Casting experimentation

I have cast .935 Pro Casting Grain, .935 Regular Casting Grain & .935
Scrap sheet & wire left over from the semester. Here are the results.
The raw castings show the most difference as the Pro is the whitest.
The Pro casting grain is definitely whiter directly from the flask.

After pickling, you can see a slight difference in color between the
three. After wire brushing and polishing, it is very difficult to
tell the difference. I cleaned, polished and prepared to granulate
on the castings.

I then granulated on each with equally successful results. I first
coated each with yellow flux, added the granules, then fused on a
charcoal block as usual. There seemed to be no difference.

The liver of sulfur patina was very slow to blacken the Pro. The 935
darkened rapidly and immediately turned black. The scrap was a bit
slower and went through stages of golden colors before turning
black. The Pro took over twice as long to achieve the dark black as
the other two did.

Results were pleasing as I continue to use ALL of the scrap I have
as long as I have not soldered. I have previously hammered and
formed scrap from an ingot cast into a charcoal block and had very
successful results.

  1. Direct from casting flask
    http://www.ganoksin.com/ftp/IMG_3105.jpg

  2. After Citric Pickle
    http://www.ganoksin.com/ftp/IMG_3100.jpg

  3. After wire brushing
    http://www.ganoksin.com/ftp/IMG_3082.jpg

  4. After granulating and Polishing
    http://www.ganoksin.com/ftp/IMG_3080.jpg

  5. Liver of Sulfur Pating
    http://www.ganoksin.com/ftp/IMG_3068.jpg

  6. Finished after polishing
    http://www.ganoksin.com/ftp/IMG_3065.jpg

Ronda Coryell
Jewelry Studies Intl, Austin, TX

Hi Ronda,

Thank you for doing, and sharing the results of your Argentium
Silver casting experiments! What casting system did you use?
Centrifugal? Or another? It is really that you are able to get good
results with clean scrap, both casting and pouring and rolling
ingots!

Warmly,
Cindy