Your HELP Needed please

[james1981]

Hi

I am sorry to say I am gatecrashing this site a little, BUT it is about an issue with Gold melting, reforming! Please, please read you may be able to help save the day!

OK so my mum sent away some gold to be melted and reformed into a bangle to wear, In this was a wedding ring that belonged to my father, he passed away on the 4th July this year, from cancer, a brain tumor, the ring was to heavy and too big to wear. She wanted a bangle, somthing to wear every day that had this gold in it.

So today she received a phone call to say it can not be done, the gold has all been melted, supposedly it was all checked & it was all hallmarked before this was done, the guy doing has said it can not be done, it can not be formed into any thing it just keeps cracking/splitting! and now it is just a lump of gold.

So can you help, why would this happen, what would make this happen?? Can anything be done, different process, adding more gold to the mix?? right now the guy has just sent the message it can not be done via a friend, I want some advice for my mum before we talk to him.

This is extremely stressful to my mum & to me. I

If you can help please post in as simple terms as you can!!

thank you very much

James

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Hi

I am sorry to say I am gatecrashing this site a little, BUT it is about an issue with Gold melting, reforming! Please, please read you may be able to help save the day!

OK so my mum sent away some gold to be melted and reformed into a bangle to wear, In this was a wedding ring that belonged to my father, he passed away on the 4th July this year, from cancer, a brain tumor, the ring was to heavy and too big to wear. She wanted a bangle, somthing to wear every day that had this gold in it.

So today she received a phone call to say it can not be done, the gold has all been melted, supposedly it was all checked & it was all hallmarked before this was done, the guy doing has said it can not be done, it can not be formed into any thing it just keeps cracking/splitting! and now it is just a lump of gold.

So can you help, why would this happen, what would make this happen?? Can anything be done, different process, adding more gold to the mix?? right now the guy has just sent the message it can not be done via a friend, I want some advice for my mum before we talk to him.

This is extremely stressful to my mum & to me. I

If you can help please post in as simple terms as you can!!

thank you very much

James

James,

I'm sorry this has become a stressful situation for you and your Mom. I can understand her desire to have a piece of jewelry that she can wear every day that contains the very gold that was in her husband's wedding ring.

I suspect the problem is lead. It is notorious for making gold brittle, causing it to crack and split when worked. I suspect the person she sent the metals to is not a refiner. They probably just melted everything together and tried to use the resulting metal. If even a tiny amount of lead was involved (usually from someone having used some soft solder containing lead in fabricating or repairing one of the pieces), it will render the gold unworkable.

My suggestion would be to have the lump of gold returned to you as it is. Then, you can send it to one of the members on this forum to refine the gold. This will eliminate the lead. The resulting, clean gold, can then be re-alloyed to whatever karat value you desire (14K, 18K, etc.) and made into the bangle your Mom wants.

This is one of a number of reasons why knowledgeable jewelers do not try to melt and reuse gold alloys to make new jewelry. It is always best to refine the gold in existing pieces to a pure form, then add whatever metals are desired to create the desired alloy.

The problem can be solved, but it sounds like it is beyond the knowledge and capabilities of the person who currently has it.

I hope this information helps.
Dave

edited to correct spelling errors

 

[james1981]

Hi

Thank you very very much FrugalRefiner, I think he simple melts it and then re shapes.forms into somthing else, If any one can elaborate further any other ideas that will be great, but this is so far sounding like very good news


I am in the UK any one who is reading this in the UK who can recommend someone who could do this work and sort this out?? would be very useful.

thank you again

 

[AndyWilliams]

Dave is exactly right. You need someone to take that lump and refine it, if you want the bangle made from the same gold. There are many good and honorable members who would ensure that your wishes are carried out, that the gold from that ring is returned to you.

 

[nickvc]

James had it been just a wedding ring it should have been ok but if your mom added other things like chain or other cast items it can cause problems as the alloys wont mix successfully and cracking can be a major problem. There are ways to correct this but it means either adding more fine metal or refining the original material. Remember that most gold sold in the UK, 9k, is a copper alloy with a smaller percentage of gold than copper which oxidises easily and casting alloys contain silicon which really messes up any alloy to be rolled causing cracking. Get your mom to pick something simple to have made but be aware many jewellers, so called, will scrap your gold and replace it with easier worked materials to create the piece.

 

[badran106]

hi ....question for experts only....i thank you for your help
{ non electronic scrap}
best simple way to refine alloys about 5----40% gold +rest copper

best simple way to refine 5-----40% gold + rest mostly silver...i can get acids and got a 30 amp 6 volts dc power supply...need the name of method and i will search info..i

thank you all...

 

[niteliteone]

hi ....question for experts only....i thank you for your help
{ non electronic scrap}
best simple way to refine alloys about 5----40% gold +rest copper

best simple way to refine 5-----40% gold + rest mostly silver...i can get acids and got a 30 amp 6 volts dc power supply...need the name of method and i will search info..i

thank you all...

Start with "" inquartation "" (search site for threads) by adding gold or silver to bring the whole alloy to 6K and follow the instructions that follow in the threads.
The 6K is important for this process to work as described.

edit to add;
6K is equal to 25% gold content by weight.

 

[butcher]

badran106,
The best way, begin reading Hokes Book, a free version of the book can be found in the book section or also in the signature lines of many members.

 

[moose7802]

Badran106. I would have to think your power supply is actually 30 volt 6amp. Just a thought. Running that many amps would get your cell pretty hot pretty fast.

Tyler