Best types of gold scrap to refine

[SilverHound]

OK,

Please allow me to explain. I completely understand where yall are coming from! I would love to be able to make money with my hobby! I started this hobby with gold fingers and pins and had great success at it. One day my son came to me and told me he thought we didn't spend enough time together. Here I am thinking I was, but sadly had to admit to myself that he was in fact correct. I was so blinded by my own selfishness that I didn't see my own nose at times. My son expressed interest in gold and silver refining. So, I brought my little bud on board and haven't looked back since! I understand the cost involved. But the way I see it those same costs could be wasted on crap that would hardly make a memory. Legos here, chucky cheese there, hopefully yall understand what I am getting at. Point is, what used to be my hobby, is now something my son and I do together! My first rule to him was to start to read Hokes and ask any questions he may have. We take every course of action to remain safe and he knows nothing goes to waste, only the stock pot. Yes, I admit making money would be nice, maybe in the future. One day when we pour our first full troy ounce, he will have his first gold piece and I bet the memory of it will be worth far more to him than the spot price any day! Thanks for all the replys and advice!

 

[SilverHound]

Overall, while I'm not terribly concerned about making lots of money while I learn, I would like to make money off refining eventually. Besides, I have enough expensive hobbies--this one needs to be at least revenue-neutral

Anyway, back to something at least more related to the OP:

I do not want to mess with karat gold at this time.

The best type of scrap is KARAT scrap. Why do you not want to do karat scrap?

Not yet able to inquart. Havent processed enough silver

You can use Copper to inquart if need be. Silver is the best choice but, copper will work.

Especially since you say you're not in it for the money, silver is not that expensive (<$15/ozt.). You could buy a troy ounce from me or any number of forum members, and that'd be enough to inquart almost 18 grams of 14K gold!

It may be more fun to use silver that you've refined, but that's a pain best reserved for larger quantities, and that would put inquarting even farther into your future.

Thanks for that! I am looking for any source of gold and may go about honing my craft with karat soon.

 

[SilverHound]

The way I look at it is I could be spending my time sitting in the recliner drinking beer watching TV. How much does that pay for my time?

Or I could spend my time keeping my mind sharp by learning something new and maybe break even or make a bit, and get a shiny little bauble for my trouble. Won't get paid for my time, but may get enough return to cover chemicals.

As a hobby you won't be able to pay for your time and you won't even cover the cost of chemicals, lab glass, safety gear and such if you have to pay for your source material. Set yourself up as a "free computer/electronics recycler". Many places have banned e-scrap from the landfills and actually charge to dispose of it. You may be surprised at what you can get just by asking around and offering your "services" to take it off their hands.

Dismantle it, sort it, recover what you can/want to and sell the rest to someone else, maybe even on eBay. :lol: What I sell to others actually pays for my chemicals so what I recover is mostly profit. BUT, I do get all my source material for free, if I had to pay for it, I wouldn't be doing this at all.

That's one great idea! Thank you!

 

[SilverHound]

I have found 5 oz of pins for $10.00. Even if I get a gram im still in the black.

WRONG...by the time you count your chemicals to process the material, your time, electric used, chemicals to neutralize the waste solution and then, disposal of the waste solution, you are in the hole. YES!!!,,, i know, we all say it is for the learning, BS, it is about the money. That is why we do this.

First, you need to truthful with yourself, then you can move forward in your learning of this skill.

Ken

Easy there sparky.... First- NO, its has nothing to do with money.
Second- Chemicals, electricity, disposal...... all part of the hobby
Third- my time is worth what I say it is worth
Forth have a coke and a smile.... and if it was all about the money every one would be doing it!

A thousand pardons... Good luck Sir.

Ken

Alas, this is why I dislike texting or any of that sort. I reread my response and my humor seemed to stop with the key board. Did not mean to come across the way it may have seemed. I was trying to be humorous, and failed I think.

 

[jeneje]

I have found 5 oz of pins for $10.00. Even if I get a gram im still in the black.

WRONG...by the time you count your chemicals to process the material, your time, electric used, chemicals to neutralize the waste solution and then, disposal of the waste solution, you are in the hole. YES!!!,,, i know, we all say it is for the learning, BS, it is about the money. That is why we do this.

First, you need to truthful with yourself, then you can move forward in your learning of this skill.

Ken

Easy there sparky.... First- NO, its has nothing to do with money.
Second- Chemicals, electricity, disposal...... all part of the hobby
Third- my time is worth what I say it is worth
Forth have a coke and a smile.... and if it was all about the money every one would be doing it!

A thousand pardons... Good luck Sir.

Ken

Alas, this is why I dislike texting or any of that sort. I reread my response and my humor seemed to stop with the key board. Did not mean to come across the way it may have seemed. I was trying to be humorous, and failed I think.

No problem, all is good.
Ken

 

[Grelko]

Until you run out of it.

Excess money doesn't assure happiness, but the lack of even a small excess guarantees misery.

In any event, I think karat is a good material.

I was just trying to make a point about knowledge compared to money. I didn't mean to offend anyone.

It really depends on "what" you know. After years of learning about different plants, repairing things, how to cook, hunt, make clothing, tools, first aid etc, I could go into the woods and live off the land, without the need for money at all, and still be happy.

I never really had much money growing up, so I learned certain skills that I could use to just live without the need for it. Right now, everything is paid off, no kids, no credit cards, no cell phone, no debt. (If I had more money, about all I'd do, is buy a couple acres of land for a garden and some fruit trees, like my grandparents had).

The only thing that I've actually used for this hobby is a bit of time, since I had to learn how to recover/refine. The material I got for free, the steel, aluminum and other metals paid for the tools and acids. If I don't feel like taking my truck to the scrapyard, I'll walk down. It depends what type of material I have.

I do understand what you are trying to say. Money can't buy happiness, unless having many personal posessions releases an over abundance of serotonin constantly, then technically I suppose it could. On the other hand, if you are always struggling to pay bills, having trouble getting food or clothing etc, it wouldn't be much fun.

I also feel that karat is a good material.

 

[Smack]

Still not paying for anything and still no shortage for me. I must be the exception. Way too much work taking it all apart I tell them and they are just happy to have someone that will take it all and recycle it responsibly. The ISP's around me keep me well supplied. Door to door is your best tool, always has been for me, phone book ads work a little but nothing like flyers and business cards delivered by a good looking nicely dressed human being but not too nicely dressed. I get calls from the phone book listing all the time asking me how much I pay. I say "I don't pay, I come pick it up from you for free and keep it out of the landfill". Then let them make the decision. All my best customers have come from me going door to door and then word of mouth from that. It's funny to me, some of the places I have been to look at what they have in computer scrap, have asked me what I pay and I tell them (businesses), nothing and they act like I should have offered money, so I leave and six months later they call, "Can you just come get this stuff out of here? We need the floor space". Space in a business is way more valuable than any scrap from a computer, so use that to your advantage.

 

[nickvc]

You may be able to afford to lose money but let me point out that spending $1000 to make $ 200 is not giving your son the right message.
There are no free lunches in this world and to show him different is wrong..
You can have fun and refine a few grams if it costs $20 for chemicals and gas but to pursue this and lose considerable money is crazy and gives your son the totally wrong message.
Your basically saying it doesn't matter what it costs so long as he and you are happy, well if at some point you can't keep funding this idea how will he take that?
How will you feel?
Your not doing your son any favours not pointing out that this world isn't fair or kind or that the paper money you so easily dismiss is unimportant, tell your IRS that!
Please enjoy your hobby and involve your son but point out the real costs, don't make it unimportant that your losing money, it's a terrible message to give any youngster.
We live in a throw away society with few rules that kids listen to or care about...until they grow up and have to deal with all that collection of horrors we as adults face every day. They then either swim or drown, a little early lesson or two will help him handle the real world.
I wish you and your son well and hope you understand where I'm coming from.

 

[upcyclist]

You may be able to afford to lose money but let me point out that spending $1000 to make $ 200 is not giving your son the right message...

Nick, I get your concern, but nowhere did he say "I'm telling my son that losing money is okay." What he did say is that what used to be a hobby is now something he and his son can do together. Just like when I take my daughter to the movies, it's not about supporting an industry that stereotypes and under-represents minorities, or some deep economic lesson about how to be successful--it's just a movie, and we enjoyed it and our time together.

Can we ease off this end of the thread and get back to his original points?

 

[Anonymous]

Gents I think my comments may have either been written badly or alternatively taken out of the correct context. If written badly then I offer my apologies.

My main concern was lowballing people who you can grow to consider a valued supplier. People who discover that they've been taken for a ride don't tend to carry on trading with people and that was my main point. We all do this for different reasons, and yes I do it to make money which I simply refuse to be ashamed of. As Smack does, I too have suppliers where I get product for nothing, alongside others whom I pay good money to. That's a good mix and a balanced approach. The guys who suggest trading on the low value stuff and keep the good stuff at zero cost are correct because it keeps the whole mill turning.

Upcyclist I tend to agree with a lot of what you say on here but I've never seen the benefit of shutting a conversation down because I'm not happy with what's being said. Healthy debate is productive even though I myself often have to face up to a few comments that I don't like or appreciate. (When you're as blunt as me that tends to happen a lot!!) At that point I'll just walk away from the convo and let it carry on 8) 8)

Maybe we could have a thread about approaching this recovery/refining as a profitable venture although I think it might have been tried a few times with no success. Then again the old saying goes "You can lead a horse to water..."

All the best guys!

Jon

 

[SilverHound]

How would one go about figuring what is a decent/honest sum to pay for scrap? Yes I know if one was proficient in his/her craft they would know what is in the scrap, but the problem I have is when the person that has the scrap thinks its worth way more then it actually is. This question is just to see how others go about doing this.

Thanks in advance.....

 

[Barren Realms 007]

How would one go about figuring what is a decent/honest sum to pay for scrap? Yes I know if one was proficient in his/her craft they would know what is in the scrap, but the problem I have is when the person that has the scrap thinks its worth way more then it actually is. This question is just to see how others go about doing this.

Thanks in advance.....

You can go to www.goldnscrap.com and he has calculators to determine the gold content and value of Karat scrap and gold filled scrap.

If the seller has pie in the sky prices they want then it is best to just politely walk away from the deal.

 

[SilverHound]

How would one go about figuring what is a decent/honest sum to pay for scrap? Yes I know if one was proficient in his/her craft they would know what is in the scrap, but the problem I have is when the person that has the scrap thinks its worth way more then it actually is. This question is just to see how others go about doing this.

Thanks in advance.....

You can go to http://www.goldnscrap.com and he has calculators to determine the gold content and value of Karat scrap and gold filled scrap.

If the seller has pie in the sky prices they want then it is best to just politely walk away from the deal.

Thank you very much!

 

[upcyclist]

Gents I think my comments may have either been written badly or alternatively taken out of the correct context. If written badly then I offer my apologies.

My main concern was lowballing people who you can grow to consider a valued supplier. People who discover that they've been taken for a ride don't tend to carry on trading with people and that was my main point. We all do this for different reasons, and yes I do it to make money which I simply refuse to be ashamed of. As Smack does, I too have suppliers where I get product for nothing, alongside others whom I pay good money to. That's a good mix and a balanced approach. The guys who suggest trading on the low value stuff and keep the good stuff at zero cost are correct because it keeps the whole mill turning.

Upcyclist I tend to agree with a lot of what you say on here but I've never seen the benefit of shutting a conversation down because I'm not happy with what's being said. Healthy debate is productive even though I myself often have to face up to a few comments that I don't like or appreciate. (When you're as blunt as me that tends to happen a lot!!) At that point I'll just walk away from the convo and let it carry on 8) 8)

Maybe we could have a thread about approaching this recovery/refining as a profitable venture although I think it might have been tried a few times with no success. Then again the old saying goes "You can lead a horse to water..."

I wholeheartedly agree on the bit about lowballing, Jon--whether you're doing this for fun, profit, or both, you'll have a much better time of it if you don't tick off your suppliers.

I didn't mean to shut down the conversation, sorry--I had originally included the phrase "or at least move it to a different thread", then deleted it for some reason. It's a good conversation to have, I just thought it was a hijack of the original purpose.

 

[nickvc]

As I have pointed out to many new members learning to refine with the knowledge base here on the forum is easy, we'll sort of, finding regular happy suppliers to buy from or collect from is hard and in many ways the real problem. Use the Internet, phone books, work out who uses values close to you, it's not easy and takes time, get your son looking and reading doing the necessary research to find the product to refine, we have the information as to what to look for but unfortunately not where or how to get the material if you do find it... It's a challenge that kills of many a new refiners dreams, but it can be done!

 

[SilverHound]

As I have pointed out to many new members learning to refine with the knowledge base here on the forum is easy, we'll sort of, finding regular happy suppliers to buy from or collect from is hard and in many ways the real problem. Use the Internet, phone books, work out who uses values close to you, it's not easy and takes time, get your son looking and reading doing the necessary research to find the product to refine, we have the information as to what to look for but unfortunately not where or how to get the material if you do find it... It's a challenge that kills of many a new refiners dreams, but it can be done!

many thanks

 

[goldsilverpro]

As I have pointed out to many new members learning to refine with the knowledge base here on the forum is easy, we'll sort of, finding regular happy suppliers to buy from or collect from is hard and in many ways the real problem. Use the Internet, phone books, work out who uses values close to you, it's not easy and takes time, get your son looking and reading doing the necessary research to find the product to refine, we have the information as to what to look for but unfortunately not where or how to get the material if you do find it... It's a challenge that kills of many a new refiners dreams, but it can be done!

Good post, Nick. I have felt exactly the same way for many years. After one has gained the technical knowledge on how to refine and has put this knowledge to work with many hours of actual hands-on refining, the most important person in the place is the guy who can locate and obtain a continuous flow of selective (you have to be selective!) material that can make money. No matter what anybody thinks, it's out there and it's available.

I posted this awhile back and no one paid any attention to it. When I color-coded it, I didn't spend as much time on it as I should and I'm sure I could make some changes.

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=21493

 

[UncleBenBen]

I posted this awhile back and no one paid any attention to it.

For one, I don't think I've read anything from you that that wasn't worth paying attention to. I just downloaded that list a second time. Oops.

I don't want to get into the make money/fund hobby debate, because I would like to keep it as a hobby instead of waking up one morning not wanting to do it because it had become a 'job' and something I 'had' to do.

With that said, I have to say to my fellow hobbyists that the scrap you want is EVERYWHERE! Just as the wise man said that money doesn't go looking for people, the scrap doesn't either. Nobody is going to come knocking at your door begging you to take their old computers. You have to look at it like you are prospecting unexplored mountains that are full of gold. You just have to go out and find it.

People constantly throw away precious metals. Don't be afraid look in the trash to find it. I get about an hour every weekday to make my rounds while I wait for the wife to get off work, and I find plenty to keep me busy.

I found this this little digital thermometer in the trash today...


Then found these little darlings, pretty sure that's the first CBGAs I've collected so far...


That second pic is proof that people are creatures of habit. Found those in the same dumpster I found this box of boards. Mostly depopulated now...


Moral of the story; its out there, go get it before it gets buried in a landfill! This can be done without buying scrap!

 

[jonn]

Uncleben, are you finished depopulating those boards? I'd like buy those connector ends if you're interested. Thank you, Jonn

 

[UncleBenBen]

Not yet, Jonn. Finished heating off the ceramics last week. Those AMP pins will go in my AMP bucket to get processed by yours truly, sorry. Gonna make some nice buttons eventually!