Hello from the PNW

[Volrath]

Hey all.

Found this place from Moose Scrapper on YT. I'm an I.T. / Computer repair guy. I have a business here in the PNW, so have a steady source of raw materials.

My goal: make a wedding ring from scratch. I have a lovely lady in my life, and a D.I.Y. life's philosophy. I'm here to learn - monkey see, monkey do - how to recover & refine the gold from my business's old computer parts, and forge a pair of gold rings for her and me.

And heck - from what I've seen so far - it looks like I'll be sticking with this hobby long after the rings are done and the lady becomes Mrs. Volrath. This looks like a lot of fun!

Howdy yall.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Welcome to the forum Volrath!

You've chosen a difficult, but not impossible challenge. You can learn all the refining methods here. Some of our other members may be able to suggest other forums for the jewelry making portion.

Dave

 

[butcher]

Learning to recover and refine the gold and silver is the hard part, after the chore of getting enough scrap.

You can check with a local college or trade school, to see about a jewelry class, they should have the tools and equipment to make the molds and cast the rings...

there are other options like the fish cuddle bone casting (the ones used in bird cages)...

 

[Martijn]

Making your own ring from your self recovered gold is so much fun and rewarding!! Hammering a piece of gold and annealing it often can result in a nice 22k ring. Not jewelers quality but that's the charm of hand made i.m.o.
Finding someone with a rolling mill is lots easier and gives a way better result... same width and thickness allover the length.
Don't try to make a 24K ring, it's way to soft for that purpose. You'll end up resizing and polishing them every couple months. The +\- 22K ring I made is already stretching after being worn a year..
I've made it on an old railroad-track-anvil in which I've filed a round groove to hammer the gold rod half round after stretching it to 20cm. Bend to correct, braze with the same gold and polish. polish your hammer surface... Hammered in scratches are a pain to remove.
https://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=28458

Talk to us before you attempt anything. It will save you from making time consuming mistakes and keep you in good health long enough to enjoy your recovered gold.
every kind component needs a different approach. separate end sort from start. It will save a lot of going through piles of pins for example.

Martijn.