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Talking About Sculpting With Clay

Hi there, I’m Bennie Rue. Welcome. I am here to talk to you about making sculptures out of clay. When I started working with clay, I used rudimentary techniques to create my sculptures. Unfortunately, the creations did not stand up to the test of time due to a lack of knowledge about the right techniques to use. Over time, I discovered tips and tricks that helped me make lasting creations. I will use this site to share the knowledge I gained about properly using sculpting clay. I invite you to try out the techniques I share to create your own works of art. Thanks.

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Talking About Sculpting With Clay

Needed Scrap Gold Melting Tools

by Gloria Perkins

If you want to get into the scrap gold buying trade, then you may find yourself with a great deal of loose gold coins, necklaces, and other pieces of jewelry. In this situation, it may be best to melt down the gold and to place it molds or ingots. This is also a great idea if you intend on reselling the gold or if you want to create new jewelry items. If you want to do these things, then you will need some tools to help you. Keep reading to learn about some of the essentials that you should be purchasing.

Crucible

You obviously need a container to hold your gold as it melts down. However, you cannot simply use any old pot or dish. Gold will melt at a temperature of 1,948 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature is obviously quite high and this is surprising to some individuals due to the softness or malleability of the metal. 

Since the melting point is so high, you will need a container with a much higher melting or thermal breaking point than gold. Thankfully, there are quite a few materials with the properties that you need, and these materials are formed into crucibles. Crucibles are the containers that are used to hold metals as they melt and the ones for gold are made from silica, ceramic, graphite, aluminum, or quartz. Sometimes these materials are mixed together to create the container.

Crucibles come in a variety of shapes and sizes and the ceramic and ceramic mix varieties are usually quite inexpensive. This means you can purchase a variety of the ceramic crucibles if you are on a tight budget. You will need a pair of tongs to pick up the crucible while it is hot, so make sure the tongs fit the shape and size of the crucibles you pick out.

Flux Material

Most pieces of gold jewelry will contain some impurities or other metals that are mixed with the gold. This is also true of gold ore if you decide to buy this for melting purposes. When it comes to melting and molding gold, you do not want the impurities. This means that you will need to remove them and a flux material can help with this. There are several substances you can use, but the most inexpensive and convenient option is Borax. 

When borax is heated, it mixes with the materials in the gold and oxidizes them. They then break down and separate from the gold, and the impurities can be scraped away. Simply mix the borax with the gold in your crucible before heating it. Once you remove the impurities, you will need to heat the gold again before you pour it into your mold. 

Contact a company that will buy scrap gold for more information and assistance. 

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