My son helping with Bullion.

WOW Proud dad moment.

He did very well. I would have definitely dropped it. You'll be fighting over the workshop now who's going to get in their first?

@Admin, what is the solution that your son is holding the silver in? And what is the next step?

He's doing very well. You'll have to build him a shed of his own - with or without spiders.

Periodic Table wrote:@Admin, what is the solution that your son is holding the silver in? And what is the next step?

It is called investment ( the solution you see looks like plaster with a silver button showing.. That button is where I poured the silver into that flask.

When in powder and when being in a vapour state, you must wear a mask as it is Silica based. NOT something you want in your lungs and I wont let my son near or in the workshop without one. We have several. But he calls that one ( his ) the breaking bad mask. LOL


Thank you everyone.

What happens now... well I will get photos soon. I just got out of the workshop after leaving both flasks in the bucket of water over night... and we will do a LOT of cleaning. We are cleaning up Gypsum . Yeah that is a fun thing NOT!

But we have methods and it is long and hard. Then I will cut off every piece of silver off of the Spru Tree. Then there is sanding, and you have to get rid of that Gypsum residue which is a pain. After that it will be sent to the assay office and then I will give it a polish.. and a final polish before it leaves here to X customer.

But there are still hours and hours of work ahead of us.. My son is going to help with some of the next stages... and in one of the flasks is something HE made for himself.... I just attached it to the spru. I am really really proud of him. Like any teenager, he needs to be motivated and when he is ready and excited he is one heck of a busy bee. Together we are unstoppable! I want my now 13 year old to get involved ( he has his own safety gear as well ) and then it will be just awesome. Currently I am teaching him the woodworking tools like bandsaw and sanders... and he is loving it.. He still prefers like his older brother STILL does... to use his Swiss Army knife to de bark , or shape or carve what ever you want to call it... sticks that he collects from walks. And he does it very safely. And he cleans his knife, and has learnt to sharpen them too. Again. so proud. of BOTH

@Admin, I appreciate your tutorials on your casting process. When you mentioned gypsum and silica as ingredients, I searched online and found that you use the calcium sulphate chemical system (gypsum, quartz and cristobalite) for your investment. And wetting, defoaming and reducing agents along with the addition of fibers. I'll never cast silver myself but it's interesting and fun to learn the process through you. And congratulations to your sons.

Periodic Table wrote:@Admin, I appreciate your tutorials on your casting process. When you mentioned gypsum and silica as ingredients, I searched online and found that you use the calcium sulphate chemical system (gypsum, quartz and cristobalite) for your investment. And wetting, defoaming and reducing agents along with the addition of fibers. I'll never cast silver myself but it's interesting and fun to learn the process through you. And congratulations to your sons.

Thank you, it goes back to historical times. And is amazing. how jewellery and other things were made... IE Egyptian times etc.
The silica is NASTY stuff in the powder form, and can kill. It can give you silicosis which is a long term lung condition. Similar to that of asbestos.

Safety is used at EVERY stage... I will be posting a picture of the 2 trees casted ( you only seen one being quenched ) but 2 of the 4 were casted with over 20+ oz of silver total.... Most of it will be re melted down and re casted but the pieces are tiny. I have found a few are already defective and will be re melted but that is expected.

Pictures to follow later today. I was going to do a video but it is a lot of work.

Alright, you can get a glimpse of 2 of the 4 flasks that we are working on. The next set after these are for the holidays. I know bit it takes soo long to get them ready

Jeepers @Admin, that's real intricate work for those themed trees and lots of silver to be used. The elephant and turtle are cute.

Periodic Table wrote:Jeepers @Admin, that's real intricate work for those themed trees and lots of silver to be used. The elephant and turtle are cute.

It is very intricate. I have already discarded a few. Now I am hoping to have at least 1/2 of them to finish. Time will tell. Each step can destroy the piece.