You can buy a crucible from Rio Grande for about $15 which you can melt your metal in to cast.

Hi bgold110,

I'm not sure what you consider 'small'. I have a 1kg Rio Automatic Melting Furnace. I bought it from Rio Grande for $500. I use it for bronze, fine silver, & sterling silver, and it works really well. I bought it because my acetlylene/air set up wasn't really hot enough to melt metal efficiently. If you have an oxy/gas torch, using it with a clay/silica crucible would be the most economical way to go. Also, Tim McCreight's "Practical Casting, A Studio Reference" gives instructions for homemade setups for melting metal.

Peggy

Hi bgold110,

Another thought on this subject: Before I bought my little furnace, I used a small Paragon Quickfire kiln attached to rheostat from a soldering iron (this allowed me to control the amount of current), with a graphite crucible. This worked reasonably well - heating up took a while & controlling the temps was a little tricky.

Peggy

Hello,
www.foundry101.com has furnaces starting at $265.
Their furnaces reach 2400F and melt gold, silver, bronze etc.
Have a lovely day!
Donna

Still interested in buying? I have one for sale that has hardly been used. My grandpa bought it but his health has declined and can't make jewelry anymore. I can be contacted at mybabyfazzo@hotmail.com.