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Testing Precious Metals by C. M. Hoke

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FrugalRefiner

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I know this may be a long shot, but does anyone happen to have a hard copy of Hoke's Testing Precious Metals? I have the digital copy, but as with the first generation digital version of Refining Precious Metal Wastes, there are a few OCR errors and missing bits. I'd like to create new, more accurate reproductions, but I need a hard copy as a reference. I've tried to get a copy through an interlibrary loan, but all the copies our librarian has been able to find are classified as reference books, so they can't be removed from the libraries where they reside.

I promise the book will be handled with great care during my work and will be returned when I complete the project. I'm willing to pay shipping both ways if necessary.

As an alternative, if anyone lives near a library that has a reference copy that could be photocopied or photographed, I could work from that.

Thanks in advance,
Dave
 
You can find the 1982 reprint for sale in several places on-line.
It seems to me I paid about $40 two years ago for my copy.
I see where Goldnscrap is offering it for $54.75 but they show no picture and it is not clear exactly what they are offering.
 
rtl32657,

Thank you for the suggestions, but I think we're talking about two different books. The book on Sam's site for $54.75 is Hoke's Refining Precious Metal Wastes, not her Testing Precious Metals book.

I'm not aware of the testing book having been reprinted by anyone. As far as I know, the third edition was printed in 1945 or 46 and it hasn't been reprinted since that time.

The lowest I've seen the testing book for sale has been about $69.00.

But, I believe I may have found a source fairly close to home. I'll be following up on it soon.

Thanks for helping out,
Dave
 
Here's a paperback 2nd edition for $40. The pdf that is floating around is the 3rd edition.

http://www.tomfolio.com/orderform.asp?b=45100&m=220
 
Thanks for the link GSP. I am looking for the third edition. They're supposed to have a copy of the third edition at the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering library as long as it hasn't been lost or stolen. I'll be checking with them in the near future.

Dave
 
I assume you've seen the link here for the 3rd edition. It's, by far, the best pdf of the book I've seen. Tub Buster obviously put a lot of work into it.
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=19839&p=201978&hilit=hoke+testing+precious+metals#p201978

Somewhere, I have a hard photocopy of the 3rd edition, but it's not too great, especially in the quality of the photographs. About 15 years ago, I ordered the book through the inter-library system from a public library in Houston. Took them awhile to find it. I'm thinking they let me check it out for 3 weeks.
 
I have seen Tub Buster's copy. He and I have been in contact about both of Hoke's books.

When I created my first version of her refining book, I found hundreds of little errors that had been generated by the OCR software used to digitize it. Some were obvious. Others were much harder to spot, and I could only be sure they were errors by referring to the hardcopies. One very common error was that the software changed "iridium" to "indium" over and over because it interpretted the "ri" as an "n". I'm looking for a hard copy so I can "purify" it and create a printer friendly copy.

I should be able to get in touch with the U.C. Engineering library in a day or two. U.C. has cancelled classes the last two days due to the extreme cold. Yesterday's high was 3 degrees above zero, but that was at midnight. The temperatures fell throughout the day and we bottomed out at -7° F last night. We finally broke above 0° F today, ending a 28 hour period below zero. Our forcast high for today is 8° F.

If they don't have their copy any longer, I'll continue my search.

Dave
 
If you can't get a hard copy, I can scan the photocopy if I can find it. I think all the text is legible. Let me know.

What OCR software are you using? ABBYY is hard to beat. When you are ready to go, you can download a 15 day trial of the latest one.
http://trial.abbyyusa.com/download-fr11pro
 
GSP,

I appreciate the offer and the information on the OCR package. I'll let you know if U.C.'s library doesn't work out. If you're not able to find your copy, I may have another way to go. I came across a site that lists various libraries all over the country that have a copy of the book. That's how I learned about the copy at U.C. If all else fails, I'll make a list of the libraries that have a copy and perhaps a member who lives near one will be able to scan or photocopy one of them.

I'll let everyone know.

Thanks again,
Dave
 
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