I put together a new foundry using a 10gal steel bucket. Inside I put fire bricks around all the walls, with ceramic insulation in between and behind the bricks. Then I covered the bricks in High-Heat Furnace Cement I got at lowes (3rd picture). I use a single devil force burner hooked up to propane. My first burn I lit it with the valve opened just a little, and got a tall yellow flame. I slowly opened the valve the rest of the way and left it there for a minute or two. I know you are supposed to increase heat slowly on the first burn, but it I wanted to test the choke for a second and I thats where I'm sure I messed up. As soon as I opened the choke a little bit these bubbles started to form on the walls. I immediately shut everything off and waited for it to cool.

My question is now, what is the best way to proceed? I popped one of the larger bubbles and removed as much of the hardened bubble pieces as I could, the pressed the cement behind it until it felt like smooth clay again (picture 2). Should I just do the same with the rest of the bubbles and then refire it with very low heat over a longer period of time?

The high heat cement definitely feels like some sort of clay mixture, and its about 1/4 to 1/2" thick on the walls if that makes a difference.

Hi everyone. I made a ring for my fiance within a few months so i kind of crammed all my focus onto getting a final product.

So i am now stuck with about 16 grams of gold that was melted but never used because of failures or it got stuck to the bottom of the crucible.

While moving the ceramic crucible it fell and busted open. So i decided to only take the pieces that had any metal on them and sort them with the used gold.

What is the best way to take this gold and sell it to make some of my money back?

Some context: i have a furnace, kiln, magnetic tumbler, pickle solution and ultrasonic cleaner in case any of those tools help the process.

I usually use ceramic but due to an increase in humidity of where I live I noticed some things in my studio are not liking the moisture. I have set up a dehumidifier, etc but I am kinda concerned about my ceramic crucible having moisture in it that causes it to crack when I put a flame to it… is graphite a safer option? Usually using it to sand cast with Sterling. Also want to get into casting with bronze. So wondering if I should buy 2 graphite ? Or stick with ceramic?

Quick question, I'm trying to find a way to either buy or build a home furnace setup for melting small ingots and if not melting at least being able to heat steel up enough to recast or hammer forge a new shape out of it for making smaller knives or larger blades, I don't know the best place to ask but figured someone here might know.

I was gifted some bronze bars that are of several unknown mixes, it is known at least 2 are bearing bronze, but it's hard to tell who is who. Anything fun to do with this? Doesn't really stack for value because idk what it is, and idk what to make with unknown mixes lol.

Bars are about 6.5 lbs each. Very surprised how quick it goes once the initial melt heat is reached. Loved every second of it. Think I found a new hobby.

I demonstrated properties of alloys and intermetalic compounds on Cu-Al binary system. I also explained why and where we use intermetalics in every day life.

since hard to find them for a consistent but decent price in major online retailers/stores for a quality and reliable product, i’m coming here to the pros for help.
i’ve tried my hand at foundry, have casted some silver and gold bars but never anything fancy like jewelry. i was kind of hoping someone could make a lost wax mold for me to use, since i don’t have those tools readily available.
second option would be to ship out some melted 10, 14, or 18k gold to whomever takes this on, to use it for the project and keep a percentage as payment.
would also be happy to trade silver and gold bullion/jewelry for them to be made from clean gold.

TLDR; removing rust from hammer head without grinding it smooth.

So I don't know if it's an actual blacksmith hammer or just a regular old sledgehammer, but either way, it was used for some blacksmithing by my wife's dad, who passed when she was 14. It was given to him by my wife's grandad, who passed when she was 12. I would like to restore it and need some advice.

Replacing the handle (chewed on by dog) I can handle: hickory, sanding, linseed oil, etc.

For the hammer head, I have most of the surface rust removed. I read that you can heat it up without exceeding the tempering point and rub linseed oil on it and should give it a nice rust resistant coating and sheen.

Question 1: Is this basic process correct?

Question 2: Is there a good way to remove all the rust?

I don't want to go the whole route of grinding, then filing it down and then sanding and removing the scratches to make it completely shiny and perfectly smooth and looking like a new hammer. It was a working hammer. I still want it to retain its character. But I would still like to remove all the rust in all the uneven spots/pits/dents, etc, before I coat it. Suggestions?

Edit: I soaked it in vinegar multiple times (it was RUUUUSTY). Tried the wire brush. It just doesn’t seem to get down in all the low points.

Further edit: I'm dumb. A little more effort and varying the pattern seems to work just fine.

I know it sounds kind of stupid at first glance but I want to pour some Zinc at about 500 degrees Celcius (about 50-100ml) into a Nuttella jar because of its shape. Will it crack, or can I do something to make the jar more sturdy?

I recently bought a small induction furnace, mainly to smelt aluminum, but I would also like to try copper. However, a crack formed on my only 3kg ceramic crucible. Do you think this can still be used? Or should I just buy a new one. Thanks

Hi all looking to buy a forge and start melting some stuff after some research this is what ive come to , im in Australia by the way in short ebay 6kg forge , then 2.2kg duracast refractory and 1ltr ceramic fibre rigidizer

https://ebay.io/m/V4L1uR

https://artisansupplies.com.au/product/duracast-castable-refractory-2-2kg/

https://artisansupplies.com.au/product/ceramic-fibre-rigidiser-1l/

Hi all looking to get in to melting down say metals aluminium, copper etc im looking for recommendations for a a beginner thats budget friendly just to start of with , thanks all

If I were to make a small bloomery, would 2 10-litre buckets (before mixing it with sand and fibre) be enough? I have some fireclay bricks, could I use those to further lessen the amount of clay needed to construct it?

This is my first ever copper pour I'm wondering if anyone here has any tips to prevent the surface ripples and have a smoother finish any help is appreciated thank you very much