# Removing Gold fingers



## nivrnb (Oct 30, 2012)

Just wanted to post a video of a person taking off the gold fingers from the boards. Since I've been doing just small amounts at a time this I believe would work well for me. I've already started pulling off the fingers and will post some pics when I do the first batch. Hope you enjoy, also learned some good tips from OriginalFeets on some of his other videos. 

Rob

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf8B3UexDac&feature=plcp[/youtube]


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## tek4g63 (Oct 30, 2012)

If your just doing this as a hobby like myself and your volume of scrap to process comes slow, like myself, then this could be a good way to collect them.

It is labor intensive up front but it will save you all that pesky spraying to knock the foils off of the fiberglass waste after the AP leach. Would also make the container you do your up in a smaller easier one to work with, in my opinion.

I too may give this a shot and see if the upfront labor is worth it in the end.

Thank you for sharing.


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## silversaddle1 (Oct 30, 2012)

Wow, talk about lots of work with little return.

Why not go out and mow the lawn with scissors for 5 bucks.


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## tek4g63 (Oct 30, 2012)

silversaddle1 said:


> Wow, talk about lots of work with little return.
> 
> Why not go out and mow the lawn with scissors for 5 bucks.




If your yard was small and the grass only needed mowed 4 times a year, then maybe the upkeep on a mower would not be worth it. Lol.

Analogies can be fun.

Keep in mind that the best process or method is the one that is best for the person doing it.

I'm not saying this method would be worth it to everyone, maybe not anyone, but I for one welcome all ideas that produce positive results. And in this case, I can't know if its value added for my micro setup until I try.


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## galenrog (Oct 31, 2012)

The fingers could be plated to a nickle alloy, which may explain the magnetic attraction. There may be other explanations, but with this head cold, I am not thinking really well.

You technique is efficient, but time consuming. I still like my band saw.


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## Marcel (Nov 1, 2012)

One big plus is that you need far less acid, because if you process fingers with the PCB, the volume needed to cover them is much bigger. Then again, the acid can attack from full backside of the contact (surface= 1.5 x 4 mm @ PCI) instead of attacking from the 4mm x 8 micron from sideways, which will make AP work within minutes. And furthermore if you soak fingers in AP and the PCBs are multilayers - which most are - AP will also attack the inner layers since they are exposed at the cutting or breaking line, this again will slow down the process and consume more acid and contaminate, since inner layer are sometimes made of nickel.
This guy has prooven one thing for sure: That there are 2 layers with equal amount of basemetals to deal with: Copper AND Nickel. AP is designed to work best for dissolving copper, maybe we should rethink the recipe here, since nickel does play a major role in the process. It ends the AP live and it slows the process down.
I think the idea is good, if you can find a fast and automatized way to peel or scrap them off, it would be the best of both worlds. I hope it is the correct term in english: a metal planing machine would be the right instrument.
Check it out, and watch your fingers when working with one....
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpzSXy67HBc[/youtube]


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## nivrnb (Nov 2, 2012)

silversaddle1 said:


> Wow, talk about lots of work with little return.
> 
> Why not go out and mow the lawn with scissors for 5 bucks.



Who in there right mind would use scissors on their lawn, I prefer finger nail clippers, it helps with my OCD.  But seriously, I agree that it is time consuming, taking off those buggers. I am currently using a razor blade to lift the edges and removing them. It is helping me to get intimate with this fingers, I can see the difference between the lower level fingers from the higher ones. The better quality fingers are very easy to lift and remove. The lower quality fingers are hard to get off, very thin and keep breaking or tearing requiring me to try several times on just one finger. I just don't bother and put them in a separate pile for the AP.

Rob


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## bswartzwelder (Nov 2, 2012)

You say you use less acid after removing the fingers this way, but it has to take a LOT of TIME. To me, my time is worth something! I would think with the price of HCl and peroxide being as low as they are, it would be far cheaper just to soak them in an AP bath and be done with it. If the amount you have is small, I still think my time is worth more. Just my $0.02 cents worth.


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## uzippy11 (Dec 10, 2012)

Just had to respond to this......If you just want to pass your time and only recover a small amount of gold (tiny tiny amount) thats fine and a good process for you.

But you could do other methods that would be the same amount of time and get a lot more gold from it...... gold equals money......

But we all are not the same .....I need money like everyone else.....but money is not the only reason I am doing this....Its fun and I love doing this! My thoughts is why not make some money and have extra cash while doing something I enjoy......Not trying to be negative or bash anyone....

just putting out something to think on...... I wish all who are here the best of luck and hope be of help to someone some day....lets all learn and grow togather by helping each other........Steve....


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## goldenchild (Dec 10, 2012)

If only someone could figure out how to do what the guy in the first video is doing on a large scale...


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## sebass (Jan 2, 2013)

Very nice methode to remove ..i try in my next process to remove with mecanical methode fingers i have 250 gr ...


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