Sealing Crucibles

Hey Guys--I've had a real problem sealing up my crucibles when putting a sample in a furnace. My latest failure was trying Kaowool --the salt just disappeared. I have tried porcelain crucibles in the past but they tend to crack after a few times in the furnace and if the temp is too hot the lid will fuse onto the top. I haven't tried the quartz ones yet. Using a iron pipe crucible has proven unfruitful too as the threads tend to disintegrate and they are hard to open. I know there was a thread on this but all of the suggestions didn't work for me. Anyone else have ideas?

thanks in advance for your suggestions

Dear Brother,

Have you tried using a graphite crucible yet?? They are really easy to seal but the down side is they can pollute what your heating but the same thing also happens with iron crucibles as well......

As I am sure you know in most cases if it does get contaminated you can usually "wash" and "filter" that out using various methods.

I like using a vacuum type so you can get suction on the filter side......no real benefit though to other methods other than it does not take as long when using a vacuum type filtering system...

Really depends on your methods and setup as to which type crucible will work best for the job....

The ceramic ones are found pretty cheap so I always like to keep several on hand that way if one breaks it is not that big of a deal really....nature of the beast so to speak....your gonna break some crucibles no matter what....and the hotter you need the temp to be the more likely they can/will break....

The graphite crucible is probably the most durable I would say and as mentioned the plus side is that you can get a good seal on them pretty easily....

Cheers!
Bio

Thanks for your reply--I am using a graphite crucible now--that is the one I'm trying to seal with Kaowool--didn't work for me--I'm going to try a crucible with another smaller one inside--I found that other forum and it looks like it might be easy to seal one graphite crucible with another smaller graphite crucible--any other suggestions would be appreciated. thanks

May be you need a potter, so you should leave Bilbo and start with Harry! LOL
Ancient alchemist, here in Italy, always work with special "argilla", clay, and my teacher explained me about the certain percent of silice (chamotte en francaise), usually the 40%, that you need to made it refractory.

So you can google "calcined refractory clay"

And, of course, you can do it by yourself, in the shape that you like, using a simple kiln made by butane, some bricks and ceramic wool.

Couple observations,
The furnace Nick used had a lid that was filled with wool.
Merc recently said that the wool works, just put something heavy on top of it.

Thought I would share some observations I had this week. Been spending a lot of time in my garage-lol. Anyhow, I have determined that no matter what I tried I kept losing my salt. Frustrating? Yes. But I have a great little kiln that has a sensitive control knob. Once I took the temperature down a bit, I no longer lost my salt. Start low and go slow is now my motto. I once thought that no matter what temp I was at the stone would survive. When it is young you must start at a lower temp or it will "fly away". Good luck with whatever path you are using. I believe their are many paths to the stone. Some just work much faster than others.

Thanks for sharing

How long does it take, to get to 2000F? (just to know how slow/gradual you're going)

Nick said he increased the temperature on his kiln gradually, not sure if he did that to extend the life of the kiln or like you said its better to heat the crystals gently.

Pray--I'm doing a path that is not written down anywhere--it is of my own making derived from my interpretation of the alchemical symbolism. Going to 2000 degrees is not necessarily a goal I have. Finding the proper temperature is what was important. 2000 degrees may be good for multiplication but I'm not there yet. I think the key to success is not to listen to anyone else for a recipe. That's not alchemy. You will have to find your own way. Reflect on the experience you have, read the alchemical texts realizing that some may lie to you, some may hide important clues in symbolism, and some may state facts plainly that are vital clues but get overlooked. Study the substance itself. Not just in alchemical texts but in any form where information can be gained. I have found Wilhelm Reich even helpful. There are many variables to this work that when multiplied make it difficult for anyone to succeed by accident. Is your temp right, are proportions important, are you working on the correct subjects, is a natural fire more important than an artificial one, what colors will you actually see (is that symbolic), how do you know you are on the right path? These are all questions I have had to deal with and haven't necessarily answered any of them. My practical experiments are very young. I spent a lot of time trying to decipher what was truth from fiction which helped me tremendously. My practical experiments only started a few years ago but with some success ( I never use the word failure anymore). With every new attempt I learn something and eliminate variables. The best advice I can leave you with is read what everyone is sharing but take only what you need and find your path. The best advice I got from a friend is to remember that (for me) this is supposed to be full of fun, mystery and adventure. Once I found myself getting frustrated or became too serious about it, that is when I needed to step back and reflect on why I was doing this. Peace

There is no success in life without failure, the road to success if paved with failures, and you only fail when you give up. With alchemy, patience and faith keep us going. Some people need to fail before they succeed, some people need to fail more than others, some people take the short road others the long one. If you dont quit you dont fail.