how to recover my gold foils after ap?
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Geo
Well-known member
i don't remember anyone saying they had to be separated, but if they did say it there may have been some other reason than compatibility.maybe they said it because fingers are generally clean with no solder and pins can be contaminated with solder.i don't see this as a cause to separate the two. its always a good thing to keep as much solder out of your AP as possible, but the two can be processed together and for the sake of time and materials i recommend that they are processed together.
Awesome. Thanks Geo. I understand that no one says they have to be separated. But it seems that every post I read where someone is talking about processing boards, they are usually told to separate them and process them separate and then in parentheses it usually says (fingers, pins, chips, etc.) So I guess I mistakenly thought they NEEDED to be processed separately. Not necessarily HAD to be.
Hi everyone!
I was on a post by Brafforda, a newer member, and I found out how helpful our posts are when it comes to noobies learning the art of refining! It feels really good to find out that I was able to help someone just as I was taught be the more skilled members when I first arrived here.
So! I'm going to process, fingers to button, a very small batch of fingers that I have ready for " acid/peroxide"
This can be a simple guide for any noobs to get started.
This is not a replacement for reading Hoke book, the forum hand books and The posts about safety! You will eventually have to safely disspose of your chemicals, you will need to study and understand that before you reach that point. ( all it would take is one of us caught dumping a bucket of chemical someplace and that would be the end of gold refining by the little people!)
Eye /face protection, ventilation ( don't be breathing the fumes) and when you're not there a secure location where kids, pets, or others can't get injured by you chemicals!
Have a water supply at hand in case you get acid on your skin .I also keep a box of baking soda near in case of an accident. I can nutralize my ap solution if spilled!
ALL THIS INFO IS HERE ON THE FORUM, YOU ARE EXPECTED TO READ AND LEARN IT!
I will put the cut fingers in the ap solution. The bucket you see here is the first bucket of ap that I started with. It can be rejuvinated and used endlessly with a little care.
I made it from Muriatic Acid (hydrochloric acid) 31% that I bought at Menards home improvement store for $3.49/gal. It's a little more at home Depot. and Hydrogen peroxide from Walgreen's 3%
The mix was 1 gal. HCl and 1 pint bottle peroxide (H2O2).
The fingers are a fiberglass or resin board that has copper laid over it and the gold foils are plated onto the copper. to remove the gold we want to dissolve the copper.
The copper will dissolve in a copper chloride solution if it is first oxydized. Our solution has peroxide to start it going by oxydizing copper, then the copper oxide will react to become copper chloride. The solution will build up copper chloride and it will not need any more hydrogen peroxide. It's just to get it going.
Here are the pics of the fingers,weighed, in the inner bucket with holes in the bottom and being placed in the AP, actually it's now a copper chloride solution . this will free the foils from the board.
I was on a post by Brafforda, a newer member, and I found out how helpful our posts are when it comes to noobies learning the art of refining! It feels really good to find out that I was able to help someone just as I was taught be the more skilled members when I first arrived here.
So! I'm going to process, fingers to button, a very small batch of fingers that I have ready for " acid/peroxide"
This can be a simple guide for any noobs to get started.
This is not a replacement for reading Hoke book, the forum hand books and The posts about safety! You will eventually have to safely disspose of your chemicals, you will need to study and understand that before you reach that point. ( all it would take is one of us caught dumping a bucket of chemical someplace and that would be the end of gold refining by the little people!)
Eye /face protection, ventilation ( don't be breathing the fumes) and when you're not there a secure location where kids, pets, or others can't get injured by you chemicals!
Have a water supply at hand in case you get acid on your skin .I also keep a box of baking soda near in case of an accident. I can nutralize my ap solution if spilled!
ALL THIS INFO IS HERE ON THE FORUM, YOU ARE EXPECTED TO READ AND LEARN IT!
I will put the cut fingers in the ap solution. The bucket you see here is the first bucket of ap that I started with. It can be rejuvinated and used endlessly with a little care.
I made it from Muriatic Acid (hydrochloric acid) 31% that I bought at Menards home improvement store for $3.49/gal. It's a little more at home Depot. and Hydrogen peroxide from Walgreen's 3%
The mix was 1 gal. HCl and 1 pint bottle peroxide (H2O2).
The fingers are a fiberglass or resin board that has copper laid over it and the gold foils are plated onto the copper. to remove the gold we want to dissolve the copper.
The copper will dissolve in a copper chloride solution if it is first oxydized. Our solution has peroxide to start it going by oxydizing copper, then the copper oxide will react to become copper chloride. The solution will build up copper chloride and it will not need any more hydrogen peroxide. It's just to get it going.
Here are the pics of the fingers,weighed, in the inner bucket with holes in the bottom and being placed in the AP, actually it's now a copper chloride solution . this will free the foils from the board.
Attachments
niteliteone
Well-known member
Artart47,
Thought I would add a tid bit, I am sure you are going to post more on this subject here later.
The smaller bucket has holes drilled in the bottom; a couple of holes close to one of the bottom edge will let liquid drain when tilted.
I use an old microwave oven turntable glass for a lid to keep leaves out of my solution.
After initial reaction of peroxide, air can be pumped in from a little fish tank air compressor and an air hose, the fish tank stone can be used but they eventually fall apart, the hose end can be sealed shut with heat, and a pin heated to red hot can poke holes in the side of the tubing (to act as a bubbler) the air will do the same as the dilute peroxide, without adding more water to the solution.
Laser Steve has a document on his web site that explains how this Copper II Chloride etching process (acid peroxide), works, reading it will also help member learn how to keep the solution healthy, and what to do when copper I Chloride white powders show up in the bottom with their gold foils and solution turns very dark brown...
I will usually process pins and foils seperately, as many times pins have a lot of copper (some types can have other metals involve like iron in kovar, ), foils are very thin copper foil, they can be run together, but generally seperating these just makes things simpler to deal with.
Thought I would add a tid bit, I am sure you are going to post more on this subject here later.
The smaller bucket has holes drilled in the bottom; a couple of holes close to one of the bottom edge will let liquid drain when tilted.
I use an old microwave oven turntable glass for a lid to keep leaves out of my solution.
After initial reaction of peroxide, air can be pumped in from a little fish tank air compressor and an air hose, the fish tank stone can be used but they eventually fall apart, the hose end can be sealed shut with heat, and a pin heated to red hot can poke holes in the side of the tubing (to act as a bubbler) the air will do the same as the dilute peroxide, without adding more water to the solution.
Laser Steve has a document on his web site that explains how this Copper II Chloride etching process (acid peroxide), works, reading it will also help member learn how to keep the solution healthy, and what to do when copper I Chloride white powders show up in the bottom with their gold foils and solution turns very dark brown...
I will usually process pins and foils seperately, as many times pins have a lot of copper (some types can have other metals involve like iron in kovar, ), foils are very thin copper foil, they can be run together, but generally seperating these just makes things simpler to deal with.
Thanks Butcher!
That was some of what I was going to add today. I have a small problem this week, I get internet from the neighbors accross the street, they are in Arizona and the power killed to their router and I can't get on. I have to use the old laptop I got from the police dept cleaning out the evidence locker and it won't run on the charger I found but I can charge it and go to denney's for wifi.
I was racing to get the post up before the battery died! Thanks again!
artart47
That was some of what I was going to add today. I have a small problem this week, I get internet from the neighbors accross the street, they are in Arizona and the power killed to their router and I can't get on. I have to use the old laptop I got from the police dept cleaning out the evidence locker and it won't run on the charger I found but I can charge it and go to denney's for wifi.
I was racing to get the post up before the battery died! Thanks again!
artart47
Hi!
it's the next morning and I just checked on the ap project! About 20% of the foils have come off already. Butcher added some things I coulden't get to yesterday.
After I took the pics last night, I put the bucket outside and put the plastic airhose from the fish tank bubbler to supply oxygen as the reaction continues.it replaces having to keep adding peroxide. another thing it does is agitates the solution and that helps it work faster. I diden't think to show the bottom of the inner bucket that holds the fingers! I drilled alot of small holes to make it like a sieve and a few holes close to the edge so it can be drained. LazerSteve shows the original on his website ap video.
I wanted to mention one thing,your new ap seems to work very slow but, the reaction gets faster the more you use it. I'm under the impresion that as it loads up with more copper chloride it works faster. Mine usually takes a couple days to remove all the foils.
Claudie! I have gloves, pulled them to help my son with how to take the pictures. should have put them on!
Be back to collect our foils!
artart47
it's the next morning and I just checked on the ap project! About 20% of the foils have come off already. Butcher added some things I coulden't get to yesterday.
After I took the pics last night, I put the bucket outside and put the plastic airhose from the fish tank bubbler to supply oxygen as the reaction continues.it replaces having to keep adding peroxide. another thing it does is agitates the solution and that helps it work faster. I diden't think to show the bottom of the inner bucket that holds the fingers! I drilled alot of small holes to make it like a sieve and a few holes close to the edge so it can be drained. LazerSteve shows the original on his website ap video.
I wanted to mention one thing,your new ap seems to work very slow but, the reaction gets faster the more you use it. I'm under the impresion that as it loads up with more copper chloride it works faster. Mine usually takes a couple days to remove all the foils.
Claudie! I have gloves, pulled them to help my son with how to take the pictures. should have put them on!
Be back to collect our foils!
artart47
Attachments
yeah Claudie!
the smb nosepick was very unplesant when I first got into this!
the smb nosepick was very unplesant when I first got into this!
Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay getting back, alot of work and truck repair to do.
Our bucket was outside in the extream cold. I agitated it couple times a day and had the air going. By the fourthday all the foils were off the fingers. I pushed the inner bucket down into the solution slowly and removed it quickly while agitating the foils with a plastic rod , multiple times in order to wash all the fiols thru the holes and into the outer bucket.
My next step was to pour the solution thru a plastic strainer with two coffee filters inside. The filters trap all the foils and I allways end up with a little dark powder That I will process right along with the foils
Next, I use a sprey bottle with distilled water to wash the contents of the filter into a glass baking dish untill the filter is clean. keep the filter for later! it has gold in it! I then can just pour and sprey-rinse the contents into a prepiared mason jar. When I say prepared.... Geo and other members told me I was having a problem with fine gold later sticking to the sides of my containers because the were dirty. So! I began scrubbing my glass with dish soap hot water and a plastic scrubby-pad. then a thurough rinse with hot water and because I don't even want lime spots when they dry, I sprey-bottle rinse with distilled water to wash all the tap water off. My gold no longer sticks.
Let's look at what we just did and why!
We chose to use ap ( acid peroxide) to recover the gold from the fingers. It was the best choice because of the simple construction of the fingers. There is gold and only one other base metal. if we dissolve that base our gold is free to be
filtered out and collected. Our ap does that! . I see people who just want to dump everything into something that will dissolve the gold!
That will only cause you problems later trying to get your gold back! You never want to dissolve the gold untill there are no other metals mixed with it
Gotta go be back to clean the foils and dissolve the gold!
artart47
Our bucket was outside in the extream cold. I agitated it couple times a day and had the air going. By the fourthday all the foils were off the fingers. I pushed the inner bucket down into the solution slowly and removed it quickly while agitating the foils with a plastic rod , multiple times in order to wash all the fiols thru the holes and into the outer bucket.
My next step was to pour the solution thru a plastic strainer with two coffee filters inside. The filters trap all the foils and I allways end up with a little dark powder That I will process right along with the foils
Next, I use a sprey bottle with distilled water to wash the contents of the filter into a glass baking dish untill the filter is clean. keep the filter for later! it has gold in it! I then can just pour and sprey-rinse the contents into a prepiared mason jar. When I say prepared.... Geo and other members told me I was having a problem with fine gold later sticking to the sides of my containers because the were dirty. So! I began scrubbing my glass with dish soap hot water and a plastic scrubby-pad. then a thurough rinse with hot water and because I don't even want lime spots when they dry, I sprey-bottle rinse with distilled water to wash all the tap water off. My gold no longer sticks.
Let's look at what we just did and why!
We chose to use ap ( acid peroxide) to recover the gold from the fingers. It was the best choice because of the simple construction of the fingers. There is gold and only one other base metal. if we dissolve that base our gold is free to be
filtered out and collected. Our ap does that! . I see people who just want to dump everything into something that will dissolve the gold!
That will only cause you problems later trying to get your gold back! You never want to dissolve the gold untill there are no other metals mixed with it
Gotta go be back to clean the foils and dissolve the gold!
artart47
Attachments
artart47,
You look mesmerized by them thar gold flakes.
Nice job
You look mesmerized by them thar gold flakes.
Nice job
The way that filter looks in the strainer, you may have splashed some values back into the bucket. Let it sit for a day or two and see what settles in the bottom. That dark powder is probably Gold also. Looks like you're doing a great job!
Geo
Well-known member
Claudie said:
here! here! keep up the good work buddy. looks good to me. and i believe Claudie may be right about the over wash. i wouldn't be afraid to assume you may have more gold in your bucket.
Hey Guys!
Yep! MEZZZMURIZZED! Looking at what I can do!
I saw some of the foils go over the side, gonna filter it again. I wanna make sure I get it all for this batch so the noobs can seerealisticly what you can expect to recover from the starting fingers.
I can't thank you guys enough for coaching me along the way! I enjoy this so much and it feels great giving back!
artart47
Yep! MEZZZMURIZZED! Looking at what I can do!
I saw some of the foils go over the side, gonna filter it again. I wanna make sure I get it all for this batch so the noobs can seerealisticly what you can expect to recover from the starting fingers.
I can't thank you guys enough for coaching me along the way! I enjoy this so much and it feels great giving back!
artart47
Hey everyone!
I DID IT1!
MY FIRST BUTTON!
HA! HA! KID IN THE CANDY STORE!
This is a one post departure from the fingers we're doing!
In the wee-hours of the morning I snuck out to the garage, fired up my new torch and started heating my new Steve-melting dish as it glowed red I could barely keep from yelling with excitement and anticipation as I drizzled pinches of borax and watched it melt and coat the dish. When it was hot I stopped for a second and poured my twenty-one grams of refimed gold powder in and started the torch going around the rim of the dish. Guys I was shaking so worried that my gold would blow all over but finally the edges started to bead up and shine I got closer and the edges started melting.
Suddenly it was like the entire edge just sucked into the ceter and there it was! MY BUTTON! There was no slag or haze on top. It just sat there saying hold me!
Man I hope every noobs gets the rush I got when they see thier first gold
Thank you everyone from the forum for your help!!!!!!
Feels like when I became a dad!
I grabbed it with the pliers before the borax froze and dropped it in cold water, next time I'll wait a few seconds, had to hold it! Had a red spot in my hand
Below are the pics, I don't know why it has the color on the front picture. The entire button gleams and is shiny, no red color. The scale is zeroed with card and quarter. the button is 20-21 grams, it flips back and forth and the tenths aren't working I'm gonna find some one with a good camera and I'll post a good shot later!
artart47
I DID IT1!
MY FIRST BUTTON!
HA! HA! KID IN THE CANDY STORE!
This is a one post departure from the fingers we're doing!
In the wee-hours of the morning I snuck out to the garage, fired up my new torch and started heating my new Steve-melting dish as it glowed red I could barely keep from yelling with excitement and anticipation as I drizzled pinches of borax and watched it melt and coat the dish. When it was hot I stopped for a second and poured my twenty-one grams of refimed gold powder in and started the torch going around the rim of the dish. Guys I was shaking so worried that my gold would blow all over but finally the edges started to bead up and shine I got closer and the edges started melting.
Suddenly it was like the entire edge just sucked into the ceter and there it was! MY BUTTON! There was no slag or haze on top. It just sat there saying hold me!
Man I hope every noobs gets the rush I got when they see thier first gold
Thank you everyone from the forum for your help!!!!!!
Feels like when I became a dad!
I grabbed it with the pliers before the borax froze and dropped it in cold water, next time I'll wait a few seconds, had to hold it! Had a red spot in my hand
Below are the pics, I don't know why it has the color on the front picture. The entire button gleams and is shiny, no red color. The scale is zeroed with card and quarter. the button is 20-21 grams, it flips back and forth and the tenths aren't working I'm gonna find some one with a good camera and I'll post a good shot later!
artart47
Attachments
maynman1751
Well-known member
Congrats dude! niiiice button!!!!! :mrgreen:
Yep! MEZZZMURIZZED! Looking at what you can do!
:lol:
:lol:
