Hello my name is Matt

[mbrolin]

Hi all. Just want to introduce myself.

Name : Matt Brolin
*** : Male
Age : 40
Location : Central Indiana
Profession : Applications Developer
Hobbies : Gold prospecting. Have 40 acres and two creeks that flow through it, it helps practicing the hobby. Computer games, World of Tanks is what I am playing now. Shooting guns.
How long have you been refining gold or have interest in precious metals? : Haven't done any refining yet. Always been interested in precious metals. Hence the Prospecting hobby. Interest in refining gold ore helped me find this website.
What are you looking for in our community?: Learn how to refine and gain knowledge in the field.
How did you discover our Forum? : Found by google.

Been reading the forum for months learning about refining precious metals. I'm half way through reading Hoke. She is really good at teaching how to do this. I first found this website in looking how to refine gold ore. Would love to get a gold claim out west and would then have to refine that ore. Decided to learn to mine gold locally. Find the Electrolysis way of refining to be interesting and love to get into that. Will learn the normal chemical way first though.

I want to create my own topic for my introduction so I could post on what I'm currently working on and post links to other topics I start if someone wants to see what I'm currently working on. I think it would make it easy to see. My first 2 projects on this refining journey is building a Foundry and a fume hood. I'll post lings to those topics as I create them.

Thanks All.

 

[butcher]

Welcome to the forum Matt,
Looks like you have started off on the right foot, and have been studying, keeping you related discussions in one topic will be very helpful, it helps us look back and see what has been discussed, pictures are also very helpful...

Yea we may have more gold under the ground around here but the government laws (which are illegal themselves) have made legal mining almost impossible even for the small prospector to find a small bit of the gold, the gold is there, we just can not get it legally anymore.

I class placer gold and (load gold) ore in two different categories when I speak of them in the context of recovery and refining, there are so many differences in recovery of refining between them.

I will be looking forward to seeing the fume hood and your furnace.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Welcome to the forum Matt.

As you do your research, keep in mind that a furnace and a foundry are quite different. A foundry is typically used to heat metal below its melting point that you wish to manipulate and form. A furnace is used to melt metal.

Best of luck in your journey!

Dave

 

[mbrolin]

Welcome to the forum Matt,
Looks like you have started off on the right foot, and have been studying, keeping you related discussions in one topic will be very helpful, it helps us look back and see what has been discussed, pictures are also very helpful...

Yea we may have more gold under the ground around here but the government laws (which are illegal themselves) have made legal mining almost impossible even for the small prospector to find a small bit of the gold, the gold is there, we just can not get it legally anymore.

I class placer gold and (load gold) ore in two different categories when I speak of them in the context of recovery and refining, there are so many differences in recovery of refining between them.

I will be looking forward to seeing the fume hood and your furnace.

Thanks Butcher. What state are you located, Washington I'm guessing? Can you still dredge there? That is one good thing about Indiana, not many dredging restrictions here. There are a few creeks you can't dredge on, and maximum dredge hose size is 5". But other than that there are no restrictions. Seems out West they are always putting more restrictions on dredging. My problem is I don't have a dredge. I do have a 2 1/5" dredge attachment for my high banker. Want to get a 4", but have no idea when I will be able to do that. We are having our first Kid in March. I'm sure I will have limited time after that. Hence why I really want to get the fume hood done before than. I tend to be slow when doing things.

 

[mbrolin]

Welcome to the forum Matt.

As you do your research, keep in mind that a furnace and a foundry are quite different. A foundry is typically used to heat metal below its melting point that you wish to manipulate and form. A furnace is used to melt metal.

Best of luck in your journey!

Dave

Thanks Frugal. I thought it was a forge that is used to heat metal for shaping and such. That isn't so?

 

[mbrolin]

Made the post on my Fume hood project. Just in the design stage right now. Here is the link.

https://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=28499

 

[kurtak]

Dave

A forge is used to heat metal to a point (less then melting) so it can be manipulated &/or shaped such as by hammering or rolling or pressing

A foundry is where metal is melted so the "molten" metal can be "poured" into a mold - the mold could be as simple as an ingot - or "cast" into a shape such as a bell or statue etc. --- a foundry works with pure metals &/or alloys of pure metals --- so a foundry is a reference to a "factory" that starts with melting the metal in a "furnace" to the finished product poured to the mold (or the casting)

On the other hand - a smelter is where metals (generally speaking) are separated from there non-metal components such as separating copper metal from the rock component of copper ore - smelting is also done in the furnace - the separation is made possible by the addition of flux when it is all made molten (flux/non-metal component/metal) in the furnace - the non-metal component goes "off" in the flux (slag) there by allowing the separation of the metal component from non-metal component

The point I am making here is that both a foundry &/or a smelter have a furnace capable of reaching the melting point of metals & therefore - due to the furnace - you can do both - foundry work &/or smelting work

Example; - when I melt silver cement &/or sterling silver to cast into anodes (a silver alloy) &/or melt the silver from my silver cell (pure silver) to cast into kilo bars --- I am technically doing foundry work

On the other hand - when I use "the same furnace" to separate the metals (copper/gold/silver etc.) from the non-metal components of the concentrates from incinerated IC chips - wherein the non-metal component is carried of in the slag resulting from the addition of flux --- then I am using the furnace to do a smelting operation

In other words - as long as Matt sets himself up with a furnace - he can do both foundry work (casting of pure &/or alloys of metals) or smelting work (separation of metals from there non-melt components)

Matt

The question is - are you going to set up your furnace operation MOSTLY for melting & casting of metals --- if yes - then yes you will be setting up a foundry (which can also be used for smelting)

On the other hand - if you are going to set up you furnace operation MOSTLY for separation of metals from non-metal components (like ore &/or incinerated IC chips) then you are setting up a smelter

In other words - you want to refer to it according to the task you intend to use it MOSTLY for

Or - as you move forward in your venture - you can simply say --- today I used my furnace to melt some metal (what ever metal it happens to be) - or - today I used my furnace to do some smelting

Kurt

 

[FrugalRefiner]

I stand corrected. Thanks for the clarification guys.

Dave

 

[Martijn]

Welcome to the forum Matt.
Congratulations to you both with your first one coming soon.
Make sure you get both the fume hood AND the nursery done before march :wink:
You'll need your wife's support in this time consuming buisiness of studying and refining.

Martijn.

 

[mbrolin]

Dave

A forge is used to heat metal to a point (less then melting) so it can be manipulated &/or shaped such as by hammering or rolling or pressing

A foundry is where metal is melted so the "molten" metal can be "poured" into a mold - the mold could be as simple as an ingot - or "cast" into a shape such as a bell or statue etc. --- a foundry works with pure metals &/or alloys of pure metals --- so a foundry is a reference to a "factory" that starts with melting the metal in a "furnace" to the finished product poured to the mold (or the casting)

On the other hand - a smelter is where metals (generally speaking) are separated from there non-metal components such as separating copper metal from the rock component of copper ore - smelting is also done in the furnace - the separation is made possible by the addition of flux when it is all made molten (flux/non-metal component/metal) in the furnace - the non-metal component goes "off" in the flux (slag) there by allowing the separation of the metal component from non-metal component

The point I am making here is that both a foundry &/or a smelter have a furnace capable of reaching the melting point of metals & therefore - due to the furnace - you can do both - foundry work &/or smelting work

Example; - when I melt silver cement &/or sterling silver to cast into anodes (a silver alloy) &/or melt the silver from my silver cell (pure silver) to cast into kilo bars --- I am technically doing foundry work

On the other hand - when I use "the same furnace" to separate the metals (copper/gold/silver etc.) from the non-metal components of the concentrates from incinerated IC chips - wherein the non-metal component is carried of in the slag resulting from the addition of flux --- then I am using the furnace to do a smelting operation

In other words - as long as Matt sets himself up with a furnace - he can do both foundry work (casting of pure &/or alloys of metals) or smelting work (separation of metals from there non-melt components)

Matt

The question is - are you going to set up your furnace operation MOSTLY for melting & casting of metals --- if yes - then yes you will be setting up a foundry (which can also be used for smelting)

On the other hand - if you are going to set up you furnace operation MOSTLY for separation of metals from non-metal components (like ore &/or incinerated IC chips) then you are setting up a smelter

In other words - you want to refer to it according to the task you intend to use it MOSTLY for

Or - as you move forward in your venture - you can simply say --- today I used my furnace to melt some metal (what ever metal it happens to be) - or - today I used my furnace to do some smelting

Kurt

Thanks for the great explanation Kurt. Started the foundry/smelter this weekend. I'll try to get the thread up today on progress on that. I will be using it for both. This one will be mostly use for just melting the metal, foundry work. The Smelting part will be mostly experimenting/testing. My first refining will be karat scrap and gold filled. So just melting metals for the beginning. I also have 4+ years of aluminum cans in the barn I want to melt into ingots. After working this weekend, I see my foundry, heating hole?, no idea what you call this area will be 8" inches diameter and about 9" to 10" inches tall. So won't be able to fit too big of a crucible. But first will be experimenting with karat and gold filled. Later electronic scrap where I will use the smelter side.

 

[mbrolin]

Welcome to the forum Matt.
Congratulations to you both with your first one coming soon.
Make sure you get both the fume hood AND the nursery done before march :wink:
You'll need your wife's support in this time consuming buisiness of studying and refining.

Martijn.

Thanks Martijn. Yeah, that is the time table. Who knows how much free time I will have when the baby comes. All I know is it will be very little, just how little is the question. Spent the last couple months cleaning the pole barn, and finding places for everything. Had to get that done to build the other stuff. No work on a nursery. We can't even decide which room the baby will sleep in yet. I say downstairs bedroom, and she wants the upstairs bedroom. I'm thinking of when he is older and being loud at night, weather have him downstairs then.

 

[mbrolin]

Started the tread on my foundry/smelter build. Here is the link to that.

https://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=28503