# Sodium Bisulphate



## docone31 (Jun 24, 2008)

Has anyone used sodium bisulphate to strip non ferrous metals?
I made a six prong setting once. The customer did not want to pay for karat gold and I used 14K20GF. I had put the setting into the pickle, I use sodium bisulphate for pickle, and after leaving it in the pickle pot for several days, the inner core of base metal had been eaten away.
Have people used this material to eat away the base metals in any quantity?


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## lazersteve (Jun 24, 2008)

That works due to the fact that sodium bisulfate actually behaves a little like sulfuric acid:



Wiki said:


> Solutions of sodium bisulfate are acid, with a 1M solution having pH of 1.4. In some applications, such solutions can be used instead of sulfuric acid solution. For example, from a solution of sodium bisulfate and sodium acetate it is possible to distill acetic acid. Sodium bisulfate solutions will also liberate CO2 from most carbonates.
> 
> Sodium bisulfate behaves, to some degree, as if it were a complex of sodium sulfate with sulfuric acid. This is evident if either the anhydrous form or the monohydrate come in contact with ethanol, which causes them to separate into those two components.



Never tried it. Sounds interesting.

Steve


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## docone31 (Jun 24, 2008)

LaserSteve. Thanks for the comeback.
I am so new to this art of refining. I got ripped off by Ishor, and I am now trying to figuire out how to refine my scrap from years at the bench so I have fresh karat gold to alloy.
All I want to do is just break down my scrap and be left with the gold.
I have been trying to download Hoke's book, and all I get is the site over and over.
As far as I can tell so far, I need to inquart, and with the residue .....
This is my first day on this forum and I am just meeting people. I just contacted Stullers for their scrap program and they give 75% spot plus 100$ per pennyweight.
Rio is 98%. Wow, what a gamble out there. I really want to do it myself,now more than ever. I can just see shipping five lbs of scrap into .....
I also have about 200lbs of scrap Gold by the Inch. No one wants to touch it. It would be cheaper to throw it away. I want to find an acid that will eat the inside out leaving the plating.
I have such a long way to go.


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## lazersteve (Jun 24, 2008)

For Hokes book try removing or adding the www from the leading side of the url. For example :If you don't have luck with the www.goldrefining.... then try goldrefiningforum.... or vice versa.

Let me know well get the link working one way or another.

As for the karat scrap I think you can do it yourself using Hokes book and the forum as a reference. 

Start with a small sample, say 10 grams just to get the hang of the process then move up once you know what to expect.

The gold plated stuff (Gold by the inch ?) can be stripped using a copper basket and the reverse plating cell as shown on my website http://www.goldrecovery.us .

Steve


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## docone31 (Jun 24, 2008)

Wow! you have some spectacular videos on your site.
Very well done.
What the heck do you do with your black residue after filtering
Can you reverse plate gold filled, and karat gold?


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## lazersteve (Jun 24, 2008)

I'm working on a quick video of what happens to the black powder in the next week or so. I'll be processing the batch shown in the photo below:

[img:793:658]http://www.goldrecovery.us/images/rinsed_black_powder.jpg[/img]

The gold powder in the photo has been rinsed with water 8 times to get it to this stage. I'll begin filming the process from this point.

Basically here's what I'm going to do:


Transfer the rinse powder to a filter and remove any large debris that fell into the cell while it was running. 

Let the rinsed powder dry.

Heat the powder to red heat to oxidize any remaining base metals and their compounds. The powder will not be melted only heated until red hot.

Extract the incinerated powder with hot HCl.

Rinse the extracted black powder.

Dissolve the black powder with AR or HCl-Cl. I may do half of the powder with each just to demonstrate the processes.

Filter the solution of dissolved gold.

Precipitate and wash as standard.

To keep the video short I most likely won't show portions that have already been demonstrated elsewhere on my site.

Steve


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## docone31 (Jun 24, 2008)

Dang Dude! You da man.
I felt so lost after spending so much on my Ishor piece of crap. I got it specifically to process my Gold by the Inch. IF they had only talked straight with me, this would be different.
I am an high volume custom jeweler. I was planning on getting both a PUK welder, and Laser unit from them. Not to mention, since they dissed me on my processor, I have switched vendors.
I am still going to have to figuire out what to do with my karat scraps.
Will Gold Filled also process like plated?
What is the ratio of drain cleaner to glycerine and where does one get glycerine?


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## Rag and Bone (Jun 24, 2008)

Docone

Welcome to the forum.

What is "Gold by the Inch" :?:


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## docone31 (Jun 24, 2008)

Thanks for the welcome, and boy, am I glad you folks are here.
Gold by the Inch, is bulk plated neclaceing that used to be the main stay of fleamarkets. It has since passed out of real vogue. Its attractant, it was lifetime guaranteed. When the plating wore through, it was replaced.
Essentially, it was a chance for someone to wear big gold without the price. Big time.
I never did it. I was always a wire wrapper. I went from a wire wrapper to bench/repair jeweler/fabricator. I cut my stones, facet my gemstones, do the wax carvings, invest, cast, and redesign other pieces of jewelery.
Gold by the Inch was a real beginning for a lot of people back then.
A friend who was a jeweler gave me about 200lbs. We liked each other, I helped her, she helped me, we bolstered each other's business.
It is supposed to be an heavier than normal plating.
We shall see.


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## ghut (Jun 25, 2008)

dicone

Our store uses Stuller for many items and have for years. You info on their refining program is no where close to how their refining progam works. We use Rio on occassion, so I checked with them, your off there too. Please get your facts straight.


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## docone31 (Jun 25, 2008)

I also have used Rio, and Stullers for many years. I have found them to be of absolute ethical quality. With "standard" jewelery, their findings, components, and quality are superb.
On the rare occasion an order has an oopsie, they bend over backwards to make it right. I mean backwards!
I had just gotten off the phone after finding out Stullers even did scrap reclaiming. I have not recieved their printed material yet.
I was more emphasizing the spread between reclaimers, then even implying disreputable service from either. Each has a need to remain in business. I am sure they are very close to balancing needed profit with service. I know I am. I want to serve my customers as absolutely best as possible and still be able to open my doors the next day.
I am new to all this, thanks for giving me a chance to straighten out something I never intended. My bad on that one.
I love Stullers metal castings. Talk about precise! Rio fills another aspect of design. Two different schools, both first choices for me.
The main point for me, is how to reduce my scrap into as pure as possible, and reclaim myself.
I had just observed sodium bisulphate, which I use as pickle, had eaten a large portion of base metal from the 14K20 settings I had made. It made me wonder.


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