Many people wonder about melting silver at home. They think about the high price silver is fetching these days and somehow think it will be more valuable melted into an ingot to sell to a precious metals buyer. Others get the idea of making their own jewelry from old jewelry they have. For both of these purposes, there are much better solutions for amateurs.
But melting silver down is no easy thing. You must know how to appraise silver jewelry and tell solid from plated silver. Melting down plated silver results in a glob of base metals like copper or iron with a few strands of silver threaded in. You also need to tell if the metal has enough silver to make it usable. Melting down silver that is less than 50 percent pure damages the structure of the metals, making it porous and soft. Working with silver takes care, the right materials and lots of practice. If you don't have all of these, here are some solutions to get what you want without risking injury or burning the house down.
There is one glaring problem with melting down silver into ingots to sell. Back in the 80's, silver was about $50 an ounce. People risked fire and injury to melt down the family silver for sale. But dealers presented with an ingot have no way to know if the silver is pure or what else might be in it. Dealers could verify the purity of coins, jewelry and flatware by examining them. Buying an ingot from an amateur who may or may not have smelted the silver correctly was too big a risk. Dealers today are no different. You're much better off selling silver flatware for cash than melting it down to sell an ingot.
So, if you're interested in cashing in on the high price of silver, your best bet is to take your pieces in to several precious metals dealers and jewelers who buy silver. Get a price from each before deciding which one to sell to. With the jeweler, you also have the option of melting the items down to make new jewelry. They have the equipment to handle melting safety and the experience to avoid hurting themselves. Your silver is worth more in its current state, not melted down into ingots.
If you're interested in making silver jewelry yourself, you have two options. For starters, if you are really serious about making jewelry, take some classes on it. Find out the proper equipment and techniques. You can get practice on the equipment the colleges use to teach. You'll learn about good jewelry design and how to use different precious metals. Making jewelry isn't something you just pick up and try. It takes training and practice.
If you don't have the patience to take a class and really need to get moving on making jewelry, go out and buy some lead-free solder wire. It is 2% silver and looks great. Because of its low melting point and flexibility, you can make some great jewelry with little experience.