# Yesss finally my first gold buttons!



## archeonist (Jul 28, 2013)

Thanks to this forum and the great help of a lot of people here I finally have gold, real pure gold!!!

Today I made four buttons out of two batches using a MAPP gas torch I got today. Three buttons are from one batch, they came out of goldfingers and are all shiny and do have a "pipe", and for as I know is a sign of purity. One of the three buttons is a bit reddish (the big one in the middle), is there an explanation for that? For this batch I did the recommended washes and dropped two times using SMB.
One button (the other batch) is not shiny and does not have this so called "pipe". This one is made out of the gold from a lot of different experiments, a bit of RAM flatpacks, a bit of fingers and a bit of I forgot. The batch is washed only two times and dropped once using SMB. It is great to see the diffence in result, so the washes and multiple droppings do really give a very significant result!

The total ammount of gold is about 6 grams.

I included the pictures of the gold fingers from batch one and melting the button of batch two

Many many thanks to all you guys that helped me in getting this far!!

Erwin (from the Netherlands)


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## archeonist (Jul 28, 2013)

And the melting...


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## Harold_V (Jul 29, 2013)

archeonist said:


> One of the three buttons is a bit reddish (the big one in the middle), is there an explanation for that?


An indication of an included base metal that has oxidized in melting. Likely copper. If you still have the melting dish, you may see signs of blue in the flux. If the color isn't blue, it also won't be clear, as it was when you melted the borax. You can expect brown through black, as well. Even green. 



> One button (the other batch) is not shiny and does not have this so called "pipe". This one is made out of the gold from a lot of different experiments, a bit of RAM flatpacks, a bit of fingers and a bit of I forgot. The batch is washed only two times and dropped once using SMB. It is great to see the diffence in result, so the washes and multiple droppings do really give a very significant result!


Indeed they do. The second refining makes a huge difference in that the level of contamination is small when the gold is dissolved, therefore little gets dragged down in the second precipitation. 

Note that the button in question not only doesn't have a pipe, but has a frosty surface. That's generally the result of contamination, too. It may be (and most likely is) caused by something besides copper, although you can expect some of the contamination to be copper. 

I caution you to handle this material with great care once precipitated. Even a dirty torch tip can cause problems. Also, if you're making the mistake of washing by the clock, you need to re-address that issue. I have always suggested that one wash as long as is required. Some have taken the liberty to put a time on the wash cycle, and I am more than a little troubled as a result. Very clean gold may require almost no time in the wash, while, in sharp contrast, very dirty material may require a half hour or more. Wash until you see no change in the solution. The final wash should yield a solution without color. If it does not, you haven't washed adequately. That's expecially true with gold that has been refined a second time. 

The color of the flux in your melting dish will tell you a great deal about the quality of your gold. If the flux has any color but pink to purple (colloidal gold), your gold isn't pure. 

Think about cleanliness at all turns. Don't use dirty vessels. Don't melt refined gold in a dirty dish. 

Well done. Your quality will improve as your skills do. 

Harold


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## archeonist (Jul 29, 2013)

Thanks Harold! Indeed the flux in the melting dish turned a bit bleu. For a first time I am really excited about the result and I feel a gold fever is coming up :mrgreen:


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## sebass (Jul 29, 2013)

very nice color , tell me: fingers how many grams ?


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