job

[Lanny]

Great pictures, and nice sequence to show how it all happens.

You've done a great job so far. I've been around quite a few pours, and you learning how to do it so slick so quickly is quite the accomplishment.

Nicely done, and all the best,

Lanny

[chickenminer]

Lanny ... thanks but I have a lot to learn yet.
My thread is meant more to be entertainment than instructional.
Anyone considering melting their own gold should educate themselves by reading everything
they can and watching the abundance of great videos available.
Much to learn about crucibles, molds and the different flux mixtures available to achieve the required
result.

Great fun though and just another aspect of mining.

For anyone considering buying a furnace in the future I would highly recommend
the Devil Forge furnace. Many models/sizes to choose from.
He is based in Lithuania, but has great prices, free shipping and his packaging is excellent!
http://devil-forge.com/

[Micropedes1]

Thanks, Dick. My old home-made one is about shot. Glad to find another

[Lanny]

Depending on whichever chemicals you add to the flux, they can be hard on the furnace lining. So, that's an issue you'll need to watch carefully.

All the best,

Lanny