Hi all, My name is Tim and I have read been lurking around here and reading for the better part of a month now, I have read all the suggested material and manuals and absorbed what I feel is enough information to begin my project. I would like to explain to everyone what I am going to do and how I am going to do it and ask a few questions and maybe get some responses that could help me catch any problems I might run into before I begin.
I have accumulated a large quantity of gold filled items, most of the stuff is 1/10 12k vintage eyeglasses, but there is also a good amount of misc jewerly,watchband tops, and other things too. I am not going to attempt to refine this stuff to pure gold. I have been buying 10~22 karat scrap for over a year now and selling it to a local refiner (who is also a friend of mine). For now my goal is to only refine this stuff to better then 45% or better and then I will send it to my refiner with my other stuff. Once I have perfeced this step to the best of my ability and I am confident I can minimize my gold loss I will move on to doing my own refining.
I have set up a work bench outside and purchased a rolling mill to maximize the surface area of all my material. I have a large electric hot plate set inside a larger metal tub, I will have a casserole dish on top of the hot plate and my coffee pot inside the casserole dish.
I will probably start with smaller batches of gold filled material (maybe 200 grams or so) that have been flattened with the rolling mill and then twisted somewhat to prevent anything from laying flat on the bottom of the coffee pot. I will then add distilled water to the material. I will completely submerge my material in distilled water.
I have purchased 5 gallons of Nitric acid (67%), I have not seen the container yet but hopefully I will figure out a safe and easy way to remove small amounts of the nitric from the container and into my glass beakers (any suggestions?). I will start by measuring out 1.5ml of nitric for every gram of material I have (this is only a rough guideline of how much nitric i will use). Then with a syringe I will slowing add small amounts of nitric to the material. I will start with no heat and then slowly add heat. I will not be in a hurry and will most likely keep the heat low to medium during the entire process.
I expect to see the reaction and the resulting red/brownish fumes. And of course I will be taking all precautions to ensure i am not breathing these fumes. From what I have read I believe that when I see a significant reduction in fumes and reaction I can continue to add more nitric acid a little at a time. Hopefully I will get a good 'feel' for when i can add more. I will continue this process untill I see very little reaction and fumes when i add more nitric acid at which point I will remove the heat and allow the mixture to cool. Question : should I be adding any distilled water during this time? I have read that some people have had problems with the mixture turning into a 'goo' or 'paste' in the bottom of the pot and they suspected it was the result of not enough water ?
I then plan on pouring off a majority of the liquid into a safe container for storge. this is the part I hope to recieve some suggestions on... once i pour off a majority of the liquid I will be left with either solids in the form of a powder or in the form of small pebbles or sand along with a small amount of liquid. My goal from here is to transfer these solids into my large graphite bowl and melt into a solid block. As of now (pending comments and suggestions) I intend to pour the remaining solids and acid into my bowl together while using a spray bottle with distilled water to ensure i get all my solids out of the coffee pot and into the bowl. Then slowly heat the bowl until all the liquid evaporates and then turn up the heat and melt the solids into a block. I am using a large sized graphite bowl / mold with a lid and a torch to heat it.
This is as far as I want to go for now, I know this is not pure gold, but I will wait untill after I have done this several times before I attempt to do a complete refining on my own.
I welcome all suggestions and or comments.
I have accumulated a large quantity of gold filled items, most of the stuff is 1/10 12k vintage eyeglasses, but there is also a good amount of misc jewerly,watchband tops, and other things too. I am not going to attempt to refine this stuff to pure gold. I have been buying 10~22 karat scrap for over a year now and selling it to a local refiner (who is also a friend of mine). For now my goal is to only refine this stuff to better then 45% or better and then I will send it to my refiner with my other stuff. Once I have perfeced this step to the best of my ability and I am confident I can minimize my gold loss I will move on to doing my own refining.
I have set up a work bench outside and purchased a rolling mill to maximize the surface area of all my material. I have a large electric hot plate set inside a larger metal tub, I will have a casserole dish on top of the hot plate and my coffee pot inside the casserole dish.
I will probably start with smaller batches of gold filled material (maybe 200 grams or so) that have been flattened with the rolling mill and then twisted somewhat to prevent anything from laying flat on the bottom of the coffee pot. I will then add distilled water to the material. I will completely submerge my material in distilled water.
I have purchased 5 gallons of Nitric acid (67%), I have not seen the container yet but hopefully I will figure out a safe and easy way to remove small amounts of the nitric from the container and into my glass beakers (any suggestions?). I will start by measuring out 1.5ml of nitric for every gram of material I have (this is only a rough guideline of how much nitric i will use). Then with a syringe I will slowing add small amounts of nitric to the material. I will start with no heat and then slowly add heat. I will not be in a hurry and will most likely keep the heat low to medium during the entire process.
I expect to see the reaction and the resulting red/brownish fumes. And of course I will be taking all precautions to ensure i am not breathing these fumes. From what I have read I believe that when I see a significant reduction in fumes and reaction I can continue to add more nitric acid a little at a time. Hopefully I will get a good 'feel' for when i can add more. I will continue this process untill I see very little reaction and fumes when i add more nitric acid at which point I will remove the heat and allow the mixture to cool. Question : should I be adding any distilled water during this time? I have read that some people have had problems with the mixture turning into a 'goo' or 'paste' in the bottom of the pot and they suspected it was the result of not enough water ?
I then plan on pouring off a majority of the liquid into a safe container for storge. this is the part I hope to recieve some suggestions on... once i pour off a majority of the liquid I will be left with either solids in the form of a powder or in the form of small pebbles or sand along with a small amount of liquid. My goal from here is to transfer these solids into my large graphite bowl and melt into a solid block. As of now (pending comments and suggestions) I intend to pour the remaining solids and acid into my bowl together while using a spray bottle with distilled water to ensure i get all my solids out of the coffee pot and into the bowl. Then slowly heat the bowl until all the liquid evaporates and then turn up the heat and melt the solids into a block. I am using a large sized graphite bowl / mold with a lid and a torch to heat it.
This is as far as I want to go for now, I know this is not pure gold, but I will wait untill after I have done this several times before I attempt to do a complete refining on my own.
I welcome all suggestions and or comments.