# Successful screen basket for cell!



## socorban (Mar 5, 2007)

I know in one of these posts steve mentioned about a basket style screen for using a cell. I have rigged one together tonight that has been very successful so far. It has minor draw backs but beats stripping each items individually, especially for pins. I was able to strip a half pound of 2" long pins in less tahn 20 minutes, were stripping them one by one would take me about 2 hours.

Hopefully this picture loads right, now this isnt a beauty pagent winner its just a rough design i slapped together in about 5 minutes to see if i could tweek it to work. Now that i found it will on a small scale i am going to make one more durable. 








With this im able to strip about 25 pins at a time, its takes about 7 to 10 seconds to strip them, right now its in the wash tub cause im taking a short break.

The pins must all be able to touch the stainless steel mesh somewhere, so i just lay them out across the bottom, so far its working nicely.


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## lazersteve (Mar 5, 2007)

Great work Socorban!

Thanks for the post.

I've been using SS screen mesh from drop in drain strainers for several months now ( get them at Bed Bath and Beyond ). They work but, I want MORE!
Just remember the least amount of SS you have to submerge in the cell the better.

In my free time (HA!) I'm working on even more efficient anode forms. I will share these ideas with the forum members.

Steve


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## socorban (Mar 5, 2007)

yes i love the screen, when in the cell ( its in the wash tub in the picture) its barely submerged, the outer rims just breaks the surface and the botom rest about a lil over a 1/4 inch under the surface. Its been working very well, now i plan to make a more sturdy design now that the "prototype" worked out.

I'll be lookin forward to you smelting slide show as well!

Thanks


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## jmelson (Mar 5, 2007)

socorban said:


> I know in one of these posts steve mentioned about a basket style screen for using a cell. I have rigged one together tonight that has been very successful so far.
> 
> With this im able to strip about 25 pins at a time, its takes about 7 to 10 seconds to strip them, right now its in the wash tub cause im taking a short break.


So, is the screen eventually consumed, or does it last a long time? Where did you het this screen material? Do you know which stainless alloy it is?

Thanks,


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## socorban (Mar 5, 2007)

Well steve said you can get them a bath and body works although i havnt gone into one of those. I just cut up an old stainless steel food strainer. used stainless stell alligator clips and copper wires for the hangers.

As you can see the design is crude i just wanted to test it, now that it works im gonna make a more sturdy design. To my knowledge the stainless stell is not consumed as long as you always keep the parts submerged in distilled water between uses and clean. I have been using the same alligator clips for a while and they are in good health as long as i take care of them other wise they build up crud.


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## lazersteve (Mar 5, 2007)

Yes it does corrode SS away, but very slowly. I've had to replace many a set of miniature hemostats due to this corrosion.

As mentioned by socorban, it will last longer if taken care of properly.

Steve


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## eemtek (Mar 7, 2007)

did you try graphite? Take a graphite plate 1" deep, hollow it out so that is has .5" sides then use a 1/8-1/16 drillbit and make lots of holes in the bottom. on one of the sides, make the wall 1", then drill a hole and insert a graphite rod very snugly. connect your wire at the top of the rod. now you have an electric scoop that should outlast you. 
my problem lacking time is the placement of the other electrode. I use graphite myself, but more lean to lead. anyone have an idea which is better?

now I've sent some good info. I'm looking for better acid solutions than plane sulfuric acid for de-plating the gold. 

post your results thanks


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## sandhog (Mar 7, 2007)

I use glycerin and sulfuric acid.


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## lazersteve (Mar 7, 2007)

The biggest drawback to using graphite is that it rapidly corrodes into your cell. The electricity will chew thru the graphite in short order. You end up with a lot of carbon in your gold (they both appear as black powder in the cell!).

As an experiment mix up a saturated solution of normal (non-iodide) salt water and put a 9V battery hooked up to 2 pencil leads into the cell. You will quickly see what I mean. The pencil leads will dissolve as the current is passed.


Steve


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## eemtek (Mar 11, 2007)

try it, I've been doing it for some time, and there is not even signs of pitting on the rods


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## lazersteve (Mar 11, 2007)

EE,

Please post some photos of your setup so the forum can see what you've come up with.. it sounds interesting.


Steve


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## Fever (Apr 24, 2007)

Any more "advanced" versions of these baskets being experimented with? Seems like a great way to do pins and other small scrap. Just wondering if anyone has come up with anything new and successful....

Fever


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## Harold_V (Apr 24, 2007)

Fever said:


> Any more "advanced" versions of these baskets being experimented with? Seems like a great way to do pins and other small scrap. Just wondering if anyone has come up with anything new and successful....
> 
> Fever



This shouldn't really be an issue. Copper will make a basket that lasts indefinitely. Copper won't dissolve in sulfuric. The cell I witnessed back in the 70's used a copper basket, and literally tens of thousands of troy ounces of gold had been recovered. 

Harold


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## Fever (Apr 24, 2007)

Sounds good Harold, but I haven't seen too many copper screens. Any ideas where I could find a source? Also, I would think the conductivity would increase with copper vs. stainless, so this sounds like a great suggestion!

Fever


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## Harold_V (Apr 25, 2007)

Non-ferrous metal supply houses should be a source. Copper screen is available, or at least it used to be. I have some, in fact, although not a lot. I believe it's the remnant from the basket I made for a large stripping cell that was never put in operation. 

If you have trouble locating the screen, do a Google for it---and also check Alaskan Copper as a source. Don't know that they do or don't have it, but they are a large supplier of copper alloys to the manufacturing industries. 

Harold


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## Fever (Apr 25, 2007)

Thanks for the tips Harold. I'll look into getting some of this material. If I find it, I'll post my results...

Fever

EDIT

I found this stuff online. Looks like the kind of stuff I could work with. It is 100% copper according to the source. AND... They're only 30 minutes away from where I live! :wink:

These guys have some excellent options for various mesh materials, including lots of different alloys: http://www.twpinc.com/twpinc/control/home


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## fafrd (May 16, 2007)

yea it looks good but what are u going to do with 75$ of copper mesh screen it sounds like we as a group need to pitch in and buy about 10 square feet of it so everyone can get some with out going broke just an idea then u need to decide what size would needed


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## lazersteve (May 16, 2007)

I'm willing to buy the inital lot of it outright if I get enough interest from the members. I'm curious about using the stuff myself as well. I'll look into the pricing and post some on my website at cost when I get it if you guys are serious about it.

Steve


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## Fever (May 16, 2007)

Yea, it's a shame they only sell it in such large quantity. I called them and asked if they had "scraps" they would be willing to sell on a will call basis. Their reaction wasn't very warm.....

I'd be interested in chipping in for a small sheet of this stuff. Anybody else?

Fever


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## lazersteve (May 17, 2007)

I just bought a 15 foot roll. It's coming UPS ground. I'll let you guys know when it comes in.

Steve


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## fafrd (May 17, 2007)

i would like about a square foot of it just let me know what you want and how you want me to pay in private message if you are willing to part with a bit it kinda stinks that u had to spend 75$ to try it out but if it works it will be worth it


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## Fever (May 17, 2007)

lazersteve said:


> I just bought a 15 foot roll. It's coming UPS ground. I'll let you guys know when it comes in.
> 
> Steve



Steve-

What size mesh did you get? How was the customer service?

Fever


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## fafrd (May 17, 2007)

don't qoute me on this but if he bought 15 sq ft roll it's probally size 16 mesh i personaly was thinking maybe 8 mesh but i'm a newbie so only he knows but if you look at all the pages u will see that min order at 15 ft would be 16 mesh i'm new and presently waiting to get a cell to process my first batch of material and i'm hopeing this will make it a better cell to use with less maintenance


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## lazersteve (May 17, 2007)

I got the 16 Mesh, I didn't see the 8 mesh.

I just placed a web order which required no contact with customer services.


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## M-G-P (May 17, 2007)

I am interested in getting some of this also let me know what the price will be pr Squar foot thanks


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## lazersteve (May 17, 2007)

fafrd said:


> it kinda stinks that u had to spend 75$ to try it out



fafrd,

It's a small price to pay considering the interest expressed here by the forum members. I'll do whatever I can to help us all.


Steve


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## firedan525 (May 17, 2007)

Hey Steve this copper mess sounds like a great addition to that new cell of mine huh?  Let me know when it gets in I'll buy some too. Thanks DAN


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## lazersteve (May 17, 2007)

Will do Dan.


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## firedan525 (May 17, 2007)

Thanks.


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## AuMINIMayhem (May 18, 2007)

you know what I did for my cell?.. I had "gold plated" bangle bracelets. so I hung them in the cell by stringing a light gauge (0.012) high "e" string (Stainless) from a guitar across the cell and then taped it to the sides with a conductive tape, the string was not submerged and all I had to do was occassionally rotate the bracelets on the string so that the "gold" side would be in the solution.. it worked fabulous! For pins or other things, I plan on putting alligator clips across it like clothespins to suspend those types of items in solution.. On the other side of the cell I put in a plastic dowel that I coiled another guitar string ( 0.059 heavy-gauge) like you would see in one of those old crystal radios.. (pic is just for reference)..


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## AuMINIMayhem (May 18, 2007)

fafrd said:


> yea it looks good but what are u going to do with 75$ of copper mesh screen it sounds like we as a group need to pitch in and buy about 10 square feet of it so everyone can get some with out going broke just an idea then u need to decide what size would needed



:idea: could you not find copper mesh at your local art supply store?>>  :idea: 

Here's a good source for smaller (and much cheaper) quantities.

http://www.dickblick.com/zz334/08/ (a good artist supply online catalogue.. I get lots of my art stuff from here..)

they use it for making a form to put sculpture clay onto.. much smaller quantity.. also, I'm confused.. I thought copper was somthing to avoid sumberging "charged" into your cell?.. am I confused?. (sorry, been trying to process so much info over the last few weeks it gets bit confusing..


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## fafrd (May 18, 2007)

know what i live in a pretty good size town with 1 major college and 2 small college's and we used to have a great store but it closed up about 2 years ago so no i don't have a good art supply or craft store in my town sorry about that maybe i need to relocate for you lol no won't do that i like being close to the wild


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## lazersteve (May 18, 2007)

Mayhem,

According to a very trusted source (our beloved Harold :wink: ) he has seen copper is used in large scale cells as a basket for the anode. I did a little checking on the reaction between copper and sulfuric acid and found sulfuric should not readily attack copper unless the acid is the concentrated stuff and it gets hot. Since we are working with concentrated sulfuric acid and we shouldn't let our cell get very hot, we should be okay.

Steve


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## AuMINIMayhem (May 18, 2007)

Awesome, thanks Steve.. I was wondering about that, because regarding the cells I've read a few posts where people said they use specifically SS alligator clips and things along that line, also, I just noticed that the clips on my battery charger (which look like copper, unsure of their composition though) were a bit corroded.. so naturally I figured copper was a no-no..  I'm glad we got guys like you and Harold around!

Also, I looked at those prices again.. hmmm... that big roll of the copper mesh.. I got a good thought.. a reallll good one this time (I think).. 

Whatever goes unused could be sold off as "wireform mesh" on Ebay or whatever.. I'm sure there's plenty of artists out there that would snap it up. Especially considering you could way under sell the artist supply dealers and still pull a significant profit.. you'd certainly make your $$ back and then some..


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## lazersteve (May 18, 2007)

Mayhem said:


> I just noticed that the clips on my battery charger (which look like copper, unsure of their composition though) were a bit corroded



I had the same thoughts at fist, but a little research backed up Harolds observations! The idea hasn't passed the test of fire yet though!!! We'll give it a whirl and let the forum know the results. As for the battery leads they are most likely alloys of several metals or some cheap plated material. I would not jump in and start using just any old clips for the anode leads just yet, the clips may experience enough heating to cause the acid to react. Try not to jump the gun and we'll all find out soon enough. :wink: 


Steve


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## AuMINIMayhem (May 18, 2007)

not jumping any guns..  toldja how I did it.. SS guitar strings.. they worked pretty well for what I was doing. I'm stickin' to those for now (plus I just happened to have a surplus of old guitar strings..  )


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## austexjwlry (Jun 29, 2007)

Auminimayhem

My wife uses a plastic coated stainless steel bead string wire, its cheap at Micheals or Hobbylobby. Fishing leader material at sporting goods places is also plastic coated.

Thanks for the ideas!

Wayne


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## Anonymous (Jul 23, 2007)

I am a noob and am still in the collecting phase, but I recently found a copper screen in an old industrial digital scale. It was used for noise shielding behind the digital display.


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## aflacglobal (Jul 23, 2007)

If it's copper not plated or alloyed, and the holes are not so big as to allow your source material to fall thru it should work. Coming from that application i would probaly say it's realitivy pure in form. Worst you could do is have it dissolve in the acid. Might make you mad, but you would not lose your gold. Just back to the drawing board. Welcome to the forum. What kind of scrap are you going for ?

Ralph


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## Palladium (Jan 30, 2010)

8)


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## hemicuda (Jan 30, 2010)

I had mentioned to Jimdoc a while ago that copper screen is readily available at Michaels craft store in 2 different sizes.(possibly more) if there is still interest in this type of material for the reverse plate cel.

Hope this might help to.


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