Brass casting crucible question

I think I need some knowledgeable advice from a brass caster. I'm about to pour an ornate pistol sideplate and thumbpiece in brass using Delft clay--my first attempt at this. Because of the volume of brass needed for the sideplate, I will be heating the brass in an appropriate sized gray graphite crucible in my electric Neycraft oven. Looking at a couple of sources, including recommendations from Rio Grande jewelry supply, where the crucible came from, it looks like they are recommending melting borax in the crucible and coating its surface prior to melting brass to prevent the brass from sticking to the crucible. In an apparently different operation, others recommend heating or "seasoning" the crucible to red heat prior to use.

Does anyone have any recommendations about these processes? I tried heating some borax flux (not powdered laundry type borax) in my crucible in the oven, but after bringing the temperature up to maybe degrees F, it looks like the borax foamed up, exploded, and solidified in fluffy looking chunks all over the interior of my oven. It didn't appear to liquify, and the stuff sort of resembled expandable foam insulation. It was hard, but crumbled easily to powder and cleaned up without any problem. Crucible still looks good.

What should I be doing before I proceed with my first pour?

Gregg

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