PIN PILE

[jimdoc]

i have 50 gm of pins of gold can i just melt them in a crucible just like that

No, you have gold plated copper pins. You should do some reading here on the forum while you save up a bunch more pins.

Jim

 

[nivrnb]

juanjuanrod,

You can if you want a mess. But seriously I am new at this to, and from what I understand is that you have to separate the metals with acids, then you have to pull the gold or whatever metals from the acid, then you have to purify it. Than from that you can melt it. If you do it correctly it should be .999 fine.

peace
nivrnb

 

[MMFJ]

i have 50 gm of pins of gold can i just melt them in a crucible just like that

You could, but all you will have is a melt of whatever metals were in the pins. Ie, a glob of various metals - perhaps including tin, iron, nickel, copper and/or other not-very-valuable metals - along with a tiny bit of gold.

If your pins are anything like those pictured (i.e., typically used in a computer connector, etc.), then they are not "pins of gold", but "gold plated pins", which contain very little gold per pin. The amount varies per each pin number/type and that is why others have stated they have to test each one and keep very close records, etc. Even then, each and every time they are processed, the yield varies - all due to many, many variants found in the individual processing run.

Read this forum - then read some more.... There are lots of posts about working with pins and the yields you can anticipate.

For 50 gm of gold plated pins, I would expect the yield would be less than the cost of the chemicals (which you will learn about by reading this forum...). You should continue to collect them (all while you are reading this forum - oh, did I say that already? It's OK, because I'll probably say it again...) until you have a few pounds of them at least.

See the pictures in the earlier post - the cash register drawer full is "almost enough" to start processing - that should give you an idea of what you should shoot for in your collecting efforts - and, give you some time to read more (and more) from this forum (where there happens to be vast and useful knowledge about refining gold pins and many other types of scrap/items, all for free...)

Do a search on this board for "gold pin refining" - I'm sure you will have plenty of reading available, and learn tons about your 50 gm of pins.

Good luck!

 

[archeonist]

juanjuanrod,

You can if you want a mess. But seriously I am new at this to, and from what I understand is that you have to separate the metals with acids, then you have to pull the gold or whatever metals from the acid, then you have to purify it. Than from that you can melt it. If you do it correctly it should be .999 fine.

peace
nivrnb

There are several ways. You could dissolve the base metals in nitric acid. All what is left behind is gold flakes wich you could melt or refine for a higher pureness. I don't recommend this as you will need a fair amount of acid. You'll end up with a lot of waste and nitric is relative expencive in most countrys.
I'm currently refining around 25 pounds of pins using a sufuric cell. Less waste, less costs, but you have to feel comfortable with this method. Personally I think it's great, you find a lot of information about this subject on the forum.

 

[silversaddle1]

Thanks for your replies guys, but know that the pins in question are a two part construction and not a selective plating.

I'm going to attempt to upload a picture.

That silver collered wire crimped into the other half of the connector pin is right at 1/2" in length and maybe 18-20 gage. Both ends look to be rounded over and not clipped.
The only testing for me at this point was to shave into it with a sharp blade and find that it was the same throughout and not plated.
It kind of reminds me of that little wiper peg that you may have seen in an old wire wound ceramic rheostat.

Proper testing will tell. I was just hoping that someone had dealt with this type of connector pin before.

Ray

Those are buss & tag pins. Might be IBM, not sure.

 

[silversaddle1]

A few pins. Just sharing to inspire.

 

[Dr.xyz]

Look at the dates, you are answering posts over 7 years old.

 

[Shark]

Yes, but that picture of silversaddles were worth it, :G

 

[UncleBenBen]

If you are still finding old IBM buss and tags then you will like the payout.

I collected up a bunch of old IBM 8228's which I think were some of the first token ring units from a place I used to work. Along with thousands of the old 'ugly plug' cable connections. The pins out of those puppies were awesome.

 

[silversaddle1]

Just got in some buss & tag stuff last week. Not a lot, but we've had tons of it over the years so we know what it is and how good it can be.