On Sunday, January 5, 2014 11:39:54 AM UTC-5, Bainbridgita wrote:
On Saturday, January 4, 2014 2:42:56 PM UTC-5, Paul K. Dickman wrote:

"Ignoramus4065" wrote in message



...



Paul, I thought that the most appropriate method for gold casting is



graphite molds.







i







Graphite is used for quick and dirty ingot molds, but the industry standard



for ingots is still cast iron.



Years ago it was common for a goldsmith to use a simple method like sand



casting or cuttlefish bone to produce a rough casting that would then be



completely recarved by hand into the finished product.



This required no equipment other than fire and a crucible.







Equipment and investments for lost wax casting have evolved to the point



that they are within the reach of small shops and it has completely taken



over the industry. Properly done, you can go straight from investment to



buffing wheel with little hand work and a high retention of detail.







Paul K. Dickman



Thanks so much for responding! So it wasn't just made up in my mind. It sounds as if it was a very poor method to choose, (loss of gold in the sprue) but not impossible to do (crudely) in sand given what we had in our metal shop class in the 1980s, so my memory isn't totally failing me.

As I remember it, all he was making was a rather small heart charm. It was open, and meant to be the big loop as a clasp. But it was big enough to be a charm or decoration in itself. I have a feeling he would have taken the sprue with him knowing what he knew about gunsmith work from his grandfather and what with the value of any leftover gold would be in the 1980s. Or maybe not. Maybe a 17 year old wouldn't care or know. I recall the shop I think had two types of sand. One looked black and one looked more like regular sand? Can't remember what he used. I think we used metal canisters for casting figurines.

Gosh, this site is bringing back so many memories! I remember there was a lot more that came afterwards, after he cast the gold charm, but I can't remember what. We were all sort of in awe, I think, that someone was attempting to actually melt down an actual piece of their own gold jewelry (a cross, I think, no less) to make something else. (For a girlfriend, no less.) Wait. Now I am remembering that I think his grandfather had *been* a gunsmith, but had passed away. That was the deal. So, he was a lot more confident than the rest of us with this sort of thing. And he had been around his grandfather's equipment/shop. But I think any finishing he did--which I don't remember the exact steps of-- but I do remember we were all like an audience. Because it was sort of a big deal. Like a "pirate" or something, someone working with real gold. Those steps happened in the High School metal Shop classroom. So we must have had the equipment for the finishing work. Pretty gutsy. (And again, shows you there was no supervision since teacher didn't notice.) Gosh, was there even a teacher in the classroom at all?

Most of us were just bending tin into boxes and learning how to solder. One very messed up kid who sat next to me lit his hair on fire, I remember, and I had to awkwardly tell him (he didn't know at first) and then help him pat it out. Smelled absolutely disgusting. (Again the teacher did not notice.) He wasn't burned, since he had a lion's mane of hair. He just lost like half of the lion's mane on one side. It became yet one more of the smells I remember of the metal shop classroom.