How to melt gold at home? You probably want to create a new design by melting gold as a jewelry artist or designer, or you want to melt gold jewelry from the comfort of your home. You will have to be careful when melting gold domestically and make sure the conditions are safe due to extreme heat.
How to melt gold at home
You can melt gold from home in the following steps:
1. Prepare the recommended tools
You need the right equipment to melt gold. You’d have to buy a crucible container to hold the gold as it melts.
a. Crucible
Graphite carbon or kiln-fired clay is what a crucible is usually made of and is stable at high temperatures, according to Thecrucible. They have been used in metalworking for more than 7000 years. Modern ceramic crucibles are often made of clay and graphite for durability.
You will need hot temperatures of about 1,943 degrees Fahrenheit (1064°C) to melt gold as that is its melting point. Of course, you don’t just use a random, strong container like the crucible for this.
b. Tongs
You’ll also need a pair of tongs to move and handle the crucible—heat-resistant materials are typically used in the making of tongs.
As a way of melting gold at home, you could use a potato to melt gold instead of a crucible (if you don’t have one). Just cut a hole in the potato and place gold in it.
2. Get rid of the gold impurities
You can remove impurities from the gold using a flux, a substance mixed with gold while melting. Flux is a mixture of borax and sodium carbonate.
From experience, I’d recommend you use the Waymil Borax Flux Melting Gold.
This is Borax is really good for glazing your crucibles and highly recommended for professional use.
If the gold remains impure, you need additional flux. Flux mixtures can be made with different formulas. One of the methods is a borax and sodium carbonate mixture, the kind recommended above. Add 2 pinches per ounce of clean jewelry scrap and more for dirty scrap.
The regular soda or bicarbonate purchased from the store works when melting gold at home. You’d get sodium carbonate formula when heated.
As the gold gets heated, the flux helps to remove the impure materials and hold the fine gold particles together. Add a pinch of borax into the hole in the potato before melting the gold (if you use the potato technique).
At all times, be careful of your safety. The heat needed to melt gold can be extreme.
If you have no experience melting gold, seek professional assistance. Find a safe place in your home, such as the garage or a spare room, to use for the procedure. A workbench to put your materials on is also important.
Get a pair of goggles and a face shield for facial protection. A heat-resistant pair of gloves for your hands and a heavy apron are also necessary.
Most importantly, gold should never be melted near flammable materials to avoid a fire.
3. Use an electric furnace
You can get small, high-powered kilns that are specifically designed to melt precious metals, including gold and silver. These electric furnaces are available in your local stores and online.
With electric furnaces, some of which are pretty affordable, you can melt gold from home. You will need the same equipment, such as a crucible and flux, alongside these furnaces.
The melting point will be lower if the gold item contains small percentages of silver, copper, or zinc.
Use a 1200-watt microwave to melt the gold. Microwave with the magnetron on the side or the back (and not the top) is preferable.
Get a gold smelting gold kit or kiln for the microwave. In the microwave, place the kiln on a kiln shelf. With the lid on the top, place the crucible holding the gold in a kiln to heat. However, after using the microwave to melt gold, it’s not advisable to use it for cooking food.
4. Consider other heat sources
Gold can be melted with a propane torch. If you are going to use a torch, be extremely careful. The gold should be melted in minutes though.
Use a crucible to hold the gold. Make sure to direct the torch toward the gold within the crucible after putting the crucible on a fireproof surface.
If using a propane torch, you might need to melt it at a lower temperature after adding borax to the gold.
If you have finely powdered gold in your crucible, avoid blowing it around and gently bring down the torch. You could also crack the crucible if the heating is too fast—heating it thoroughly and slowly is ideal.
In place of propane, gold will melt faster with an oxy-acetylene torch. Just hold the flame of the torch and slowly work in a circular motion well above the gold powder.
Work the torch in slowly once the powder turns red from heating until you get a nugget-sized powder.
5. Shape your home-melted gold
Get your melted gold shaped depending on your desired item. Shape it into a gold bar or try to make an ingot.
Before your melted gold gets solid, pour it into the ingot mold or any available mold and allow it to cool down. Finally, do not expose the heat sources to children and pets.
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