newby first step

[martyn111]

That really depends on how much bleach you have used.
If you add the bleach in small increments you will only ever have a very small amount of excess when the reaction has been completed which can be driven off with a little heat, but , if you have used a large excess and you are not using heat to expel it then the longer it will take to off gas.

 

[Geo]

over night should be fine.you can do the whif test.fan over the top of the container with your hand towards your face,if you smell a strong chlorine smell then it still has alot of bleach. if the smell is faint then you should be ok to precipitate,too thats one of the reasons for diluting your solution with water.tap water is chlorinated,or at least it should be, so use distilled water if you can.also hard water adds impurities to your gold.

 

[callicom]

what if i just wait 4 to 5 days could that cause some other problem that you have experienced, or is the gold just going to maintain its state for a long period of time and can be dropped even in two month if i wish :?:

 

[eeTHr]

I've seen reports of gold chloride being stored for many months, without any problems. But if you have other substances in there, I don't know if that could cause problems or not.

 

[Geo]

yea, that should be fine.just dont seal the container because any chlorine left will gas off and build pressure so keep the lid loose. wouldnt want your container to burst and wind up with a gold coated table top or floor. its a good idea when storing containers with gold solutions to put the containers in a plastic catch pan.

 

[callicom]

well i`ve finaly got my gold powder sitting in water, i have no flux and no crucible so i guess it`ll have to stay that way for a while. it doesn`t look like much but i`ve taken junk and turned it into gold so i`m very happy about it. i also started another batch with the ap i had from my first batch, i added half a gallon of hcl and some peroxide. i intend to keep a tighter grip on the quantity of hcl i put in so as to make sure of copper saturation, thanks again and i`ll keep putting posts of my progress

 

[Geo]

good deal. sounds like you have it well under control. i bought a 3" melting dish from lazersteves website.if your just making buttons or even an ounce at a time it should work fine. i couldnt find any 20 mule team borax here where i live so i bought a box from Ebay fairly cheap.one box will do for alot of gold.

 

[callicom]

yea i`ll go check lazersteve and order a couple of them melting dishes.
what are you talking about (20 mule team borax) is that what you use for flux :?:

 

[Geo]

yes. that's the name brand but any borax will work for flux. check your local markets in the laundry supplies section as it is used as a laundry product.

 

[callicom]

wow, when i started all this and saw the prices of all the chemicals i figured there was a chance that i would be trading four quaters for a dollar but with this ap and all these alternative products it will be much more pleasant. now its a fume hood i have to figure out, i allready have a squirel cage type blower. i plan on plywood for the structure :mrgreen:

 

[Geo]

use acid resistant paint and stainless steel hinges and hardware (like screws and bolts/nuts). you will need a piece of Plexiglas. some storm doors have a Plexiglas pane if you can find one it will cut down on your cost.if you do find a door the piece in it will be large enough to cut in half.install a piece on top to allow light from a lamp inside, the other half will be the hinged door on the front.be sure to leave a space of about six inches open at the bottom to allow airflow in.

 

[callicom]

i already have plexi too, do you have a drawing of this fume hood :?: it would help pls i have boric acis is that the same as borax :?:

 

[Geo]

sorry i dont have a diagram, but basically its just a wooden box with the open side facing you. put the exhaust going out the back side. you can use a hvac flange on the exhaust but be sure to paint it before you install it to help prevent corrosion.that is what you will attach your duct work to.it will prolong the life of your blower if you put a filter inside the hood over the flange (just duct tape it over the flange).also if your blower is inside a square metal box,all the better just attach the duct to the flange if not then try to find one at the scrap yard.put the door where it opens with the hinges on top instead of the side with the gap at the bottom. build it on a table top or if you have to put legs on it dont skimp on materials,it needs to be sturdy and level. exhaust away from structures or fences and of course away from pets and if you can down wind of the prevailing winds (here its from the north). and not sure about the boric acid,you may ask some one that may have tried it. one reason the flux is used is to trap impurities. did you have any luck watching lazersteves videos? he has a melting video you should watch.

 

[callicom]

well my wife got some 20 mule team borax at some store, she paid 4.50$ for 2k, like you say it seams to be a lot. how do i go about using this :?: i saw aguy on youtube make a button on a 2x4, would this work, it seemed to work in the clip. so how do you do it , do you make a paste with water and mix the gold with it or do you just sprinkle some dry borax on the gold and put the flame to it :?: by the way geo my gold is like a black dust and there is some lighter looking brown dust that mixes easyer with the water, is all this gold :?:

 

[Geo]

the flux is used to prepare your melting dish. make sure the dish is dry as any moisture will make it crack when heated. warm the dish slowly to remove any moisture, when your sure its dry sprinkle about a teaspoon full into the dish then apply heat with your torch in a circular motion melting the borax evenly over the surface of the dish. when melted it will look like a glazing. add your gold powder while still hot and add a small amount of borax on top. start melting on the outside edge and work your way to the middle to keep from blowing your gold away. ive melted silver in wood but not gold as it would add impurities while melting, same as melting in steel or even stainless steel. i bought a 1 ounce kit kat mold from Ebay and paid $17.99 plus shipping, in all less than $20. gold powder can be black,tan or even brown with a reddish tint. usually dark brown for the most part.

 

[callicom]

thanks again for the info, i probably have a grams worth, but it will be my first button, a lot of work for the value :!: but the know how is another story :mrgreen:like you say knowledge is power :!:

 

[Geo]

heres an example of refined gold powder.sorry pics are so grainy. this is 19.8 grams.

 

[Harold_V]

when your sure its dry sprinkle about a teaspoon full into the dish then apply heat with your torch in a circular motion melting the borax evenly over the surface of the dish.

That method works well enough if you're fortunate enough to have anhydrous borax, or borax glass, but you're far better served to heat the dish to redness, then sprinkle the borax on. It doesn't blow around so much that way.

Harold

 

[Geo]

when your sure its dry sprinkle about a teaspoon full into the dish then apply heat with your torch in a circular motion melting the borax evenly over the surface of the dish.

That method works well enough if you're fortunate enough to have anhydrous borax, or borax glass, but you're far better served to heat the dish to redness, then sprinkle the borax on. It doesn't blow around so much that way.

Harold

thank you Harold. i was having that problem even on low pressure.

 

[callicom]

well it seems like i keep getting gold out of my solution, i do a stainous and it keeps showing theres something in there, so i put in some mre smb and the next day there is more brown dust in the bottom, i thought it would all drop a lot faster. when i get it all i guess i`ll dry the dust in my skillet with a half inch of sand in the bottom then i`ll be ready to make my first button thanks to all the help on this forum :mrgreen:
the copper piece i put in the other solution ( green slurpy ) has black dust fallen to the bottom, theres also like a gas stain floating on top of the solution, is that black dust the gold :?: