I Need an XRF, because my refinery pinches. Any help appreciated!

[Midlands]

I'm on good terms with the guy who operates my somewhat nearby refinery. I've always suspected they may pinch a little, but if so, it's probably just a little. Moreover, when my packages go to their other locations (for aquia regia process to remove diamonds or when I mail it in) every karat bag comes up noticably short in purity. I need an XRF so I can melt my scrap into a cake and XRF it before sending it in.

But I see websites with $12K XRF and others with $2k models.

Are there decent budget models I can use for gold and silver?
Are there good sources for used and remanufactured guns?
And are there models and sources I should avoid?

You guys are the only ones in the universe to ask this as a group. So please guide me with your collective wisdom.

Thanks!

 

[Yggdrasil]

I'm on good terms with the guy who operates my somewhat nearby refinery. I've always suspected they may pinch a little, but if so, it's probably just a little. Moreover, when my packages go to their other locations (for aquia regia process to remove diamonds or when I mail it in) every karat bag comes up noticably short in purity. I need an XRF so I can melt my scrap into a cake and XRF it before sending it in.

But I see websites with $12K XRF and others with $2k models.

Are there decent budget models I can use for gold and silver?
Are there good sources for used and remanufactured guns?
And are there models and sources I should avoid?

You guys are the only ones in the universe to ask this as a group. So please guide me with your collective wisdom.

Thanks!

Welcome to us.
I hope you will get good advice by someone with more intricate knowledge in XRFs than me.

 

[Midlands]

Welcome to us.
I hope you will get good advice by someone with more intricate knowledge in XRFs than me.

I appreciate ya. Maybe it's still the wild west with these machines. There are just so many models and who knows if the low-priced ones are useful for this purpose or possibly knock-offs.

 

[4metals]

Welcome to the forum.

With an XRF, you get what you pay for. From your inquiry it seems that you are in some way involved in gold buying. If that is the case, how are you testing what you buy now? If you are shipping a few loads a month and only using an XRF to test that shipment, you will have a long time waiting for a return on investment with a good XRF.

Do you currently melt your own scrap? If you do not, your calculation needs to take into account a melt loss. I always advise buyers to invest in a simple inexpensive gas furnace and melt their bars before shipping to a refiner. This way your melt loss is less. The first melt has the highest melt loss and a second melt at the refiner will be less.

I would melt a bar and take a dip sample and send i t out to a reputable assay house. Then i would send the bar to the refiner and see his result. In the future you can save up a small group of samples that you have had assayed and know the result and use that to have the refiner check his XRF. If he isn't being honest it will show and you need another refiner.

 

[Midlands]

I test my scrap with the good ol' acid test + markings. Obviously, there is variation within a range here, as a lot of stuff is below karat. But I know for sure things happen when my loads go to any of their other locations. The numbers are always under.

Can you give me some actual pirces on XRFs? Models? Sources?

 

[4metals]

Can you give me some actual pirces on XRFs? Models? Sources?

I am old and retired and firmly entrenched in the chemical fire assay camp so you will have to rely on members who have purchased instruments recently.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Midlands, since you are in the US, keep in mind that there has always been tolerance for underkarating. Until 1981, there could be up to one karat under what the item was marked and it was still legal, so a chain stamped 14K could actually only be 13K. While the laws have changed, and the tolerance was reduced, it's hard to know if an item was manufactured before or after the plumb laws. And that only accounts for those manufacturers who try to follow the laws. Anyone with $20.00 can buy a stamp for 14K or whatever they want to stamp their items, churn out jewelry all day long, stamp it, and who knows the actual gold content.

Just food for thought.

Dave

 

[Midlands]

Midlands, since you are in the US, keep in mind that there has always been tolerance for underkarating. Until 1981, there could be up to one karat under what the item was marked and it was still legal, so a chain stamped 14K could actually only be 13K. While the laws have changed, and the tolerance was reduced, it's hard to know if an item was manufactured before or after the plumb laws. And that only accounts for those manufacturers who try to follow the laws. Anyone with $20.00 can buy a stamp for 14K or whatever they want to stamp their items, churn out jewelry all day long, stamp it, and who knows the actual gold content.

Just food for thought.

Dave

Yes, I know. Thanks for pointing it out, though. Nonetheless, I have noticed a pattern in my packages; it always works out well enough when I bring them in to my buddy. It always seems to come up short when I send it to the other location.

I'm not big on spending business money unecessarily, but without room or a dedicated space to refine, an XRF would give me peace of mind, and proof if necessary.