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[StarckMad]

Hi. I’m StarckMad and just had my interest piqued by some YouTubers. I did a silver refining experiment back in High School and am now retired.

Is this hobby suitable for a side income? It seems it would be depending on how economically you set up your refining process.

Pointers would be appreciated!

Thanks.

 

[4metals]

Is this hobby suitable for a side income? It seems it would be depending on how economically you set up your refining process.

The answer is yes or no depending on your resourcefulness. We have members here who have made their hobby profitable and even more who simply aspire to collect gold and Silver as a hedge against inflation.

It's up to you to decide what type of scrap you want to recover the metals from and move on from there. It all comes down to what experience you have had in your lifetime of working to guide you in figuring out what type of scrap to process.

We have members here who have recovered metals from most available scrap types so the issue will be more what to refine, as the how to refine it can be learned here.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Devildog]

Hi. I’m StarckMad and just had my interest piqued by some YouTubers. I did a silver refining experiment back in High School and am now retired.

Is this hobby suitable for a side income? It seems it would be depending on how economically you set up your refining process.

Pointers would be appreciated!

Thanks.

Hello Friend and welcome!
I agree with my friend who replied to you as well. Yes and no. To me its the same. It's about resourcefulness. How the market is swinging. Cost of material and chemicals etc.
You can find some great deals on things to refine and if the market drops then you may feel it wasn't such a great find. To me either way it's a win. I learn from each refine I do. The folks here are amazing and there's so much information to be learned from them here.
I have learned it's going to take money to make money in this kind of thing. But I enjoy it so much, I don't mind it. I say, there's so much to learn about different materials, what is worth your while and what isn't. Learn the market. Learn all the ways to refine. Start out small and go from there to master it and then when you think you're ready, jump on here and learn some more! Talk to people on here. You have to find your way and what works best for you. Just be careful my friend. Refining you're dealing with some nasty fumes that could be life altering or worse if you don't follow a strict PPE code and be disciplined in all you so while refining.
I couldn't see myself not doing it. I just enjoy it that much and if you love doing it, then go for it. A man told me as a youngster once, He said if you truly knew how fast life went by and how short it was, you wouldn't waste a single second doing something you didn't absolutely love.
If you have questions, even if you think it's a dumb question, ask it. There's something to learn for everyone when someone asks a question. Everyone here is amazing. Extremely knowledgeable and are more then willing to give a lesson or two as long as you're respectful and appreciative.
Again, welcome my friend now and let the fun begin!
CHEERS!!
Devildog

 

[GoIdman]

Hello and welcome to the forum,

As 4metals has said, before even begin doing anything, you have to answer a few questions for yourself :

1) What is the reason i want to do this (hobby or profit)?
2) Where do I want to do this (Shed, kitchen, garage etc)?
3) How much money do I want to spend on this (equipment, safety gear, materials etc.)?
4) In case of need of funds, where can i sell my buttons (pawn, local jeweler etc)?

And there will be some other questions on the way that you will need to answer to yourself in order for you not to throw money out of the window.

If you have all the answers, you can decide what material should you go after. Each material has its own price and its own process, some are cheap some are not so cheap but whatever you do, without the proper study, everything will be very expensive.

Most of us, including me, have started with heavy studying on this forum, meanwhile buying safety stuff and equipment needed, and collecting different materials to have something to work with, then decided which materials we wanted to focus on.

There are different strategies for different situations.

We are here to help.

Be safe, have fun and enjoy the ride.

Pete