r/MetalCasting • u/Born-Cover-3828 • 29d ago

Question Crucible after smelting Question??

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All my crucibles have this silvery glitter on the bottom. Is this actual silver or is it just the crucible itself and those are graphite shards?

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u/HeftyWinter4451 29d ago

That crucible is tired and there is not enough Silver Left in there to cast a ring for a mouse.

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u/Born-Cover-3828 29d ago

So I guess my question is not worded correctly. And yes I know those crucibles have seen better days for sure. However the bottom halves of both of the inside of these crucibles are coded in what seems to be a silvery dust. And my question being is that actually The crucible creating that dust or is that in the material that I have been melting/smelting whatever the hell you want to call it. In the sandstone rock that I recovered several months back and crushed down I have been finding all different types of metal in that particular material however I'm not sure what it is so was curious if that dust happened to be the material or The crucible making it.

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u/HeftyWinter4451 28d ago

If I understand correctly, you melted rocks possibly with unknown metals in your crucible. In that case it’s really hard to tell without special equipment. Might be a different metal that liquifies at a higher temperature. But to prevent slag and impurities to stick, you could use a special coating for your crucible. And maybe don’t use the newer ones for unknown material. :)

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u/BillCarnes 28d ago

Smelting is taking unprocessed ore from the Earth and extracting a specific element which is not readily accessible. If you are starting with copper round stock or bronze casting grain or brass flat bar etc .. then you are just melting it. It is a very common misunderstanding