Welcome In!

[Anonymous]

Name : Rebecca Aye
Sex : Female
Age : 53
Location : Scottsdale, AZ
Profession : Housewife, soon to be part-time student
Hobbies : Sewing, camping, traveling, Sudoku (the easy ones)
Interrests : Refining scrap gold with various K to pure gold -- then turn it into 14K gold. Why? I want to make my own chain necklaces & jewelry

How long have you been refining gold? : Never. Until I accidentally ended up here, I didn't even know that the novice could do it.

What are you looking for in our community? : Knowledge. Direction. Information. Friends/Buddies.

How did you discovered our Forum? : Honestly? I'm not even sure. I was googling to try & get information on how to remove the base metals from scrap gold with various K. I thought that it might be cheaper than purchasing pure gold. Then, of course, I wanted to know how to properly create 14K sheets/fine wire -- since that is what I want to work with.I want to make handcrafted 14K gold chains, rings, etc. (will be taking classes this semester)

Other : I'm an empty nester now & want to create something beautiful -- in 14K gold -- I've never done that before either! Seriously, though. My husband & I want to retire in the next year or two -- as full-time RV'rs -- & with our retirement investment $$ pretty well shot -- like everyone else's -- we will need to make some extra money to be able to live/travel the way we want to. Making jewelry -- chains etc. . . would be portable & not take up too much space. That's the plan anyhow.

 

[Harold_V]

Welcome, Rebecca.

As a one-time gold refiner, may I suggest you set your sites higher? Consider making your projects in 18K gold instead of 14K. You'll love the difference.

Harold

 

[Oz]

As an add on to what Harold said, when is the last time you saw custom handcrafted jewelry for sale that was less than 18K? that isn’t even taking into account how much better it works in fabrication.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, I may just do that!! :!: I actually had decided on the 14K gold because of some of the sales on handmade chains, etc. on eBay. I never even thought to look up the sales on handcrafted 18K. :?

Is it really easier to work with? :?:

Any idea on whether you can get better prices for the investment in materials for 18K vs 14K? :?

I bought the Hoke Book, it should be arriving in a week or two. Just downloaded the Forum Handbook Vol 1&2 and the other downloads that were recommended - so I have some material I will need to get thru. Trust me, I'll be back -- with questions!! :idea: :shock:

Thank you, so much. This is an absolutely WONDERFUL website!! On top of that, you are all so helpful!!

Rebecca Aye

 

[Harold_V]

Is it really easier to work with?

While I have worked with 18K (only once, making a coin ring), my point is that 14K gold is not looked upon as being anything special. The bulk of countries that treasure gold (the US is not one of them) don't even have a great deal of respect for 18K. Countries like India, where one's gold is often a display of one's personal wealth, jewelry is often as much as 22K.

When gold is alloyed, the richness of the element is lost. Needless to say, the closer you come to pure gold, the better should be the appearance, and certainly the patina. That's not to say that you can't ruin the color, but if the gold is alloyed carefully, using a good balance of copper and silver, the majority of the nice yellow color will be retained.

I'm going to post, below, a picture that has been seen many times by the readers. It's a bowl of gold that was refined to a purity in excess of 9995. Take note of the color. That is what is lost when gold is alloyed.

Study your Hoke book well, and you'll be able to produce like quality. I learned refining from Hoke, and went on to run a small commercial refining service for many years.

Any idea on whether you can get better prices for the investment in materials for 18K vs 14K?

Making custom jewelry in 18K will appeal to the more discriminating buyers. You limit your potential buyers, but you can demand greater prices because you are offering a better product. I'm assuming that you'd have the necessary skills to produce desirable jewelry.

Harold

 

[Oz]

It has been about 20 years since I was making a few custom pieces of jewelry with wire but you will find that it does bend sharper at 18K vs 14K with less annealing in between. As Harold alluded to it is 18K and up that is considered quality by many discriminating buyers. 10K and 14K is the bulk of what you see mass produced for Wal-Mart. Your choice is probably best decided by the market you intend to sell to. If I were to try to make custom jewelry for sale in low volume I would prefer to cater to the individual that can afford to pay for my art. You would make a far lager premium on your time invested.

Just one mans opinion.

 

[gold4mike]

Name: Mike
Sex: Male
Age: 50
Location: Ohio
Profession: Personal Computer repair
Hobbies: Go Kart Racing, Gardening, Stock Market trading
Interests: Finding novel ways to make extra money
How long have you been refining gold?: I haven't yet but am saving material!

What are you looking for in our community?: Knowledge! I tend to research things in great detail before diving in. Due to the nature of the chemicals used in these processes I'm glad I found all of you! I have always enjoyed "tinkering" and didn't want to try refining without the benefit of the wisdom this group has gained from experience.

How did you discover our Forum?: I surfed the net for several days, almost bought information from two sources, and then one of my Google searches turned up a link to your Forum.

Other: I wish I had bumped into this group earlier. I have generated hundreds of pounds of scrap in the form of motherboards, processors, RAM, ISA cards, PCI cards, etc. All was sold to a place that pays 10 cents to $2.00 per pound, depending upon the scrap.

 

[Anonymous]

I just like to say hi to everyone on this board! It took me a little bit of time to find you guys, but I am glad that I did! As per Steve's recommendation I made this to be my 1st post.

Name : Stanley
Sex : Male
Age : 23
Location : Canada

Profession : Clerk @ the good, the bad, and the ugly UPS :?

Hobbies : I am not going to lie about it, guns and PC games

Interrests : I guess refining will be one soon enough.

How long have you been refining gold? : never, as I didn't really thought of doing it before. As I always wanted to prospect for gold, but I guess refining could be a little easier then staking a claim.

What are you looking for in our community? : anything that the community can give me, as any help would be welcome.

How did you discovered our Forum? : It was actually was a little strange how I found this forum. As I was learning about Coin Rolls hunting to find a little sliver for this rescission, but then I thought of other ways to find PM. My old metal work teacher from high school said something about dipping computer parts in acid to get gold about 8 years ago, so that got me thinking. Then my search lead me to people talking about refining PT from catalytic converter on plating.com. After that some people on that tread pointed to this forum, and here I am. : )

Other : I hope I can learn as much as possible to earn a little bit more income for my family in these rough time.

Another thing I have to say is that just looking at a few thread on this forum already taught me a few things about refining already! like what is Aqua Regia, and simple things like that. I have to say thank you all!

One thing to ask about the more experienced people, should I get this book " Refining Precious Metal Wastes" as a start point for refining? or would reading this forum would be good enough?

Any pointers that anyone can give me to start me right, I sure would love it!

 

[Harold_V]

One thing to ask about the more experienced people, should I get this book " Refining Precious Metal Wastes" as a start point for refining? or would reading this forum would be good enough?

You can read this forum until you're blue in the face and not pick up on a few things that are essential to refining. Not because they are not here, but because you won't understand the significance of the information, and how it fits in your world as a refiner. It is very important that you understand some of the fundamentals of refining, otherwise you will be in an endless fog.

If it helps you to know-----I took no chemistry in school, and have nothing more than a high school education. I was a miserable student, that never hauled books home. No studying. How I graduated is, this day (almost 52 years later), a mystery.

By obtaining Hoke's book and reading it until it made sense, I started refining precious metals for grins and ended up with a very nice refining business, which I sold when I retired.

Hoke's book will not teach you about refining e scrap. There was no such thing when she wrote the book. However, if you read the book until it makes sense, virtually all questions that will arise will be answered by the knowledge you've gained by reading the book.

The most important thing you'll gain is the recognition from people like me (and others that dispense advice), that you're trying to do something about learning, not sitting back with your hand outstretched, looking for charity. If you are willing to put forth an effort, those of us that share our knowledge (such as it is) are far more willing to do so.

Any pointers that anyone can give me to start me right, I sure would love it!

Cool! And simple. Get the book. Read the book.

Welcome to the forum!

Harold

 

[Anonymous]

hi
Name : connie
Sex : f
Age : depends on if its monday or friday
Location : ohio

Profession : im an activities assistant and work with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities

The term ‘intellectual disability’ is synonymous with the term ‘mental retardation,’ and is generally replacing it.
http://www.aamr.org/content_96.cfm?navID=20

Hobbies : learning new things and metal detecting
Interests : knowing
How long have you been refining gold? : never, but i plan on doing something of the sort
What are you looking for in our community? : help, guidance, direction in refining
How did you discovered our Forum? : from a member from here.... http://forum.treasurenet.com/
other: ive read only a small portion of the fourm, and im impressed with the
wealth of knowledge here

 

[Noxx]

Welcome In Connie

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the welcome and the tip Harold.

Get the book and read it, and study it. will do! I now believe Holk's book is the fundamentals of refining.

Funny thing is that I don't even know how I passed high school too! I never really did any homework or tried to study too.

I did pass chemistry with like 50%, and back then I thought it was useless and have nothing to do with real life. That is the way I felt until now, and I now need that knowledge.

 

[gold4mike]

Hoke's book sure is some dry reading! It's interesting how timely the information still is. The same fundamentals still apply and nobody has really managed (or needed) to reinvent the wheel.

I now know how photography works, and didn't remember from High School chemistry that you should add acid to water, rather than water to acid when diluting.

I'm convinced that I need to read the whole thing cover to cover, go back over the parts I need clarification on, then dive into this thing. Meanwhile I'm building a collection of little pieces to process.

I think my wife appreciates that I'm so engrossed in my new hobby that I don't pester her anymore :lol:

 

[Harold_V]

I now believe Holk's book is the fundamentals of refining.

The book (Hoke's) is written for the layman----a guy (or gal) that doesn't have a clue about chemistry---or how it is applied to refining. A moron can learn from the book (I'm living proof).

There are other books that are very useful, one of which is The Chemistry of Gold, written by Sir T.K. Rose. Problem is, it isn't a "how to" book. It's loaded with useful information concerning all aspects of gold production and refining, but it won't teach you how to refine gold. Hoke's book will, along with some of the platinum group metals.

Harold

 

[kmiles412]

Name : Keith Miles
Sex : Yes :lol: Male
Age : 48
Location : Upstate New York
Profession : Construction Jack of all trades, Master of none
Hobbies : Collecting old stuff, Time for an auction, Now to be refining
Interests :Old Postcards, Stereoviews, Prospecting, Gold, got the fever
How long have you been refining gold? :Started last year collecting and learning the processes.
What are you looking for in our community? : To absorb as much knowledge as possible, learn, earn, and share.
How did you discovered our Forum? : Steves site
Other :

 

[Anonymous]

Name : Steve B
Sex : Yes, absolutely
Age : 34
Location : Illinois
Profession : Machinist
Hobbies : Silver metal molding, Coins, Gold, Precision machine work, R/C Helicopters
Interests : Silver metal molding, Coins, Gold, Precision machine work, R/C Helicopters
How long have you been refining gold? : Still working on my first batch
What are you looking for in our community? : Gold and Silver refining info
How did you discovered our Forum? : Yahoo search
Other : Thanks so much to everyone so far with your help.

 

[Anonymous]

Name : Gary
Sex : M
Age : 43
Location : Illinois
Profession : Computer
Hobbies : Schutzhund, beekeeping, metal detecting
Interrests :
How long have you been refining gold? : About 30 minutes
What are you looking for in our community? : How to information
How did you discovered our Forum? : Google search

I really appreciate you guys putting this resource together. I see I have lots to learn before I start meddling with chemicals. In the mean time, I have a mountain of computer components pre-process.

 

[dorki22]

Name : Simon Colnarič
Sex : M
Age : 30
Location : small village Apače near Ptuj, Slovenija, EU
Profession : maritime navigator, working in mechanical engineering installations (don't ask

Hobbies : metal detecting, fishing, schrooms, sports,...
Interrests : scrap PM, being a good father, learning good english
How long have you been refining gold : 2 days
What are you looking for in our community: good time and information

How did you discovered our Forum? : can't remember, first I found Lazersteve's side, then a link to here and since....never had enough!
Other :
Dismantled about 50 computers, but starting with pottery and HCl-Cl. Love you guys, feeling very fortunate to find this forum.

 

[4metals]

Location : Northeast US
Profession : Chemist retired, currently consulting on refinery construction and processing techniques part time.
Hobbies : : Chemistry of refining
How long have you been refining gold? : since 1972
How did you discover our Forum? : I was internet searching for EPA exemptions to hazardous waste regs for precious metal refiners.
What are you looking for in our community?: I know a lot about refining but realize you're never too old to learn more. Plus I'm sure I can help someone.
Other: I have real concerns about people generating hazardous materials and disposing of them improperly, I haven't heard many questions about waste treatment or discussions of same. I know in New York City small refiners abuse their drains terribly, once the gold is out they don't want to spend any more cash. Maybe if it were more discussed it will result in proper treatment. It's hard to imagine that back yard refiners who don't want to spend money on the classic acids to make aqua regia are likely to spend money to treat spent solutions.

 

[semi-lucid]

4metals

The subject of hazardous materials disposal has come up quite a bit. I think you'll find most people on the forum are concerned about the subject.

One example of a discussion can be found in this thread:

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=1093

Also we had some discussion of the danger of Arsenic in this thread:

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=2821&highlight=

I agree it should be discussed more, you could start a tread on the subject.

Keep in mind, this is an international forum. people all over the world could benefit from information and instruction on this subject.

Regards.
John