https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax_method - Interesting

[johnnysau]

Found this method of melting with borax. Theres a video from Phillipines too.
No toxic mercury use!
johnnysau

 

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[KevinInColorado]

Yup, works even better if you add a little silica sand too. Also, preheat the borax then add to the gold. Borax has water in it so it can pop like popcorn when initially heating...and throw your gold out of the crucible

When cooled, the borax/silica will have absorbed impurities from the molten gold and will shatter easily off the gold. (Wear safety glasses)

 

[DeepseekerADS]

This was pretty interesting, so I looked on Youtube to see if there were videos on this subject. This looks like the Filipino video OP watched.

 

[Duckwalk]

I did a good bit of blacksmithing in my teen years. in modern blacksmithing Borax is used to remove the oxygen and some impurities to allow for what is called Forge Welding (binding metal together using a forge instead of a welder). Using this method i made tomahawks. knifes, Damascus steel etc.

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

I like this. These methods are very under utilized!
As old and simple as melting metal is very few people have done it!
I got my start tossing empty cans into a 55 gallon steel drum.
We would make bum fires all winter and toss our cans in well, the can. After several hundred cans over the course of the winter we had a 20lb block of MESS!
This we remelt and get hot, about 1500 degrees. The bars we poured were so cool.
But we didnt sell any to dumb friends as silver... As easy and dumb as some of my friends are lol!

 

[SierraMadre]

All gold smelters use borax and have for years. Has nothing to do with using or not using mercury

 

[AuSomeness]

I love this kind of stuff and wish I had more space to try out making metal bars. Good thread!