#3 6KG Metal Cap. MegaCast™, Foundry Clay Graphite Crucibles Black Cup Furnace Torch Melting Casting Refining Gold Silver Copper Brass Aluminum

I bought 2 of these for a propane fueled furnace. One for copper/brass and another for zinc/lead.BE SURE TO PREHEAT THEM BEFORE USING THE FIRST TIME. Bake @ 250 on a cookie sheet for about 2 hours.The first one has survived 10+ firings with no signs of damage. The zinc oxide from overheating brass didnt phase it at all. I flip them upside down and lightly tap them on a fire brick to dump the scrap/slag after pouring and have yet to even see a chip in the rim.The second one has survived 5 lead/zinc pours. I needed a fast pour rate so I took a triangular file and widened the spout. The graphite files away very easily.Comparing these to some other clay/graphite crucibles, it seems these have a very high graphite content with very little clay. Im impressed with the durability. There are no signs of crazing or cracking which would normally start showing up on crucibles with a high amount of clay.*NOTE* these will barely fit in a King of Random forge with about a 1/4-1/2 inch gap all around and you will need to use a pair of pliers to pull it out. Lifting tongs wont fit.

came fast and with clear instructions on box for seasoning BEFORE use. Graphite is meant to be used slow and steady, albeit, it doesn't take long to heat up. You MUST season crucible/heat treat it FIRST BEFORE YOU USE IT. if you do that, AND treat it with CARE AND RESPECT i.e GENTLY at all times, this will serve you VERY well. ive used mine on Several burns so far including a few Bronze/Copper pours AND its still going strong

Matches what the description

Solid crucible. Doesn't get hot quickly or stay hot for a long time. It seems to not retain heat when I pull it from the fire for my pours and takes a long time to reheat. The #6 foundry clay crucible has been way better. It holds double the aluminum and gets hot 3x faster. Holds it's heat for a better and more consistent pour.

Great price nice and sturdy does what it's supposed to

I haven’t had the crucible for more than a day before it broke. I was melting an aluminum can (which the product said it was able to handle) and right when the can started to melt, the whole thing just detonated for no observable reason. I had the crucible stationed in the middle of a propane fire pit, and less than 15 minutes on the flame and it just shattered, flung broken pieces all over, and almost splashed half-molten aluminum on me. In summary, this product broke less than a day since it was in my possession, I got too excited with it and heated it up too quickly.

The media could not be loaded. My son loves using this! He built his own furnace to melt the metal and needed a crucible. Before use, he had to put it in the oven at 300 degrees for one hour, then put it in his outdoor furnace for some time to cure it. Once that was done, it was ready to melt metal. He’s been melting aluminum cans and hasn’t yet tried any other type of metal.

We have fun melting beer and soda cans and pouring into a muffin pan to make fake coins for the kids to play card games with. Been using it for years now, so holds up to the test of time.