How do I make the perfect copper bullion bars? - Devil Forge

In this video I will melt some copper and cast some perfect copper bullion bars. I had a slight slippery first pour, luckiliy no injuries happened.
Thanks for watching!
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See you next week!
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The Furnaces I use: FB1SB Devil Forge 4kg
The self made 10kg furnace I use with devil forge DFC burner: • Building the furnace -...
The lifter tong I use: • Making lifting tongs -...
I edit my videos with: Videopad video editor
Disclaimer: Please be aware that working with hot liquid metals is very dangerous! Do not try this at home if you do not exactly know what you do. I have done a lot of preparation and informed myself before I did my first pour.
If you do so, make sure to wear proper personal protection gear like a full face shield, a respirator, a dusk mask, fire retarding clothing or a leather apron, good protective and heat resistant gloves and leather boots. Make sure to work safe and use proper foundry tools.
Finally enjoy the hobby!

[@KF-bj3ce]

Heart warming stuff for a noble metal man.

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks!

[@scarlettardis2018]

Put a propane or mapp torch next to the moulds, just about where the tripod stand is. Then either make a stand, or buy one to hold it with the torch nozzle pointed downwards at the moulds. That way the torch will keep the moulds hot and ready for the copper and as you pour the copper it won't solidify at all until you turn the torch off. It will stop those layered ripples in your bar's. It's a jeweller's trick to get perfectly poured gold and silver ingots with no sanding. Just move your camera tripod back enough to not over heat and zoom in a bit. Hope this helps.

[@Metalstacker]

I wanted to do this with silver in the future. Will defenitely try it in my new shed :)

[@adrianmorning.1555]

I think the ripples look great

[@ArcaneTinker]

​@adrianmorning.1555 I do too, BUT I'm also thankful that someone took the time to tell me how to avoid them when I am after a smooth bar for rolling

[@BigPapiMark1]

Do you know any “jewelers tricks” that will prevent gases from being dissolved in copper as it melts.(Porosity). Borax hasn’t helped

[@sparksmcgee6641]

​@BigPapiMark1 inert gas pumped under the molten mass will help.

[@CandSMINING]

Great set up and pours. I think we all have those oops moments. Thanks for sharing some valuable tips brother.😎😎⛏⛏🔥🔥

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks for watching 😄👍🏻🔥🔥🔥

[@danaedwards5464]

nice ingots clean copper makes all the difference when it comes to great ingots

[@Metalstacker]

Yup, this is pretty clean metal.

[@Anamericanhomestead]

Most of my bars have lots of holes in the bottom. How do you prevent this?

[@Metalstacker]

Make sure to use good hot moulds and use copper as pure and clean as possible. Also make sure not to overheat the metal. Hope this helps! Let me know if it worked 😁👍🏻🔥🔥🔥

[@Anamericanhomestead]

@@Metalstacker I try and make sure the molds are plenty hot and all my copper is pure #1 copper. What do you mean by overheating the metal? The mold or the copper and how do I know if I did that?

[@Metalstacker]

Copper melts around 1084°c, the higher you have the temperature and the longer you have it at high temperatures, the more oxygen it will attract. You can use an infrared thermometer to determine the temperature 👍🏻

[@johnob9275]

I work for an electrical company and every other month they send me to go sell all the scrap wire, mostly copper. And they pay about 2$ per lb. I’m beginning to think I need to buy all that scrap from the company instead of selling to the scrap yard. Melt it all down into nice little fancy bars, sell it online and make huge profits? I’ll usually leave the scrap yard with about 3-6k$ that could make a lot of copper bars lol

[@Metalstacker]

Wow! Clean copper is valued around $10 per kilogram these days. You are on a Gold (copper) mine. Go for it my friend 😄🔥🔥🔥

[@PhilipRomeo69]

Nice job they look great a vid . One of you older vids I just ran across great job

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks! Hope to bring fresh content soon again 🫡🔥🔥🔥

[@steveciarico9824]

Great video. Sorry for your loss.

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks!

[@MmmHuggles]

@@Metalstacker I hate to hear when a pet dies. I lost two cats in the last year myself. Both died (about six months apart) from unknown illness. I still miss them. The oldest was with me over ten years.

[@OscarS__]

Great video. I would love to be able to learn more of these tips! I am just getting into this and am very happy to have found your channel. Sorry about your cat

[@Metalstacker]

Great to hear! Hope you will find enough material on my channel to get you started! New content will be released when I am back from my world trip 💪🏻🔥🔥🔥

[@michaelpaul721]

Subbed. Thank you my friend great video and educational. Sorry to hear about your cats

[@canyondan]

Great copper caper starring the Chicken gang. Very nice copper pour..

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks! Yeah the chickens are always very interested in what I do :)

[@williammcquiston2820]

those bars sure do look so nice a great pour

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks!

[@mikesimon5718]

Great job as usual. You get better and better. Hope you find your cat soon. Thanks for another cool video.

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks! We found our cat... but just a couple of days too late, she was too weak to survive :( We are devestated by the loss of 3 animals within a month.

[@mikesimon5718]

@@Metalstacker very sorry to hear about that my friend. I cannot imagine.

[@Sean-vs3se]

Top catman

[@dutchman0625]

Wat een supermooie koperbaren 👍

[@Metalstacker]

Ze blijven mooi he :) Langzaam lekker doorsparen, heb nog wat kilotjes liggen die omgesmolten moeten worden!

[@conorharford5117]

Nice. The bit at 9.50 was fun

[@Metalstacker]

Ah yeah, that tiny drop that fused in the bar, was pretty funny to see :)

[@JohnDoe-ny1wp]

Stack your firebricks "crossways" from each other. That way you can level the whole stack evenly instead of trying to level two stacks. Good job.

[@generalconsumer9520]

If you want perfect level you want as many sections for adjustment as possible. He built perfect for eye leveling, any closer you would need Rick Sanchez to design a perfectly level surface. *Perfect level known to cause vertigo and loss of sense of space.

[@Metalstacker]

I was thinking of that, maybe gonna try it, but I am also considering laying a bigger tile under my fire bricks so I can level out the tile under them :) Thanks for the tip my friend!

[@Metalstacker]

LOL, well thank you sir!

[@B00tyWarrior]

Honestly I think your ahead of the game. Right now feels like copper is super available but with it's industrial use exploding every year there will be less and less access to it in everyday items. I definitely thinks this is a metal worth loading up on now that will triple or quadruple in price in probably 2 decades

[@Metalstacker]

I hope so too my friend! For now it's just for fun, all the copper I melt is totally free. My goal is to load up the entire safe with copper, that will be a sight 😍

[@ConcretorumAzoth]

@@Metalstacker Certified leprechaun

[@generalconsumer9520]

Bright Copper looks awesome all cleaned up. Price aside, the metal is just nice.

[@Metalstacker]

Yeah copper is just awesome, my favourit for sure!

[@ThomasJamesArt251]

Excellent video my friend!!!!!

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks!

[@colerussell1780]

On a crucible that small pouring vertically is so much easier. I've tried horizontal pours too but always ends up with spills.

[@Metalstacker]

Keep practicing 😉

[@timsmith9645]

Awesome copper pour thanks for sharing

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks for watching!

[@timsmith9645]

You're welcome

[@rafalkrawczyk1426]

Great movie!

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks mate!

[@citylotgardening6171]

Great video , sorry for the loss of your cat friend

[@Metalstacker]

Thank you

[@ChrisW18]

Definitely some nice shiny copper bullion!

[@Metalstacker]

Yup! Thanks for watching :)

[@Hill-13]

Nice bars

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks!

[@ggbullion]

First of all, SUBSCRIBED... anyways, I'm more of a 999 fine silver guy-- but I absolutely love to see molten metal flow out of a crucible into mold and freeze. ❤❤❤ I have a decent-ish amount of copper (999 fine Cu, 98%, 95%, unknown scrap alloys); I gotta pour some soon.🤔 🔥😮 Question: Any major differences in Copper v. Silver when pouring, aside from the obvious like melting point?? (If you do fine Silver Pouring & are able to compare-- YT reccomend me your vid, first one I'm seeing) P.S. Does Copper, for lack of a better term, want to turn into sphere/ball when molten? Fine Silver definitely does lol. Just curious because of some oddly shaped molds I have. P.P.S. Love it, great to see another person doing the classic work of melting down & pouring metals.🔥 😏🔥 Write back if you have the time & keep it up, dude! Respect from Detroit! 😎

[@Metalstacker]

Hey there! Thanks for subscribing! I haven't had the pleasure yet to melt any silver. It's high up my list of metals to cast though. Have collected some 925 Sterling that will be cast into an ingot. It is not much however, so I will try to get my hands on some more 925, so buying a separate crucible and mold is worth it 😁 Now for the copper I'm not totally sure what you mean with your question, but if I compare it with aluminium wich tends to flow thicker, copper pours just like water. Just melt some copper and see for yourself 🤣 Currently I am in the last phase of building my shed, I will make fresh content soon 🫡

[@iamentrepreneur6060]

hi can you reply how much do you get paid for 1 kg of copper ????

[@Metalstacker]

I don't sell them but a kg of copper is worth around $8

[@3dguy839]

Hi Metalscrapper and fellow subscribers I had a question about furnaces I just bought a furnace, but it has 2 intake propane tubes going in 1 above the other And most all furnaces i see have just the 1 propane intake at the bottom Coming into furnace Will mine be to much I appreciate any advice

[@Metalstacker]

I think it depends on the quality of the burners how much BTU they produce. If they are comparable to the devil forge DFC burner that produces 180.000 BTU's you will have a more intense temperature in the furnace and you will probably get to the desired melting temperature faster. But as I said, it all depends on the BTU one burner of you set up produces. If one burner profuces 90.000 BTU, then two burners will have the same effect as one DFC burner. Hope this helps! Thanks for watching and enjoy melting metals 😄🔥🔥🔥

[@3dguy839]

@Metalstacker Thanks I appreciate it 🙏 😌

[@tyjani9844]

can you show us how you clean them

[@Metalstacker]

Just with a simple wire brush on a power tool :)

[@DKW-Biker]

Great job brother.

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks :)

[@BigPapiMark1]

Could you please answer a few questions for me? At what temperature do you pour your copper? Do you ever have porosity problems. If so, how do you prevent it from happening? Thank you

[@Metalstacker]

I pour it well over 1100 degrees Celcius, copper melts at 1080 degrees Celsius so have it well above that temperature to pour it. It cools pretty fast! No problems with copper and porosity so far. Zinc at the other hand though tends to be more brittle. I have air pockets in some ingots though! It's from used moulds. Using new moulds and a thin layer of boron nitride should give better results. I have not used boron nitride myself, but I will be using it when I will make some copper ingots in the future 🔥🔥🔥

[@williamcote4852]

Those copper bars came out great. I really love liquid copper, there is nothing better.

[@Metalstacker]

Copper is the best :)

[@Jake_7Collector]

Thank you for sharing! 👍

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks for watching 😃🔥🔥🔥

[@ChetanbhaiChosala]

Sir make a video acid proof copper

[@N3ctarin3_gang]

That first scene was painful😭

[@Metalstacker]

Yeah, especially with pure copper xD

[@raxtor3199]

Can we seperate nickel and copper alloy by melting?

[@Metalstacker]

It migh be if the nickel is not infused with the copper, both metals have a different melting point. If the metals are mixed into each other I think that it must be done with chemistry

[@raxtor3199]

@@Metalstacker with chemistry the process needs too much acids... its very dangerous

[@PowerKorrupts]

Nice copper bars! Always enjoy watching your videos.

[@Metalstacker]

Yeah copper is great! Thanks buddy!

[@markp2865]

What was wrong with the coin moldings? Did you make the coins in your safe with the same mold?

[@Metalstacker]

The coin mold was a gift from a fellow youtuber (@chatteronthewire) he was figuring out how to use a cnc for the first time. He gifted me this coin mold with channel logo 😄There is a flaw in the mold with too sharp edges, some coins come out perfectly, while others come out with a bad result. But I do not mind, they are very nice when they do come out on a good way and I love the mold 😃🔥🔥🔥

[@mattyal9347]

Irony is your audience makes your eggs while you make your nest eggs!😂

[@Metalstacker]

LOL xD good one!

[@donl4914]

Great Pour AGAIN!!!! The video was as expected, JUST GREAT!!!👍🏻👍🏻😆😆👍🏻👍🏻 Love Copper!!!!!!

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks, good to hear :)

[@mretherrobertwarner5123]

turn your center blocks opposite direction

[@riverboat28]

Where the heck are you finding copper bar that thick.

[@Metalstacker]

I never find any, but make my own 😄🔥🔥🔥

[@jaynedavis3388]

Those are pretty nice bars, I thought you had to be very experienced to get those smooth results

[@Metalstacker]

Sometimes the results are worse. I think it is experience and luck 😁🔥 thanks for watching!

[@flintknappingtools]

How do you de gas the copper

[@Metalstacker]

I do not degas copper 😄

[@jellocrackers9107]

How do you sell it? Like who would buy it from you?

[@Metalstacker]

For now they are not for sale 😁💪🏻🔥🔥🔥

[@TheJohnv1980]

How do yo clean them up?

[@Metalstacker]

With a wire brush on a power tool 😄👍🏻🔥🔥

[@ThomasJamesArt251]

Can I buy one of the larger bars???

[@Metalstacker]

Not for sale too bad 😉🔥🔥🔥

[@martinstreasurehunting]

How do you clean the bars?

[@Metalstacker]

I use a simple wire brush on an electric tool 😄🔥🔥🔥

[@davidmcculloch8165]

Thank you for all the tips and advice in your videos, I finally tried my first ever pour over the weekend having had the forge for nearly 2 years but not to courage to try it! (I was casting copper). I needed some advice on how to stop the ingots sticking in the moulds, I preheated the moulds up on the furnace and the first one came out very nicely, as did the 2nd but the 3rd bar stuck, and it took me a lot of effort to try and release it. I don't know if the moulds are supposed to be coated or perhaps they were too cold?? I'm totally new at this so any advice would be welcomed.

[@Metalstacker]

That is great to hear buddy! Molten copper has something magig hasn't it!? If you use cast iron molds, a little graphite powder should do the trick 😉 Enjoy the melts 🔥🔥🔥

[@MmmHuggles]

Forbidden Sunny D.

[@vaughndumas]

Lemoensap sowar! Ek het juis vandag ook ‘n bietjie koper gesmelt.

[@Metalstacker]

Aaah baie mooi! Hoe ging het smelten?

[@liamwilliams4297]

Good job. Plenty of practice. It's all you need

[@Metalstacker]

Jup, practice makes skills :)

[@user-raytgrant24]

Your Good

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks 🔥🔥🔥

[@hfpseudonym]

The forbidden orange juice...

[@Metalstacker]

Better not to drink that 😆🔥🔥🔥

[@alterego4218]

7.05 that's what's wrong with scissor pouring tongs - the simple loop on a rod is oh so much better and safer. The buss bar is great stuff but I would be a bit dubious of the Copper bar stock as it could be any of several alloys - chrome copper, cadmium copper, tungsten copper or even the dreaded and very dangerous Beryllium copper.

[@generalconsumer9520]

What's Beryllium copper about? Guess I could Google just never heard any copper "warning" like that. Like breathing in smoke from galvanized metals, etc.?

[@alterego4218]

@@generalconsumer9520 Copper Beryllium alloys typically contain about 2% Be. They can be heat treated in a manner similar to some aluminium alloys. They are - for copper base alloys - very hard and quite strong. Among uses were/are spot welding electrodes, and springs. Dust (from machining) or fumes (from melting) can cause berylliosis in susceptible people. Its a bit like silicosis and asbestosis in that it only attacks susceptible people (about 5% of population for berylliosis) but its maybe (maybe!) not quite as serious. I have and will never melt down any round copper bar stock - you just do not know what it is, and Cd copper is not too clever either as Cd is quite toxic. Flat buss bar Ok as its most likely pure HC copper but bar stock yeah - nah - stay clear unless you know for certain what it is. PS worse than zinc oxide smoke

[@generalconsumer9520]

@@alterego4218 Thank you truly! Thoughtful and informative. Good karma

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks for the comment my friend! I will be doing a huge project soon, I will buy an Salamander A12 crucible and will make a new pouring shank for that that will be much safer :) Yeah I mentioned 999, but too bad there is some layer on it... it is rather 995 pure or something :)

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks for the advise my friend!

[@billymacktexasdetective5827]

I wouldn't rely on something that required continued grip pressure to maintain a hold on a crucible filled with molten metal... Rethink your design, there are safer options...

[@Metalstacker]

Thanks for watching! I am currently building a shed, I will defenitely make better tools along the way in my hobby. The new workspace will give me more opportunity to make stuff 😁👊🏻🔥🔥🔥

[@antoniohinojos3808]

Thanks for sharing, didn't know how Snickers bars were made 🙂

[@Metalstacker]

LOL 😀👍🏻

[@timh.2137]

Um it does not look so perfect to me! Instead of being super flat and shiny it looks like you dropped a rock in a puddle then flash froze it!

[@Metalstacker]

That's exactly the charm of a poured ingot 😍 I know what you mean with a flat and shiny ingot, most of them are factory made, a soulles thing. I want to make a shiny polished bar one day for the fun, but that is not perfection for me. Everyone has his own defenition of what is beautiful ofcourse 😉 thanks for watching 🔥🔥🔥

[@ChatterontheWire]

that's some pouring skills! Takes years and years of practice to pull that off (and not have to change your shorts) And if that guy that made the coin mold knew what he was doing those may have turned out! :) I still cringe every time I see that nice cut in the corner from my mistake making it.

[@Metalstacker]

LOL well it is more that doing it more often makes you less afraid (or impressed) by the shear heat. I got some smoking hot gloves with these pours LOL. Trial and error mate! I bet you have progressed a lot in the mean time :)

[@rocksolid6494]

The copper bars are saying, "Help me! I'm melting!"

[@Metalstacker]

LOL, well they can rest assured they will be safe when in solif form again ;)

[@MetalMystica]

Amateur hour... lol.

[@Metalstacker]

Nice right?! 😃🔥🔥🔥

[@karledwards7167]

Yep 100% I reckon the chickens would do a better job. What about the spill at the begining AND what he was pouring over. Someone is due a visit to the EDU!!!!

[@Chris-hv8ph]

Did you use borax or anything? Also do you know what your pour temp was? Im using graphite molds aa well but i keep getting these porous holes in the bottom side that touches the graphite. Happens whether or not I heat the mold first. Any ideas?

[@Metalstacker]

I did not use borax or anything else. I usually have the temperature well above 1100 degrees celsius. To avoid those holes you could start with a new graphite mold and spray it with boron nitrite spray. I have not yet used it but will in the future for a perfect smooth look. The boron nitrite will perfectly seal the graphite so no air can be trapped in the graphite. Good luck 🔥🔥🔥

[@karledwards7167]

You are asking the wrong person. Now if you want to know anything about clowns and circuses fire away.

[@ChetanbhaiChosala]

Sir make a video acid proof copper