Making Crucibles

by Vince Gingery

Melting metal requires the application of heat to a container containing the metal. The container we usually use is a crucible. You can buy high quality crucibles, or you can make them. Even if you buy the best commercial grades, they eventually wear out and sometimes break. If you build the necessary simple equipment to make your own crucibles, you'll have an endless supply of quality, low-cost units of exactly the size you need.

Making a crucible is merely a process of shaping clay into the proper shape and firing it. In other words, this is about making pottery.

You'll learn about how crucibles were made a century ago, making a PVC mold, clay composition, ramming up, firing the crucible, making crucible tongs, making a concrete mold, making a mold press, safety rules and precautions, and more.

The only fancy piece of equipment you'll need is a lathe to create the wooden mold. Vince uses his metal lathe, of course, but a wood lathe will do the job.

And like all other Gingery books, this is loaded with a disgusting number of photographs and drawings, with plenty of detailed how-to "thrown in" just for kicks. In other words, this is classic Gingery practical "how-to-do-it."

If you do nothing more than dream about pouring metal someday, I think you're a fool not to have a copy of this. It's good. Get one. 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 booklet 64 pages

No. 1551 ... $9.95