Virginia guy looking for a mentor...

[silverforgestudio]

Hey folks- long time lurker- in VA- trying to get my stash of bits and bobs ready to refine/process and smelt... and hoping there is a local (VA/NC/MD/PA) folk I can buy a few cups of coffee and bend their ears a bit and give 'em a good chuckle as I muddle through this process... Im looking to go for it by the end of summer- and I'll be posting the work in progress here (And certainly some questions too!)

Hope all have a great and peaceful day/week- gonna hit the beach again with the detector tomorrow!

Kerri

 

[bmgold2]

I can't really offer any one-on-one help since I'm still learning to refine myself and my total recovered gold so far is well under 1 gram and it isn't real pure. I don't know what type of material you are starting with but I would suggest you start small scale. That way you don't risk loosing or messing up a lot of valuable materials as you figure out the process you will use. You will also produce a lot less waste that you need to figure out how to get rid of. Once you are confident you can recover your precious metals, then you can scale up the process and hopefully make a profit.

Depending on what your goal is, I'm sure you realise that selling your "bits and bobs" might get you as much or more money than you can get from refining them yourself and saves you from dealing with the chemicals and wastes produced but then someone else gets the fun of refining them.

Give us an idea of what you are starting with (jewelry, electronics, etc.) and maybe someone can point you in the right direction. You might even find someone to mentor you directly.

 

[silverforgestudio]

Thanks BM- I am starting with a batch of computers and e-scrap. I guess the best thing to do would be to take pics first- then go from there...

Understood about doing it small scale first... I may be doing it to determine if I can handle it then move forward!

I as well have a metal detecting hobby- so about 600g of sterling scrap and anywhere from 55-70 g of various karat golds.

The process of selling it has passed my way several times- but I like the knowledge and want to actually document the process all the way to a finished piece of jewelry for my wife as a project...

I appreciate the thoughts on it- and anytime youre in VA I'll but the coffee!

Kerri

 

[bmgold2]

The process of selling it has passed my way several times- but I like the knowledge and want to actually document the process all the way to a finished piece of jewelry for my wife as a project...

Sounds like a great idea. You gain some knowledge and your wife gets a piece of jewelry that should have much more sentimental value to both of you than something simply bought.