So I did my first casting run. Did it go perfectly? Nope. Did I learn a ton? Absolutely.
I invested four wax pieces that I made, invested them and steamed the wax out, ran the flask through the burnout schedule in my kiln .... got my silver all prepped. Everything was going smooth until I fired up the Electramelt for the first time.
OH. MY. SMOKE. STINK.
Nobody warned me that the first time you turn it on it burns off the fiber top and absolutely stinks up the place. Even with ventilation and air filters going nonstop, my studio still reeked for DAYS. Vinegar spray for the win!
The flask was at casting temp, it came out of the kiln looking good and the moment I set it on the vacuum table and was ready to pour the molten silver into the flask...
Pop 💥
The breaker blew (HAHAHA!!!) Half expected.
Silver was already melted and it only took a second to flip the breaker & return to the studio, so I just went for it. I thought, "just go as fast as possible, let's do this!"
Well, that was the wrong call :) More than half the silver cooled too quick and never even made it into the flask. Instead of four pieces of jewelry, I got one adorable little kiln fairy, which was the start of the wax tree. The molten silver that didn't make it out of the crucible on the left, the start of my casting on the right. 
This lil guy is just chilling on my bench now. Gonna give him some eyes at some point.
And in true Courtney finding hearts everywhere fashion, the hole at the center of the pour LOOKED LIKE A HEART!
Now I know which order to turn my tools on/off so the breaker doesn't trip and I've done the entire process from start to finish at home now... so here is to going into round 2 more confident ... I'll keep you posted!
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