Acid testing kits ?

[mkrichard]

Im starting to buy gold and have been buying hallmarked bits, but dont want to rely on that anymore and have a load of gold coloured bits which have no marks, Can anyone point me in the direction of a cheap kit which works well. Also what is the shelf life of the acids ?
Thankyou

 

[gold4mike]

Check out eBay. There are cheap kits and even some with an inexpensive scale as part of the kit. I got one of those and have checked it against my Dial-o-gram and it appears to be very accurate.

 

[jimdoc]

This is some good info to print out and study;

The Pawnbrokers Guide to Testing Metals;
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=3624&p=30753&hilit=pawnbrokers#p30753

Jim

 

[qst42know]

What is the cost and what does this kit consist of?

 

[gold4mike]

Here's a link to the same one I bought. It includes touch stone, scale, six bottles testing acids/Scwherter's solution for $74.99 w/free shipping. I noticed there are some cheaper kits available now also. The scale weighs up to 600g by .1g. It weighs grams, ounces, dwt & troy ounces. I have checked it against my Dial-o-gram and it matches exactly to .1g.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-GOLD-SILVER-TESTING-10k-24k-WEIGH-SCALE-TEST-KIT-/360259756034?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e127a002

 

[mkrichard]

Dam, that look perfect ! Im in the UK though and they do not ship internationally.

 

[mkrichard]

http://www.reagent.co.uk/gold-test-kit/gold-testing-kit-premium.html

Think i will go for this allthough it only has one sollution for 18-24ct ... so how will i know which it is, or will their be a colour of reaction chart thing to tell me ?

 

[mkrichard]

Received this kit listed above today, for £40.00 i was expecting it to be better than it is, their is only a solution for 9ct 14-5ct and 18+ so its not going to be much use for un hallmarked items, However it will aid in supporting the hallmarks i guess. I know the company posts on here sometimes ? anything extra you can add about the reactions?

 

[jimdoc]

Did you read the pawnbroker's guide to metal testing pdf in my previous post?

Jim

 

[mkrichard]

yes i have, but im not sure if its rellevant to this kit?

 

[jimdoc]

I would say that you could use the acids and tile with the instructions from the pawnbroker bob pdf.They are very good instructions,and contain a lot of tips and tricks that are probably not mentioned in your kits instructions.

Jim

 

[nickvc]

Received this kit listed above today, for £40.00 i was expecting it to be better than it is, their is only a solution for 9ct 14-5ct and 18+ so its not going to be much use for un hallmarked items, However it will aid in supporting the hallmarks i guess. I know the company posts on here sometimes ? anything extra you can add about the reactions?

By regular testing of known carated items it will help you determine the carat of unmarked items so test away until you know what reaction the various carats give.