I see people get very lucky at thrift stores... never happens with me though. Do what you gotta do...
Two semi failed attempts, maybe someone can help shed light on what to do next.
- Thread starter Nick Delsignore
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Ok I would handle this a total different way.
Do not burn this stuff off, get the Human off it in a plastic mayo jar. cover with hot water , 2 drops dawn dish washing soap and tighten the cap good. Then shake it for all long time or put the jar on and rock tumbler and let it run.
Gold filled should just be considered heavy gold plating, that has a so called guaranty of weight to it.
I.E. 10 grams of 10k gold filled jewelry should, minus the ware off factor has 1 gram of 10k gold to recover
I would have processed in a sulfuric deplating cell to remove all gold.
Then you collect and process the recovered gold sludge.
Process this as needed to recover the gold then refine.
So if I use this same 1 gram of 10k gold I would use only 0.36 for any math not the 0.410 results are closer.
Then if you would like to try processing the stripped parts to prove all gold was collected, give it try.
Do not burn this stuff off, get the Human off it in a plastic mayo jar. cover with hot water , 2 drops dawn dish washing soap and tighten the cap good. Then shake it for all long time or put the jar on and rock tumbler and let it run.
Gold filled should just be considered heavy gold plating, that has a so called guaranty of weight to it.
I.E. 10 grams of 10k gold filled jewelry should, minus the ware off factor has 1 gram of 10k gold to recover
I would have processed in a sulfuric deplating cell to remove all gold.
Then you collect and process the recovered gold sludge.
Process this as needed to recover the gold then refine.
So if I use this same 1 gram of 10k gold I would use only 0.36 for any math not the 0.410 results are closer.
Then if you would like to try processing the stripped parts to prove all gold was collected, give it try.
What magic is this
Finding deals ?
Every one of us love to find deals right?
There are people/ members who make I living doing this that answer may be held closely bro .
You have to be creative
You need to get out to your local yard sales, estate sales, take things apart.
If you don’t want to do this and just want it delivered to your door then you’re stuck with eBay .
When using eBay ask the seller the weight, size and clear pictures of the Sterling stamps
good luck
Jeff
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Cleaning with soap and water? Good Magic not Bad Magic........What magic is this
Getting the human off is a simple means of cleaning all the oils and gunk of human cells from the Jewlery.
Burning off the plate/fill is not good, you lose gold with too hot of a flame.
Gold should not oxidize ever.
Or are you talking my approach at the gold recovery?
i was referring to where you said you get 1 gram from 10g of gold filled... i find that hard to believe
I think what he is saying is he gets 1 gram of 10 karat from 10 grams of gold filled.
I don’t want to speak for him, but I do quick calculations on a similar basis. Based on an average that I came up with from my methods of recovery.
I don’t want to speak for him, but I do quick calculations on a similar basis. Based on an average that I came up with from my methods of recovery.
Nick Delsignore
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Will you explain the sulfuric deplating cell method in more depth?
One uses concentrated Sulfuric acid and reverse electroplatre the Gold off.
This creates Persulfuric acid close the the Gold at the anode and the God gets temporarily dissolved,
before it "bounces" back to metal again.
There are several good threads for this here on the forum.
Search and you shall find.
For many the use of a sulphuric cell is cheaper being that often it is easier to obtain. The down side, it can be quite a bit more dangerous. Nitric is very often more expensive, but less of an immediate danger. Both work well, both have trade offs for their use. Long term, anyone seriously interested in refining, should know both methods. The more we know, the more capable we are at attaining quality gold from most items.
Start with the guided tour link below. The General Reactions List contains all of the core methods.
Steve
Steve
Gold-filled stuff that's OLD tends to have much thicker gold. The modern gold-filled is more analogous to old gold plating. And modern gold-plating is ridiculously thin. Only micrometers in thickness.
Do the math. Example 1/10 12 karat is still 1/10 12 karat. Allow for wear, especially on older stuff. If I run one pound (450 grams roughly) for example, 1/10 12 karat, how much gold could be expected from it? Normally, using nitric, my preferred method, I can have that gold filled broken down and dissolved in AR the same day.
How many pounds of the average boards would that take, and how long to have it ready to drop from AR? ( it has been so long since I ran boards I would have to dig deep into past files to answer that myself)
Gold plating is, at best very thin, and almost non existent on a lot of modern items (talking jewelry). But, in large enough batch’s it can come out decent under good conditions. For small lots of a pound or two, I wouldn’t expect much more than some practice and a small amount of powders to save up for later.
As for the sulfuric cell itself, there are may great posts on building and using them already. Lazersteve has some of the oldest information on the forum about them with many additional posts over the years. Just because some posts are many years old, don’t discount the validity of the information in them.
How many pounds of the average boards would that take, and how long to have it ready to drop from AR? ( it has been so long since I ran boards I would have to dig deep into past files to answer that myself)
Gold plating is, at best very thin, and almost non existent on a lot of modern items (talking jewelry). But, in large enough batch’s it can come out decent under good conditions. For small lots of a pound or two, I wouldn’t expect much more than some practice and a small amount of powders to save up for later.
As for the sulfuric cell itself, there are may great posts on building and using them already. Lazersteve has some of the oldest information on the forum about them with many additional posts over the years. Just because some posts are many years old, don’t discount the validity of the information in them.
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In the U.S., gold-filled is strictly specified, whether it's old or new.
It will be designated by 2 numbers in sequence, like 1/10 10K, 1/10 14K, 1/20 12K, etc.
The thickness of the gold layer (actually, the relative weight) is specified by the first number, e.g., 1/10, or 1/20. It specifies that 1/10th, or 1/20th of the weight of the item will be composed of the alloy in the second number. The second number designates the karat value of the alloy on the outside of the item.
So, the thickness does not depend on the age of the item, but on the specification of the first number, with 2 caveats. First, manufacturers are allowed a bit of leeway in these numbers. It can amount to up to 5% of the specified yield. Second, the gold layer on gold-filled is on the outside, so it is the first to be abraded away through wear and use. Gold-filled will never yield the full specified amount of gold.
Dave
A few quick mathematical examples may be in order.
A) 100g of 1/10 12kt
1/10= 0.1
12k = 12/24 = 0.5
100g x 0.1 x 0.5 = 5g Au estimated maximum yields
B) 100g 1/20 14kt
1/20 = 0.05
14/24 = 0.583
100g x 0.05 x 0.583 = 2.92g Au estimated maximum yield
Substitute in your sorted GF values and gram weights for fair estimate. If you are dealing with charms, watches, lighters, etc then you must clean out all the non gold filled parts before doing the math. The stainless steel, cork inserts, mechanical parts, stones, and such do not count towards the calculation.
Steve
A) 100g of 1/10 12kt
1/10= 0.1
12k = 12/24 = 0.5
100g x 0.1 x 0.5 = 5g Au estimated maximum yields
B) 100g 1/20 14kt
1/20 = 0.05
14/24 = 0.583
100g x 0.05 x 0.583 = 2.92g Au estimated maximum yield
Substitute in your sorted GF values and gram weights for fair estimate. If you are dealing with charms, watches, lighters, etc then you must clean out all the non gold filled parts before doing the math. The stainless steel, cork inserts, mechanical parts, stones, and such do not count towards the calculation.
Steve
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Very good point Steve.
When working with watch bands for example the caps of the watch bands are the only part that is plated/filled.
One can not get a weight to work with until disassembly to the point of only having the caps.
This number will still have a error factor , these caps take a lot of the ware and bands are replaced when the ware is to the point the owner dislikes the appearance of it or it is broken.
Note: It is not necessary to break the bands down this far to just caps to process them.
When working with watch bands for example the caps of the watch bands are the only part that is plated/filled.
One can not get a weight to work with until disassembly to the point of only having the caps.
This number will still have a error factor , these caps take a lot of the ware and bands are replaced when the ware is to the point the owner dislikes the appearance of it or it is broken.
Note: It is not necessary to break the bands down this far to just caps to process them.
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I will get one gram of the gold alloy that the fill is made from, with exact numbers which do not exist in the real world.
IE. I have 10 grams of 10K gold filled 1/10 caps. These caps are supposed to be coated in 1/10 their weight in 10K gold. I will recover (perfect numbers) a gram of 10k gold, still a alloy, needing to be refined yet. Now (perfect numbers) refined I will get 0.41 of a gram of Au.
But there is a allowed error factor in Manufacturing and the ware factor on the caps.
So I will vary my number biased on condition , and found that the numbers are just a guide.
If I were to buy a pile of clean 10k gold fill 1/10 I might use .36 or .38 as the value of 10k in my value formula if buying it.
Recovery of Gold alloy is not what the finally refined Au total will be.
When doing rough calculations of the gold content of gold filled jewelry, just memorize one number for 12K20 GF - 2.5%.
Almost all of the GF jewelry I find is either 10K or 12K and 1/20th of the mass.
10K 1/20 will be roughly 2% and 14K/20 will be a bit under 3%.
Almost all of the GF jewelry I find is either 10K or 12K and 1/20th of the mass.
10K 1/20 will be roughly 2% and 14K/20 will be a bit under 3%.
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I do not consider 1/20 as any thing but gold plating.
I get more gold off old, considered "costume jewelry" than any 10k 1/20th.
I have runs pounds of gold layered jewelry and the recovery was better than any 1/20 I have processed.
In the USA it is way to lax, on the karat and weight, regulation enforcement.
"Math don't Lie"
I ran some 24k plated rings that were not legal for sale because the lead in the base alloy was too high.
I got a box to teach a guy up north how to run a sulfuric cell and for a box that cost me $60 with shipping.
I recovered and refined out 3 grams.
Man I wish I had bought all the supply the seller had, by the time I taught my friend up north and had the numbers the rest of the rings were all sold.
