Thanks guys - yes, sulphur, hence sulphuric. I have to say that this site is a little overwhelming and somewhat intimidating. I do appreciate that ya'll have elaborated on these things many, many times before. I do get it, just asking some questions to anybody who cares to respond and I'm glad that I have not had to bear the wrath of some of the folks here who are very hard core and intolerant of some ignorance. I do read and I do try to self educate, have done it my whole life and continue to do so both here and at work, and on many more subjects than just this. And that is part of the problem, working, it takes up a lot of time. I apologize that I remain a tad ignorant on all of this but I am working on it at least. Some day I will retire (I hope) and will have plenty of time to read for half the day, every day.
I can understand that the copper is the best way to go both from a durability standpoint and also, conductivity. I have read the posts about weak sulphuric attacking metals. The question was more about can metals other than copper be used? That is, brass, bronze, etc.. I have some SS mesh here but it is a little coarse for the application. Here in Canada it is not as simple as going into a small hardware store to get some of these things but I will try the hobby store downtown and see if they have or can get it. I did think about that one but they are only open during the week so will have to try to put the hammer down after work and get there. We do have a Michael's craft supply in this town and the girl looked at me like I had three heads and five legs when I asked her about this today. We are a huge country with a sparse population and thus the demand for odd things, such as copper mesh, does not warrant these folks carrying it. This goes for many things related to this art, i.e. acids, glassware and raw materials for that matter. If one lives in Toronto, there are shops, but our online services are very sadly lacking in depth and/or existence. 300,000,000 million in the USA vs 30,000,000 here. FYI - it is also a major expense, if not prohibitive, to get chemicals, even raw materials, such as electronic scrap across this border, without applying for a 2nd mortgage and knowing the Prime Minister's father.
I appreciate any and all advice you guys have to offer (short of being belittled by some of the members, which I have seen in more than one post, in several categories). I am just going to go ahead with what I can get my hands on and see how it all goes. I may find the time to set up a video camera to capture the procedure and my results and if that is not embarrassing, will make a post including said video that addresses some of these things so others like myself can view what someone else has done, good and/or bad. Believe me - I do understand the principal, the dangers of handling conc H2SO4, the power supply, the issue of heat and too many amps and the expected result. I am a small scale hobbiest so hopefully that would give others in my boat an idea of what is involved.
Will try to keep an active post on this.
Jeff
Ever wonder why we are told that there probably won't be adequate funding for a federal retirement fund that we have all paid for our whole working lives but there is never any talk about funding for welfare running short :?: :?:
other than introduction). I have been doing a lot of looking around the site and reading. I have two inquiries; 1) for the sulphuric cell - what size of copper mesh is recommended (I have a fair quantity of pins, some quite small) and in relation to this, does anybody know of a decent Canadian supplier of the same (there is lots available out of the States but given our sinking dollar and the border pirates I'm trying get my supplies out of CA). I picked up some sheet lead today at a flea market so if I can get the mesh, pretty much ready to roll on the cell. 2) Also looking for a Canadian supplier of fine silver sheet for electrowinning silver (same reasons from above). Any help on this :?:
