Temperature and methods of melting gold

Gold is the most expensive and most popular precious metal. Currently, it is from him that most jewelry is made. Many may think that the value and value of gold is exaggerated, but in fact this noble metal has excellent physical and technical parameters, such as strength, reliability, hardness, etc. Before entering the consumer market in the form of products, gold goes through several processing steps. One of the most important is the melting process. This is what will be discussed in this article: we will determine the melting point and possible methods, and also find out whether this can be done at home.

Gold is characterized by resistance, ductility, electrical conductivity, viscosity, low resistance. Thanks to these parameters, it has found wide application not only in the jewelry industry, but also in medicine, industry, and pharmaceuticals.

For to make jewelry, this metal is not only melted, but also mixed with other precious and not very metals, for example, silver. And you can mix gold with another element only in the molten state. Therefore, it is preliminarily melted in special laboratories using certain inventory and equipment.

Pure gold is called a precious metal of 999 samples, in which there are no impurities, and there are no ligatures. Its main difference is its softness. Even a pure gold bank ingot can be easily scratched with a fingernail.

The melting point of gold is one of the physical and mechanical properties of the metal. This indicator determines the maximum temperature at which the metal begins to melt. Gold of a certain sample is characterized by its melting temperature, but in any case it is quite high:

• 999 the sample begins to melt at t 1064ºС. Boiling point - 2947 ºС;
• 585 sample can be melted, reaching t 840ºС,
• 375 sample “floats” when heated to 770 ºС.

From the above information it follows that the higher the sample, the higher the temperature and the longer it takes to melt the metal. Each element that is added to the alloy lowers the melting temperature, with the exception of palladium. This metal, on the contrary, increases this indicator.

As for the place of smelting, absolutely all gold, except 999 samples, can be melted at home using improvised means. The thing is that such a high temperature, 1064ºС, can be achieved exclusively at the factory settings, in special furnaces.

Despite the fact that experts do not recommend engaging in such a process at home, they argue that it is unsafe, because a very high temperature is needed, there are craftsmen and amateurs to experiment. Today, there are 3 most effective methods for smelting precious metal at home:

• using a gas burner;
• in a special furnace for melting precious metals;
• using a microwave.

Let's look at each of them in more detail.

This is the most popular method of smelting precious metal. This is due to the fact that almost everyone has a gas stove. It is also worth noting that the combustion temperature of the gas is so high that gold melts in a matter of seconds. So, in order to melt the metal using a gas burner, you will need to purchase the following.

• Crucible - a special tank for melting. Its main characteristic is resistance to high temperatures. The crucible can be graphite or clay.
• Forceps - with the help of this equipment you can take hot metal, turn it over, move it. Tongs are made of heat-resistant material.
• Borax or sodium carbonate - These are special compounds that are used to clean gold. The thing is that before you start smelting, gold needs to be cleaned.

If you do not have a gas stove with a burner, it does not matter, it can be made at home from improvised means, but in this case gas will be the fuel. During the manufacture of a homemade burner, you can not do without:

• a sprayer, which is ideal garden equipment for spraying chemicals;
• can with a tight cover;
• air automobile pump or compressor;
• hoses;
• sealant.

After the burner is made, you can proceed directly to the process:

• treat the crucible with a prepared borax;
• put all the gold, the scrap you plan to melt in the crucible;
• preheat the burner;
• then the melting process begins, first of all, impurities begin to melt, and after that the precious metal itself;
• as soon as the alloy is completely melted, it needs to be poured into the selected container, the shape of which can be very different - it depends on what product you want to get;
• at the last stage, you need to cool the gold with cold water.

The process itself is quite easy and does not require much time.

This is another option that you can resort to so that at home, using improvised equipment, melt gold. Need to get:

• a crucible;
• forceps;
• flux;
• special stove.

You can purchase a melting furnace in a specialized store. This is a compact and powerful enough equipment. Of course, if it is not possible to buy a furnace for melting gold, you can make it yourself. But for this, you still need to buy a lot of material, spend time. Therefore, it is still better to find an inexpensive similar product in the online store. The smelting furnace may be electric or wood burning.

The process consists of the following steps:

• at the first stage, you need to heat the stove by connecting it to the mains or with charcoal to the desired temperature;
• prepare the crucible, treat it with flux, which is used as a borax;
• put gold in the crucible and place the container on the furnace.

Metal during heating of the crucible will begin to melt. The process then proceeds as described in the previous method.

To conduct an event for melting gold in the microwave, you also need to pre-prepare all the necessary equipment: a crucible, borax, and a microwave. You will also need to buy a special melting chamber - a special device that is used for melting gold in the microwave.

It is also worth noting that for this method, not any microwave oven is suitable, but only one in which the magnetron is located on the rear or side wall of the device. In no case is it allowed to use a microwave oven, the magnetron of which is located on the top panel. The process of melting a precious metal in a microwave consists of the following sequence of actions:

• treat the crucible with brown and put metal in it;
• then the crucible is installed in the melting chamber;
• the camera is installed in the microwave and covered with a lid;
• then the device is connected to the electrical network, installed with a power of 1200 watts.

You just need to carefully monitor the process, since gilding is usually an alloy of silver, nickel, copper and palladium, and there is very little gold in such products. Therefore, the melting temperature and time will be less. We want to give some useful tips that are sure to come in handy if you decide to melt the precious metal at home.

1. Instead of a crucible, you can take ordinary raw potatoes. It is necessary to take a vegetable, the size of which will depend on the amount of gold for smelting, and make a recess in it. It is in it that the metal will be placed. Potatoes withstand high temperatures.
2. Be sure to clean the gold before melting it.
3. It is advisable to familiarize yourself in detail with the parameters and physico-mechanical properties of the metal.
4. The main thing - no matter what method of melting you choose, do not forget about your own safety. This process is quite traumatic, so be sure to purchase safety glasses, a mask, an apron, gloves. These funds will help protect the body, skin, eyes from possible injuries, burns.
5. When choosing a crucible, you must always consider what maximum temperature it can withstand.
6. A microwave oven, if you have already used it as equipment for melting gold, is no longer recommended to be used for domestic purposes.

If you decide to seriously engage in gold melting, for example, steel as a jeweler, it is best to purchase special equipment and inventory that is designed specifically for this process.

The following video demonstrates the process of melting gold at home.