What do you make of this?

[Akragon]

So there were no hinge pins used in that watch band? And there is/was no ferrous metal bushing in the hole to protect against wear? Strange.

What is your goal then? Recovery of gold or cleaning to re-plate it?

no... it was one piece as its shown....|

the goal being removing everything possible from any gold

 

[stella polaris]

There is to little gold, on this item, to be worth working on, single. Put it aside and start to study reversed electro plating, here on the forum. You will then learn how to do, what materials its good for and you get an idea of the yield to expect. While you do this you collect more material. The more you study the better you get at collecting material. The gold is there. No rush to get it out.

 

[Akragon]

So there were no hinge pins used in that watch band? And there is/was no ferrous metal bushing in the hole to protect against wear? Strange.

What is your goal then? Recovery of gold or cleaning to re-plate it?

There was... i removed them... ultimately yes i want to collect the gold. Unfortunately my resources for doing so are limited to HCL and possibly house hold chemicals... but i don't want to kill myself doing so either
i took one piece of this watch band to see what might happen... its heavy and the goldish material only dents... no flaking no peeling
i think im going to try using the dremel and taking a chunk out of the middle

 

[Akragon]

Now im slightly sparkly... this is solid material. I was expecting a layer of gold. People told me it was steel, or plated in my last thread... im not so sure

 

[Akragon]

i need to get a gold testing kit lol

any recommendations?

 

[Yggdrasil]

i need to get a gold testing kit lol

any recommendations?

I would start with a drop of HCl or preferably Nitric on the exposed area.
If it reacts it is Brass or Bronze.
If it don't react it may be Gold.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

I've combined your two threads since you're still dealing with the same watch band. Please don't start new threads when they're about the same subject. It just scatters information all over the forum.

Dave

 

[Martijn]

i need to get a gold testing kit lol

any recommendations?

Testing kit for pm's: dissolve a bit of tin in HCl to make stannous acid.
Apply a drop of the solution to be tested on a filter paper and add a drop of stannous.
Watch for a color appearing.
Purple is gold.
Yellow, green and red could indicate pgm's.

To expect pm's in solution, you have had to dissolve a metal in at least nitric (for silver and Pd) or AR or some equivalent. Silver will turn white into AgCl from stannous.
As far as I know, HCl alone will not dissolve any pm, nor will it dissolve copper or brass.
If it is brass, (gently) throw it in the AP bucket.

Martijn.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Testing kit for pm's: dissolve a bit of tin in HCl to make stannous acid.
Apply a drop of the solution to be tested on a filter paper and add a drop of stannous.
Watch for a color appearing.
Purple is gold.
Yellow, green and red could indicate pgm's.

To expect pm's in solution, you have had to dissolve a metal in at least nitric (for silver and Pd) or AR or some equivalent. Silver will turn white into AgCl from stannous.
As far as I know, HCl alone will not dissolve any pm, nor will it dissolve copper or brass.
If it is brass, (gently) throw it in the AP bucket.

Martijn.

I'm expecting he is talking about the testing kits that you use to get approximate karat.
And though I have not tried but, don't the HCl react to the Tin or Zinc in the Brass or Bronze?

 

[Martijn]

Yes, it will dissolve the zinc or tin in the alloy but I think on the surface only. [Needs quotation]

 

[Yggdrasil]

Yes, it will dissolve the zinc or tin in the alloy but I think on the surface only. [Needs quotation]

What I mean, is that it will be visible so you will know that it is not Gold?

 

[Martijn]

What I mean, is that it will be visible so you will know that it is not Gold?

Just tested it to see. With HCl it seems to clean oxides off the brass, but not dissolve any zinc. No bubbles forming or green color on a paper towel when i wipe it off.

With nitric you will see a reaction and green from the copper.
A drop of HCl on a brass coupling in the middle:

It ran down the side and left a clean surface.

He could also determine density by weighing suspended in water and dry. Divide the dry by the wet in the same unit. 1gr water=1ml volume.
http://www.pwbeck.com.au/preciousmetalservices/information-charts.phpBrass is 8.73 gr/ml.

 

[Martijn]

Correction: There would not be any green if only zinc dissolved... so still not sure if a test tube with warm HCl would b do anything.

 

[goldshark]

A touchstone and Nitric are the way to go. Super cheap. Trying to make it cheaper here. What is the composition of a touchstone? I have heard Obsidian. It is way smoother then the touchstones I have seen, which resemble either unglazed porcelain, or a Sandstone knife hone. the Nitric, I believe, is diluted from 65%ish to maybe 10%? Anybody care to embellish on the proper technology?

 

[SRM]

Smack it with a hammer. You will find out if it is malleable, might be able to detect plating, and will make recovery easier.

 

[Akragon]

Smack it with a hammer. You will find out if it is malleable, might be able to detect plating, and will make recovery easier

I gave it a few good smacks... bent it all to hell... managed to snap a piece off with some pliers... its uniform on the inside...

 

[Martijn]

A touchstone and Nitric are the way to go. Super cheap. Trying to make it cheaper here. What is the composition of a touchstone? I have heard Obsidian. It is way smoother then the touchstones I have seen, which resemble either unglazed porcelain, or a Sandstone knife hone. the Nitric, I believe, is diluted from 65%ish to maybe 10%? Anybody care to embellish on the proper technology?

A ceramic CPU like the Intel without metal top is a great touch stone and also a great wetstone to sharpen knives.

 

[Akragon]

I would start with a drop of HCl or preferably Nitric on the exposed area.
If it reacts it is Brass or Bronze.
If it don't react it may be Gold.

tried that... nitric isn't easy to get in Canada... i got a place but its $135 for 2L... and im not in a place where i can safely use it yet anyways... but HCL i have... took a few drops straight from the bottle... no reaction

 

[Yggdrasil]

I gave it a few good smacks... bent it all to hell... managed to snap a piece off with some pliers... its uniform on the inside... View attachment 54748

Hmm if it snaps like that...
The topmost end looks grey in color, which make me think some kind of casting alloy.
Are there markings on it?

I think there has been quite a few posts regarding Nitric in Canada where prices and suppliers has been discussed.
Do a search in here and you'll see.
For testing purposes 50-100ml will do.

 

[Akragon]

Hmm if it snaps like that...
The topmost end looks grey in color, which make me think some kind of casting alloy.
Are there markings on it?

I think there has been quite a few posts regarding Nitric in Canada where prices and suppliers has been discussed.
Do a search in here and you'll see.
For testing purposes 50-100ml will do.

Sorry wrong wording it didn't actually snap it bent and broke after a bit of muscling... and that grey colour is paint and cement on my basement floor from the "smacking"... the only marking is the G on the watch clasp