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  for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Bronze smithing question

I am indeed preparing to smith bronze, and a good friend of mine pointed something out to me. He said that when you smelt something like bronze that all the inpurities in the metal make their way to the top of the object of bronze you're making. I was kind of surprised by that fact and was wondering if it was true, could someone clarify that as to true or false? I failed to mention that I will be going to 8th grade after summer break.

Justin L
- Oak Grove, Missouri
2005

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It's probably more or less true, Justin. If you were to shake sand and little bits of straw into a bottle of water then let it settle, the sand will fall to the bottom and the straw will float to the top. If you melt a metal, turning it into a liquid, the same general thing will occur with most contaminants that are in it.

But you can scoop most of the straw off the top of the water, and decant most of the sand off the bottom before you freeze the water into tasty popsicles. And you can scoop most of the flotsam off melted metal before you cast it.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2005