old silver

UK Neil is back across the pond for a visit but not venturing to Texas this trip so I am finally getting around to mailing his custom ingot #13008 - to his stateside address.  Turns out I have three more of the 2013 edition one ounce ingots available.  One was a mis-stamp (used a Z instead of a 7) and the other two were reserved but never purchased and I need to figure out what serial numbers they are supposed to have before I stamp and finish them.  Perfect opportunity to try selling on Ebay for the first time.  88,94,67,0,C

blueberry

Two months of planning, buying, cutting, melting, pouring, sanding, stamping, polishing, and packing and I am finished.  The last of the ingot orders are ready to ship on Monday.  Nice to be able to offer some hand-made value rather than have a blog loaded with meaningless ads just to count on pennies per click-through.  Kinda at a loss now as when any major project wraps up.  I celebrated with a blueberry served with my special tiny spoon that was saved from the furnace.  What's next?  91,98,66,0,B,0

minty fresh

75,101,65, .11,B,0

Quality Control

Hmmmm...the ingots are selling a lot faster than I thought they would.  74 of the limited edition of 100 sold in the first 24 hours.  The ingots will start shipping on Friday in the order that payment was received.  A big CHEERS! to those who are supporting TFL and the Ben'n'Bud fund.  My boys will be well fed thanks to you.  I ordered more Benita postcards to include one with each ingot.  Note about VistaPrint:  Don't bother paying more for expedited shipping and handling  - I paid the cheapest price for S&H which they said could take 7 to 14 days.  I ordered them last Thursday and they arrived in the mail today.
Mr. Lizard has been on hand for each and every ingot pour - making sure the work zone is free of flies.
91,114,74,0,B,.46

Get 'em while they're hot.

castaway monday

Put 3 new ingot molds into service today.  Two of them are for finishing up the limited edition ingots (I have poured 80 so far).  Just for fun I tried out a coin mold I got from Canvasman34.  Gonna use it for gifts for family.  My custom Benita stamp is due to arrive on Wednesday.  85,102,69,0,W,.40

I think I got it

Fired up the micro mini for the first time today.  From a stone cold start, it takes all of 5 minutes to get yellow hot and melt the silver.  Had trouble with the first five pours - didn't fill the mold even though there was still melted silver in the top.  Suddenly something Canvasman34 said to me in an email popped into my head after my first success with the mold and that fork I cut up..."That is great that the mold worked with so little silver. Normally it needs twice the ingot volume to get a full pour."  I guess I got lucky with that first pour I did in my makeshift brick oven.  Added more silver and got 3 good pours in a row.  I was only using about 35grams for the failed attempts.  55 grams seems to work well. Turned my partial ingots back into nuggets and pickled the batch.

Got rain this afternoon!  60,95,62, .4",W,0