Finally got around to casting a silver ingot...

Ok...here's the story...casting ingots is not supposed to be very difficult. Hubby and I tried our hand at casting some of my scrap pieces of sterling into ingot so I could roll it out in the rolling mill and turn it into sheet, which I can then use to turn into backings for my pendant settings. You know...the thought of recycling my old silver bits was very attractive...or so I thought until I actually started the process...all I wanted was sheet metal to solder bezel wire to and off to the races I go setting all my cloisonne pendant pieces.

Not. So. Fast.

It's not that easy. I don't know what happened or what went awry, but we attempted casting 2 ingots. I have a brand new ingot mold - never used. We heated the metal in a little flux coated whisk type crucible - the same as a lot of jewelry people use. We heated this little ingot mold, heated the silver and the first one we poured was pretty much ok...it went fine...the metal went down into the mold and it was actually a usable piece of silver billet that needed very little to trim off prior to rolling. Second one Hubby tried his hand at pouring and I think he might have wiggled a bit when he poured because the silver left the crucible but most of it went to the OUTSIDE of the mold and it was not quite what we were going for. Oh well...good thing it can be melted again, right? I am going to try using the electric melt crucible next time and just use the torch to keep the ingot mold warm...I have a feeling that THAT might be the way to go.

Conclusions I have reached due to proceeding with this effort:

I have concluded that this method of making the sheet silver I need is tedious, at best, for me and I do not enjoy it as much as I initially THOUGHT I would. My sense of adventure has flown out the window once I started cranking the handle of my rolling mill on this one. Which is sad because I was so geeked about using my mill to smish the ingot down and make great things with the fruits of my rolling endeavors. Now, with my wonderful dose of a 50/50 failure rate, the reality is that I do not really LIKE having to stop and anneal and clean between every second or third pass through the mill. It's tedious...it's slow...it's, it's...NOT FOR ME!!! Perhaps I simply wasn't in the right zenful frame of mind to take on such a project.

BUT - this in mind - I did learn quite a bit and, although I no longer have the high hopes I had at the beginning about fabricating everything from scratch for my work, I am certainly not saying that anyone else reading this shouldn't go ahead and give it a try. I think the IDEA of making every single component of your work from scratch, including the sheet metal, is very romantic and I think it's a great learning tool. I have come to the conclusion that Camille is a very spoiled girl when it comes to convenient jeweler type commodities...and I like it this way. Am I worse off for the experience? No - definitely not. Will I try it again? Something in my heart says yes...I will try it again when I'm feeling a bit more calm and serene and feel I can become one with the flowing metal. I will try it again.

So, if anyone else wants to have the experience of making every part - and I mean EVERY part - of the fabricated metal pieces they need for their projects, I say go forth - do your best - have a great time - and take from the experience what you can and use it where you can in your work. All I'm saying is that I don't think it's for me. I, myself, will keep on keepin' on, enjoying my purchases of what I need in all it's pre-fabricated glory. Ok...call me a spoiled lazy girl, but I just think that the extra time, for me, would be better spent making something else. But I must add, my thrifty side will keep the scrap I have and use it to cast with instead...a much better plan in the long run, if I do say so myself.

Anyway - other than this, not much is happening at the bench. I have my cloisonne gems lined up and I've been fabricating bezels for my earrings...pendants are next in line. I am also patiently waiting for all my china paints to arrive so I can start painting on a few enamel pieces to learn a few new techniques. And whiskers...I need a decent overglaze for painting my whiskers on my pet portrait cloisonne pieces. But, my yen right now is just wanting to learn and try something new. Right now, I feel like I really need to stretch my brain and my comfort zone a bit - hopefully with a favorable outcome. I have to admit that I am a little concerned about my drawing and painting skills...it's been a long time since I've done either so I don't know what to expect but I guess that is all part of the purpose and challenge of attempting something new.

With that, I will sign off for now and hope that you all have a great day today! Thanks for stopping by...I promise to have pictures next time for you!