Question about AP and gold sealed objects.

[NuggetHuntingFool]

Hello all.

Let's say for instance that you have a pin that's plated with gold. However, the gold coating completely encompasses or "seals" the material underneath.

Will AP still do the job? Or is it time for AR or even HCL+CL?


Thanks.

 

[Rag and Bone]

I'm working on processing 10,000 old slide switches. Each switch has 6 pins and a three piece mechanism, all gold plated. A test batch had some complete and some broken and abraised. The complete pieces took much longer to strip. It took me a while to realize that the complete pieces were stripped. The foils were just empty shells of gold. All the copper got dissolved somehow.

You might rough them up with a mill or something to expose the base metal and speed the process.

 

[Anonymous]

I would put them in a casing pollisher, until the gold is worn off, then
processes the sand grit. Thats just me and my wife always says I do thing the hard way.

 

[NuggetHuntingFool]

I see.

What if you can't put them in a container and shake them up or scratch the surfaces somehow?

I'm just curious.


I'm one of those "What if?" type people I guess.

I suppose I would just use AR and selectively precipitate the gold. But then again, I'm a total novice...

 

[Anonymous]

I saw before on here that someone was grinding up stuff with a meat grinder, I would go that route or some other that grinds the stuff up. Also, though the plating may be thin enough for acid to work anyways. I had a bunch of pins like that when I put them in the nitric the gold floated off and looked like those gold filled water bottles (gold leaf) that they are selling on ebay.