Is There Loss When Melting Copper?

I wanted to know if there was any material loss when melting copper, so I tried it. The results were quite surprising! This was my second time melting copper and I learned a lot, including how long it takes to melt a batch of copper. I was able to film some of the molten copper even though my camera isn't the best. Red hot molten copper looks amazing!
The time stamps from my cameras are wrong. Guess I should figure out how to turn that off? Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video!

[@JsStack]

Just found your video while scrolling through my feed. Good video. The ingots look great. I scrap and melt metal also. Copper is my favorite.

[@maverickmeteor]

Thank you. Yes, copper is quite nice. I like that it pours clean with little or no slag, unlike aluminum. But I still love aluminum :-)

[@lewisgiles8855]

Word of caution when lifting with pinchers, eventually when the crucible weakens it will snap on the edge and you'll dangerously lose your contents. It happened to me when I was using a nice pair of channel locks. I was careful as can be but the silicon graphite was just wore out from many uses, I lost several pounds of copper, almost burned a nearby friend in flip flops and left a nice beauty mark on the driveway.

[@maverickmeteor]

Thanks for the tip. The pincers were a disappointing buy from Amazon. I wasn't too worried on this melt though because the crucible was quite new. I will, however, be upgrading my lifter as soon as I can.

[@Cornish_Co]

I'm glad to hear you dodged a bullet with your driveway spill. I had a hinge pin fail and a full crucible of aluminum bronze spill. I wasn't so lucky... I posted a video from my security cameras if you're interested.

[@xlerb2286]

Back in the stone age when a friend and I did bronze casting we had a hinged cradle I suppose you'd call it that we'd lower down over the crucible in the furnace and the two arms of the cradle would close around the crucible allowing us to lift it out without putting any stress on any one part of the crucible. From there at first we'd set the crucible in a casting ring to hold the crucible for the pour but it was easier and safer to just use the cradle. Even a new crucible is so darn fragile when hot that grabbing it with pincers is risky. Another tip to help with spills, over a layer of sand lay down a floor of hard ceramic brick (not concrete brick) leaving a gap of about a half an inch, maybe a little less, between them. That way when (and it is "when", not "if") you have a spill most all the metal will escape into those gaps instead of splattering around too close to your feet.
Love the copper bars you made. Copper is my favorite metal. The colors you get with it are all wonderful.

[@robk1310]

One thing you should do ASAP, get some refractory cement Rigidizer and coat your insulation blanket in the furnace and under the lid. Every time you melt, small fibers get blown off and are toxic to breath. Even though you are wearing a respirator, your blanket should be rigidized. It was the first thing I did before firing up my Devil Forge for the first time.

[@maverickmeteor]

It's hard to see in the video but the wool is 100% coated with a hard ceramic so no fibers can blow around. Thanks for the comment.

[@patrickschoenpflug]

I really love copper when melted great video, word of advice when melting metal it’s best to cover your gas line or else a spark could land on it and you know the rest👍🏻😊

[@adrianbellamy5060]

1st time I've seen someone wear all the safety gear for a backyard pour I'm knocking it .

[@ProductionsLightMike]

You should have weighed the crucible as well as the copper b4 the melt. Show that there was no copper left in the crucible....nice video.

[@eleazarmartinez5963]

Very enjoyable video. Like your style very much. Keep it up and keep inspiring! Cheers sir! 🥂

[@maverickmeteor]

Thank you!

[@michaelphillipsBoogie1]

Just started my own

[@philipromeo8028]

From the looks and sound of the furnace your propane was set a Lil bit too low and your air choke could have been opened up alot more I think if you do that your melt time would decrease. The bars came out awesome. And copper wire is real clean to begin with. Good job

[@maverickmeteor]

I'm glad you enjoyed the video and thank you for the constructive comments! I'm always happy to learn more.

[@TheJacob1971]

I must be doing something wrong... I have waited over an hour for it to start melting!

[@lewisgiles8855]

Hmm, was there good space between the crucible and furnace wall?

[@hpdepasse5997]

very little loss in corrosion and humidity, because this copper is very pure, the loss would be greater with brass, the zinc goes up in smoke (toxic).

[@normanmeredith6889]

I'm was just wondering if you put your mold on a grate or some way to get air under the cast and it should cool down faster

[@maverickmeteor]

You are right, I could use other methods to cool the molds/ingots faster. I might try some different ideas in a future video.

[@JoeTomicki]

your melter jet vaps it into the air

[@ibblecabibble]

so a loss of 0.01 or in other words and a symbol 1%

[@ManiAftab]

I wanna melt copper oxide to make pure copper metal suggest me good way.! On gas and oil furnace my recovery is 30%

[@maverickmeteor]

Hi Mani. Sorry, I've never smelted copper oxide so I don't have any suggestions for you. If you make a video about it I'd like to see it. I like melting copper electrical wire because it is already %99+ pure.

[@ManiAftab]

@@maverickmeteor I'll make the video for you.!