All this BS over a 30buck crucible? Even if you told him that thing was suppose to be pink when heated, he should have given you the money just to make you go away. Dumb business decision. The manager must have actually been the janitor. Stick with morgan.
It is a Morgan crucible and those Jack Whads are retailers of their products. I may very well give MAM a call tomorrow just to let them know how their retailer is handling customers.
Wishing I had seen this thread two days ago. OCD, you don't speak very highly about the Co. I just bought my first graphite crucible from. I'm already apprehensive about mishandling it. I hope I have better luck with them than you did. The pic above is the instructions that came with it. From what I gather from this thread, I shouldn't season it in the manner PMC suggests.
I must say, when I first saw the picture you posted, fluxed or not, I had my doubts whether that was an MAM crucible. There are many counterfeiters selling imported crucibles with Morgan labels. Is this PMC? https://pmcsupplies.com/ Although they do list an MAM crucible here, they do not List MAM as one of their brands on their home page which I think is strange if they really are an authorized retailer. Is it possible what you were shipped was actually the one pictured to the left of the MAM at the link below. If you look at Chancre's post, it says its a "#4 6Kg ProCast Foundry".....not MAM and I'm thinking if that instruction was on the outside of the box you received, it's a low cost Asian or Indian import not the MAM, even if they slapped an MAM label on it.......which is happening all over eBay and Amazon as well I suspect. Did you pay the "ProCast" price or the MAM price? https://pmcsupplies.com/casting-supplies/crucibles Hard to tell for certain from the picture but as far as clay graphites go, the one pictured appears to be heavy on the clay and light on the graphite and I would say that "seasoning" procedure is an attempt to create some molten metal resistance that should intrinsically be there if it was really an MAM and it would probably not conduct heat as well as an MAM. If you really want to cause problems for them tell MAM they are selling other crucibles represented as theirs, if you think that is indeed so. Best, Kelly
I’ve never been the type to cause undue problems or issues but they (PMC) flat out did not stand up and correct an issue which they caused. It wasn’t a matter of ? $40ish for the crucible. It was a matter that they were including incorrect instructions for curing the MAM crucibles and in doing such should have without question “Replaced” the crucible without any question what so ever. They spent more time on the phone when I called them Heing & a Hawing and doing everything under the sun except just saying, Sir, we are very sorry for this mishap, we’re sending you a new one. THAT did not happen. Instead the very opposite happened. Oh Well, they will never see another cent of mine. And yes, I paid MAM pricing for not only the A6 but also purchased a A12 directly from them before all the improper curing procedures became apparent. I’m away until next week but will attach a pic of the actual crucibles when I get back. They both came with a sticker glued to the side and they both appeared to be OEM crucibles.
Chancre, I’m on my IPhone and just noticed your post, Missed Kelly’s mention of crucible specifics. THAT is the exact same instructions they sent with mine but mine was a MAM crucible. My A 12 Did not come with those instructions. I personally spoke with MAM and they said “Do Not Flux Cure” the clay graphite crucibles. Kelly is correct in his observation. If you paid for a MAM crucible and the tag shown is indeed what you received you definitely need to be calling MAM and reporting PMC. To my understanding from what I have gathered, the only crucible which may require a flux treatment prior to initial usage is, and don’t quote me on this, is a crucible for ferrous metals. I guess jewelers flux their small precious metal crucibles prior to useage as well.
If you have the space and the concern, a craigslist used oven is really the way to go, for $200 you can get an old beater to sit in the corner of your shop, keep your crucibles in it(storage) and set it for 400 for new crucibles, and keep it at 250 the night before pouring, if it is going to be a while between pours, place a Damp rid in it and wait for the next pour. V/r HT1 P.S. if you get a propane stove you can even share tanks and think of that handy range top for percolating coffee... I may have talked myself into this ;-)
