Palladium

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jimdoc

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Messages
4,945
Location
Philadelphia
Does anybody know what other metal is in the Palladium/Plus school rings? I remember in 1981 when I graduated they were popular, but
I forget what the catalog said about them. I was wondering if they are
alloyed with ruthenium or iridium? Or maybe just rhodium plated?
I have about ten of them, and if they are ten percent ruthenium, that
would add up to a substantial amount with the price where it is now.

Also, would the gold cell work on palladium plated items? Would there need to be any special changes to do so?
 
I haven't tried the cell on any plated items other than gold. It does work on nickel plate, but the nickel goes into the solution (dissolves). I know this because it removes the nickel undercoat if you leave the plated items in the bath too long.

I'm working on a video of a different kind of cell that will work on karat gold and there is a variation of it for Pt and Pd.

I don't have any info about the rings you asked about.

Steve
 
Info for any of you guys that have too much time on your hands, and can handle 300lbs or more. I scrap old Hammond organs for the palladium wire. So far I have done 9, and have 18.5 dwt of pure palladium wire that comes off the buss bars, and alot of the contacts cut short but the wire on them is too small to remove so I just clip them as short as possible for later processing.
There are 9 contacts for every key, each have a small piece of palladium wire. The buss bars have a piece of pure palladium wire along the whole lenght and there is 8 of those for each set of keys. I average 2dwt or 1/10 of an ounce from these on M-2's M-3's and 3.5 dwt from an E-182.

It is some work to tear the organ apart, and being a mechanic, it may seam easier to me than to others, but I consider precious metals for free and a little bit of work a challenge. There is also 1/2 oz of silver contacts on the draw bars of some of the older organs, and other palladium or silver contacts on the foot pedal contacts and some other parts. There is also alot of brass and insulated wire that both bring $1 per lb. here.

One more organ will put me over an ounce of pure palladium, plus all the rest that needs to be processed. The nine I have already done were within a 3 month period, now there seams to be some difficulty in lining up number ten, but I have got as many as 3 in one week, so I plan on working on the 2 ounce mark by summers end.

I would be interested in hearing if anybody else tries this, and always looking for other items that have precious metals in them. Anybody else have any crazy sources of precious metals to be recovered?
 
Steve,
I will get pictures of the wire and contacts. All the parts are gone, but next one I will get pictures of the parts. Any Hammond organ 1970 and older will have the palladium wire. I am not sure about later ones because they went to gold plated wire at some point. Mid 70's may still have palladium,
I haven't found any gold plated ones yet. I think Hammond's are the only ones with palladium, but I haven't checked any others, that is one of the things that Hammonds their unique sound.
Basically if you unbolt and remove the keypad sections they hold the best
stuff(the key contacts and the bussbars).
I see some of the amps from the organs going for $50 bucks and more on Ebay, but I haven't tried to sell any other parts. I am just after the metals.
 
Here is a picture from an Ebay ad that shows the contacts and bussbars.
If you look on the tips of the contacts, and the top of the "bussbars" you can see the palladium wire.
 

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  • Pd_Wires.jpg
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I took care of it Noxx, after all I asked him for the photo.

Jim,

How hard is it to remove the white fibers from the wires?
 
Thanks for fixing the picture, I have to work on how to post a pic.
The wire with the white insulation is probably just copper. The palladium is along the edge of the "bussbars" and a small piece on the edge of each copper contact. If you look close ate the pics you can see it.
I usually break the bussbar piece into foot long sections then peel the wire off of it. It has tiny spot welds every half inch and if you get it started right with the right pull you can get it off all in one piece. But sometimes the wire keeps breaking and only comes off a little at a time.
I still have to figure out how to process the tips of the contacts. You can see the end of the long copper contacts where it gets skinny, that is what I cut off, so there is more copper than palladium, and the newer organ contacts the tips are triangle points that leaves more copper.
Any idea how the best way to process those would be?
 
Steve,
Thanks,thats what I figured, I just haven't tried it yet, I have just been
collecting them untill I get a bunch. Dimethylglyoxime should work the same right? I have that.
 
jimdoc said:
Steve,
Thanks,thats what I figured, I just haven't tried it yet, I have just been
collecting them untill I get a bunch. Dimethylglyoxime should work the same right? I have that.
Click to expand...

While it's a great indicator for testing for palladium in solution, using it to for recovery will overwhelm you unless you're recovering only tiny amounts. Besides, it's a bitch to dissolve, so you waste a lot of time preparing the unneeded solution. The precipitant, which is canary yellow, is hugely voluminous. That's why it's such a good indicator. It's a lot better to use ammonium chloride and sodium chlorate. Fun to watch, too!

Got Hoke's book? He walks you through the process!

Harold
 
Harold,
Thanks, I will have to get some sodium chlorate, I was told that dmg drops palladium selectively, but if I know thats all there is with the copper then anything that works will do the trick.
Yes I have Hoke's book, and it may surprise you but "he" is a she not that that matters, because she really knows about precious metals.
 
jimdoc,
DMG is easy to dissolve if one uses an appropriate solvent in place of water.

a man named Sue
 
Sue,
Thanks for the info. I have been waiting to process after I
setup my fume hood. So far I have just been accumulating
lots of stuff, but spring is here and the now is the time to set
it up. I got a decent fume hood for $35 from a local auction
I just need to figure out where to set it up.
 
jimdoc said:
Yes I have Hoke's book, and it may surprise you but "he" is a she not that that matters, because she really knows about precious metals.
Click to expand...

Funny! I've had the book since the early 70's and never picked up on the fact that the author was a "she". The pictures in the original issues have a picture of a gentleman holding a large evaporating dish, so I, naturally, drew a conclusion. Old habits are hard to break, it appears!

Thanks for the correction, which is the second one I've received in that regard. Now to try to remember!

What I really need to do is dig out the box of refining texts that I have in storage and refresh my memory on this entire topic. It's been years since I got my hands dirty----and almost as many since I last laid eyes on my books. They were boxed in '96, and are still boxed. Sigh! :)

Harold
 
Harold,
Yeah her name is never mentioned, just the initials, but it says her father was Sam W. Hoke a pioneer in the technology of platinum. The picture was probably of him. I found that she was a she in the book Testing Precious Metals not the one on refining wastes.
 
Her father invented the Hoke torch, the first jeweler's torch that would melt platinum. I believe they use lime melting dishes. You can still buy the Hoke torch from jeweler's suppliers. I have an old photocopy of Hoke's, "Testing Precious Metals". One of these days, I want to get a bound copy. I see them every once in awhile on the web.
 

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