[Pre ANN] Vulcanalia Mint Physical BTC and more

[Hhampuz]

This is a seriously huge undertaking.

Good luck to you brother!  

Thanks Smoothie, I have a huge amount of respect for you and Lealana. When I was thinking of a name for my mint, I was thinking about the successful coin producers, Cas, and Lealana. I then decided that in order to be successful, my name must be difficult to spell. Casascius is the most successful physical coins, and no one can spell it, so thats proof enough! Lealana isn't too bad, but that might just be because I've seen the name spelled as many times as I've seen the word, the.

One quick Q.

Will you accept orders from customers for custom coins? Or will you try and finetune everything until you are happy with the process before opening up to that?

I will take custom orders for custom coins, but I am going to hold off doing so until I've figured out the limits of my new machinery and I have some prior work to show.

Sounds smart. Looking forward to it

[Emerge]

Damn, definitely going to wait for your custom orders to be up

[SaltySpitoon]

So its probably way too early to do my daily update as the day is just beginning, but I'll begin it anyway and add to it throughout the day as needed.

• 3D printer arrived today, and setup is beginning
• Legal research underway for my BTC pocket change idea
• Furnace construction is nearing completion

Apparently in the US, you aren't just not allowed to replicate US currency, but there are certain laws in place about producing currency be it that of an existing country or not. Seeing that BTC already exist, and my plans are just to create a more physical medium, along with a few other things, I'm not too discouraged at the moment, but there are a couple of loose ends I'd like to tie up before I accidentally get myself in trouble. That said, the BTC pocket change idea hasn't even started the design process, so I have a bit of time to figure it out.

I've got a very hectic week ahead starting monday, so if I give more updates, they will probably be brief. By the upcoming weekend though, I should have a bit of progress to actually show.


Edit*

3D printer setup and calibrated. Heres the little traffic cone test that I printed. Instead of a traffic cone, imagine thats a coin/statue. It would then be put into a plaster investment flask, fired for ~6 hours until the plaster hardened and the plastic melted out, a crucible of 1700+ degree metal would be poured into the now vacant space, with help from the vacuum casting table, and after cooling finishing procedures would begin.

I actually found a video of someone making jewelry that shows how this will work pretty accurately.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4vSYcYwdNU
of course, some things I'll just be able to cast repeatedly into the same mold rather than having to make each piece one by one. This is just the way to get the most detail.

[SaltySpitoon]

So as I said, hectic week so don't expect too much in terms of updates, but I will share something today. I received a package of germanium and an Argentium silver spoon. Since I've mentioned it quite a few times, and I doubt many people know about it as its a pretty uncommon alloy, I figured I'd share a side by side picture.



So the coin is .999 pure silver, the spoon is 92.5% silver, 1.2% germanium, and 6.3% Copper, and the black substance is Germanium. I don't really have much for photographic equipment, the picture was just taken with light from the skylight in my kitchen on my phone (with no flash).

Argentium is 7-8x more tarnish resistant than sterling silver. It is whiter than Rhodium which is what makes white gold white. And Argentium is stronger than sterling silver. On top of that, there are a lot of "types" of Sterling, Britannia, and Argentium silver. Sterling means at least 92.5%, Britannia means at least 95.8% Silver (23 Karat in gold terms), and Argentium is at least 92.5% silver as well.

So that means, a coin marked Sterling silver can be anywhere from 92.5%-99.89% silver. The legal stamp/definition just means a minimum silver quantity. If you think the 92.5% silver 1.2% germanium argentium spoon is white and shiny, just wait until you see the alloy that I use. 97% silver, 2% germanium, 1% copper.

[SaltySpitoon]

My firing furnace arrived today, however it had a bad PID controller, so the manufacturer is sending me a replacement part. Still waiting for my vacuum casting table anyway, so it doesn't really bump out my timeline.

My larger home made propane furnace is just drying now, so I'll snap a pic or two of that just for giggles. I will really only need to use that if someone wants a 100+ Oz piece.

And, I now have the first design for one of my non bitcoin related projects finished and printed, so I'll at least have something to show in the near future. They are little necklaces promoting my friend's steam game. Highly doubt anyone here would be interested, however it will at least be an example of my craftsmanship.

[Hhampuz]

My firing furnace arrived today, however it had a bad PID controller, so the manufacturer is sending me a replacement part. Still waiting for my vacuum casting table anyway, so it doesn't really bump out my timeline.

My larger home made propane furnace is just drying now, so I'll snap a pic or two of that just for giggles. I will really only need to use that if someone wants a 100+ Oz piece.

And, I now have the first design for one of my non bitcoin related projects finished and printed, so I'll at least have something to show in the near future. They are little necklaces promoting my friend's steam game. Highly doubt anyone here would be interested, however it will at least be an example of my craftsmanship.

Sounds good!

Would love to see a 100 Oz piece haha.  What if you were to make a 100Oz piece and then split it in 50 or 100 smaller fractions? So you own a piece of a 100 Oz piece

[SaltySpitoon]

Sounds good!

Would love to see a 100 Oz piece haha.  What if you were to make a 100Oz piece and then split it in 50 or 100 smaller fractions? So you own a piece of a 100 Oz piece

I've seen that done before. Valcambi Suisse makes a 100g bullion bar that is made up of 100 1 gram bars that are supposedly easily snapped off of each other. I'm not 100% sure how that would be manufactured, but even if I can't do something like that, I actually got a completely unrelated idea which is really really cool. A puzzle made of metal, that you can collect the pieces and snap them together to make some sort of picture.

[Hhampuz]

Sounds good!

Would love to see a 100 Oz piece haha.  What if you were to make a 100Oz piece and then split it in 50 or 100 smaller fractions? So you own a piece of a 100 Oz piece

I've seen that done before. Valcambi Suisse makes a 100g bullion bar that is made up of 100 1 gram bars that are supposedly easily snapped off of each other. I'm not 100% sure how that would be manufactured, but even if I can't do something like that, I actually got a completely unrelated idea which is really really cool. A puzzle made of metal, that you can collect the pieces and snap them together to make some sort of picture.

That would be cool too! Could be some sort of series so you can trade with others to collect "your" picture. I like the idea

[AT101ET]

This definitely sounds interesting. This is obviously no easy task. Will you plan on releasing your own run of coins or will you solely be offering mint services?
Once you establish yourself and if prices are competitive then I'd be very happy to work with you.
Best of luck on this venture!

[SaltySpitoon]

This definitely sounds interesting. This is obviously no easy task. Will you plan on releasing your own run of coins or will you solely be offering mint services?
Once you establish yourself and if prices are competitive then I'd be very happy to work with you.
Best of luck on this venture!

I'll be releasing my own sets of coins and other things as well as offering mint services (TBA). I'm hoping my prices will be competitive, the one thing I haven't really accounted for yet is how much time it will take me to produce everything. I've figured out that I'll have no problem with bottom line, low premium cast pieces, and top of the line fancy higher premium pieces. I've just got to figure out how to do the middle of the road pieces though. I want to be able to produce things that are accessible to anyone.

I think when I reach the point where I can get a professional pottery kiln for the investment flasks, I'll be cooking with oil. Then I'll be able to produce even the nicer stuff more quickly, bringing costs down. They start at $5k + so I'll probably need to hold off for a while. Unless I make my own that is.... hmmm... I'll be back when finished with my sketches.


I figured I'd share my prelim setup with you guys. Still assembling so things are a mess, there are tons of boxes, and things to keep or put away, but heres what I'm starting with.

[Liad.Services]

This definitely sounds interesting. This is obviously no easy task. Will you plan on releasing your own run of coins or will you solely be offering mint services?
Once you establish yourself and if prices are competitive then I'd be very happy to work with you.
Best of luck on this venture!

I'll be releasing my own sets of coins and other things as well as offering mint services (TBA). I'm hoping my prices will be competitive, the one thing I haven't really accounted for yet is how much time it will take me to produce everything. I've figured out that I'll have no problem with bottom line, low premium cast pieces, and top of the line fancy higher premium pieces. I've just got to figure out how to do the middle of the road pieces though. I want to be able to produce things that are accessible to anyone.

I think when I reach the point where I can get a professional pottery kiln for the investment flasks, I'll be cooking with oil. Then I'll be able to produce even the nicer stuff more quickly, bringing costs down. They start at $5k + so I'll probably need to hold off for a while. Unless I make my own that is.... hmmm... I'll be back when finished with my sketches.


I figured I'd share my prelim setup with you guys. Still assembling so things are a mess, there are tons of boxes, and things to keep or put away, but heres what I'm starting with.

Looks amazing.

It actully looks like a small professional mint.
When do you think that you will start taking orders?

[SaltySpitoon]

Looks amazing.

It actully looks like a small professional mint.
When do you think that you will start taking orders?

Thanks, Its a pretty humble setup, but it will work until I can get larger equipment. With what I have, I can produce things of the same quality as a more sophisticated setup, just not as fast. Id like to say that Ill be producing something by the end of the month, but I can't really say until I have everything I need. I'm getting pretty close to starting production though.

[monbux]

I fully intend to have a line of exchangeable and affordable physical Bitcoins in addition to fancier pieces.

That's a key selling point!!  How will this work out in terms of legality?
Definitely watching your projects!

[SaltySpitoon]

I fully intend to have a line of exchangeable and affordable physical Bitcoins in addition to fancier pieces.

That's a key selling point!!  How will this work out in terms of legality?
Definitely watching your projects!

The only thing I'm not 100% sure on legally is my plan to make Bitcoin pocketchange (actual name is a work in progress). I want to make essentially physical bitcoins in small denominations at a premium low enough that you wouldn't mind actually making payment with it at face value, or face value + metal value. The US has some strange rules about making metal coins with the intent for them to be used as currency, even if its not trying to counterfeit any existing currency. As far as funding coins and such, I'd continue with the buyer funded model that most physical coin producers are using. I'm not super keen on the hologram thing, so I'm looking for ways around that, but I may end up going that route until I find a better solution.

The rest of it is fine, its no different than regular metalwork. All I need to do is make sure I use proper marks for the purity of metal. If I was making something out of sterling silver (92.5% silver) I'd make it 93 or 94% silver just so I don't have to worry about it.

As a side note, I also had the idea to offer other custom services like electroplating and such. If you want a fancy gold design on a coin that you have purchased in the past, I'd be happy to add it for you. That said, I will not counterfeit any existing things. For example, I will not gold plate your Lealana or Casascius coins into an existing gold piece. If you want a word or design plated onto it, I wouldn't have any issue with that though.

That is a future service however, I'd need a slightly different setup than just the tubs, acid, and gold I use now for tinkering.

[Emerge]

Supporting you all the way SaltySpitoon!

Hit us up with a blog or something so we could get updated easier, and maybe get some support from outside the collectibles subforum
I'd love to have a bunch of custom coins minted by you some day, and I hope you do open your mint for custom orders soon!

Good luck with your venture!
Regards

[SaltySpitoon]

Supporting you all the way SaltySpitoon!

Hit us up with a blog or something so we could get updated easier, and maybe get some support from outside the collectibles subforum
I'd love to have a bunch of custom coins minted by you some day, and I hope you do open your mint for custom orders soon!

Good luck with your venture!
Regards

Thanks, I'm considering making a Steemit account documenting all of my minting things. I'm not super familiar with the actual mechanisms of Steemit, but I have a couple of friends who are into it, so if it fits my needs, I'll give it a shot. If it helps me purchase a professional firing kiln while I'm at it, thats just gravy. I'll probably have a traditional blog on my website when I get around to developing it. I've purchased Vulcanaliamint.com but I haven't gotten around to setting it up yet. Getting the mint up and running is a higher priority right now than the platform for the mint.

Actually with any luck, my first product will begin minting within the next 7-10 days. Its nothing Bitcoin related, but it will give me a solid grasp of what is required to get custom pieces minted, so then I'll have a much better gauge of whether or not I can start taking custom orders.

Right now, my main concern which is something that I can't look up, it has to be figured out experimentally, is how long my molds will last. If I have to produce a new two part mold for each thing I create, its going to be expensive and only suitable for higher premium fancy well finished stuff. If they last a dozen casts, then I'll be cooking with oil.

The process of making a detailed mold takes a minimum of 8 hours. A bigger kiln will help me fire more molds at a time, but it sure would be swell if casting quality was kept through multiple uses.

[Mushroomized]

Hey everyone, just wanted to post in here to show I'm helping out too

I'll be helping with the 3d printing/design. I've been a 3d artist for years, designing for places like microsoft and cartoon network recently. (I'm also the artist on a videogame - www.burritogalaxy.com )  So if you're looking to work with Vulcanalia I'd be the one designing the thing for you :~)

I've been 3d printing for a while as well (we will be releasing some of my designs as action figures as well... )


First off, we are going planning on releasing some in house designs before doing commissions so I thought I would post here to lay out our plans.

--JEWELRY
Designing and selling a small pendant based on a character from some of my comic books, mainly meant as a test and for ppl who are already fans of my work. We will be casting these in copper and a few in silver as well. A handful will be sold here if you are interested


--STATUES
silver statues based around bitcoin events, our first design based around the "Genesis Block" will feature a sort of suspended cube cast in 5-10 ounces of silver. One of our first planned releases.

--COINS
we also plan on selling some funded metal bitcoin, our first will be a "Pizza Coin"

kind of a wacky idea, but I think you guys will like it. The coin itself will be sculpted like a pizza, with little pepperonis, the coin will be funded with the USD VALUE of 41$ in bitcoin at the time of mint (to commemorate the first bitcoin pizza sale - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=137.0 )

I will keep you guys updated here, along with salty, as we continue making cool stuff for you guys

[SaltySpitoon]

Confirming that Mush is indeed working with me. Both of our mothers were on TLC's show wife swap, but they canceled the show and didn't tell us, so we switched moms for a couple of years. Now we are pretty much brothers.

I quoted Mush's post and put it into my reserved first post.

[Emerge]

Confirming that Mush is indeed working with me. Both of our mothers were on TLC's show wife swap, but they canceled the show and didn't tell us, so we switched moms for a couple of years. Now we are pretty much brothers.

I quoted Mush's post and put it into my reserved first post.

That's pretty messed up

But cool! If I can help in any way, hit me up! I'm also on Steemit as @emerge!
I can endorse you or whatever in any way to help a fellow entrepreneur and artisan
start up the ladder!

[SaltySpitoon]

Confirming that Mush is indeed working with me. Both of our mothers were on TLC's show wife swap, but they canceled the show and didn't tell us, so we switched moms for a couple of years. Now we are pretty much brothers.

I quoted Mush's post and put it into my reserved first post.

That's pretty messed up

But cool! If I can help in any way, hit me up! I'm also on Steemit as @emerge!
I can endorse you or whatever in any way to help a fellow entrepreneur and artisan
start up the ladder!

Well, it was a joke somewhat. Every so often I forget that when read as text, jokes don't translate well  

Either way, Mush is on the team, specializing in design. Thanks for your support, I'm reading into how it all works now. I'm trying to figure out if data posted gets saved into a blockchain, and if that data can be viewed straight from the blockchain. That would be pretty useful for saving photos and information about things I make as a secondary means of verification that something is authentic.

That said, I'm not hugely worried about counterfeiters. First, most counterfeits are really bad. Second, counterfeiting factories have presses like what you would see from a traditional mint. It would be a massive hassle for someone to replicate my setup, replicate my designs, and casting methods. And finally, due to craftsmanship inconsistencies, weight should be a huge verifying factor. If I have a mold that is 5 troy ounces of silver, by the time I'm done finishing, sanding, polishing, etc the particular piece, it might be a couple of grams off of the molded weight. So each piece will have a bit of variance to it. As long as I document the ending weight, counterfeiters would need to get that one particular weight in order to fool anyone. Its possible, but again, a huge hassle.

*edit* Steemit requires personal info like your phone number and such. As much as I'd love to have personal info on a database of known cryptoholders, I think I'll pass an go the traditional route. I'll keep logging progress here and on Vulcanaliamint.com when I have it setup.