Ingot Casting Woes!

Yesterday I wanted to make a forged spoon so I needed to cast an ingot. After looking at some molds at the jewelry supply($99.00+), I thought ” I can make one of those..a couple pieces of plate and a clamp”. I already have a crucible for melting. Well, I’ve never done any casting but I’ve read about it a lot. So I made a very nice ingot mold! Only problem is I can’t seem to keep the metal from solidifying in the mouth when I pour! Three tries and still no ingot. So I found some soft fire brick from an old kiln and carved a cavity in it the right size and shape. And I could even heat it up. One thing about molten silver. It has about the consistency of mercury. Once it starts to flow it is somewhat hard to control. Especially if you aren’t used to it. Anyway, I got a very good pour and a very nice ingot, a little bit thicker than I wanted but I was happy! So I tried another, this time complete failure! ARGH! Full of inclusions and air! When I poured the first ingot I just let it solidify and on the second I thought if I heat it up again while still in the mold perhaps it will flow into all the little crevices of the mold. Well apparently it did! Quite well indeed! Still, after a little hammering to flatten it out I had a very nice little ingot all solid and shiny! How very satisfied I felt with myself, overcoming ignorance, lack of experience and bad luck. Now I was ready to simply  forge it into a spoon that everyone else would think had been made by an experienced silversmith! Ha!! After much hammering and  annealing I worked it a little too long and it got hard and cracked right in the middle where I was trying to narrow it! I began this process about 9am and now it is noon and I have the same silver I started with ready to melt again in the crucible! I think it’s time to take a break then I’ll try again tomorrow. I have learned a lot the hard way. With some luck and and a little humility I may yet attain success!  First , I think I’ll build my confidence back up by making some more earrings. I’ll try to remember to take photo’s as the work progresses this time, warts and all Se ya later.