I've been scrapping

Haven’t been able to detect lately.
Processing some gold from scrapping. There is also a cut up gold ring in there from detecting, I’ll have an idea of it’s purity soon.

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Getting a nice collection there.

…Back to your kingsized lead Pandora charm, you’ve tried drifting it out with a large coach bolt?

I’ve got more gold scraps. That was just the coppery stuff. Once the copper is in solution, I’ll add the ferrous gold and hopefully the iron will come off flaking the gold plate then copper will crystalise onto the ferrous wires. I’ll remove my gold solids first.

All up I have over 12g (including 5g ring)
However I think it might be nearer to 8g once it’s been cleaned and smelted.

I have a tiny bit of platinum/ruthenium/rhenium too (not sure which), and silver that I can use the same process on for removing copper backing. Only requires cheap household chemicals too!


The blue is Copper Chloride solution - gold removed.
The green is after I added an Iron bar.


As you can see the Copper comes out and the Iron disolves into the solution.
There is more copper near the base where I filed the rusty bar.
Looks like I’ve got to do some more filing :frowning:

It’s not really worth recovering the copper, but I’m just making the solution safer, copper chloride is not so nice as a waste material. Be sure not to use Stainless Steel if you do this, as the Chromium will enter solution and it’s very toxic (even to touch, let alone breathe).

As I was filtering the copper chloride I forgot to put the saucepan lid over the funnel and the room filled with a nast odour - after breathing a bit of this I had a NASTY headache for the evening, and went straight to bed after airing out the place!

Finishing touches on my furnace.


:small_orange_diamond:A This is the fuel entrance cover, it has some little holes, I might cover with another piece of scrap metal.
:small_orange_diamond:B This is where the crucible is held
:small_orange_diamond:C These are side holes, I might explain them later.


Bent some old tv antenna tubes, they are only rolled alumium so have an open seam, which is good for letting smoke out. The bike part is Alu also.
The aim is for the Alu to act as a heat sink and draw the heat up that way, but also restrict the heat from escaping out the chimney.

More soon…

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Will the Ali not go all gooey and run down into the furnace bed when it’s full throttle?

I’m hoping the Alumium chimneys will act as a heat sink
FINGERS CROSSED

Not much of the Alu is protruding inside of the Terracotta pipe - they are held in place with clay.
I can always rip them out, and use the clay to restrict the final chimney exit hole - to preserve the heat.

My Rayban glasses did not work in regular solution, so I tried to rust the metal with a salt mixture, tried Hydrogen peroxide and other mixtures. But the metal must be nickel or something - barely got any gold to flake off, perhaps I will file them :disappointed_relieved:


Had some other gold plated pins that were not copper, not sure what they are, same result.

And even my gold with some copper after several vinegar washes, and water washes, then drying, they dried out with copper tarnish :disappointed_relieved:


The gold ring likely has a significant amount of copper in anyway.
There is some solder, nickel impurities too.

I’m making a hand driven fan to help increase air flow, just in case (to ramp up the temperature).

However, I’m considering using coal dust (crushing some of my coal), I’ve a pipe to feed it in through the hole in the cover plate.
However I’m concerned about blow out / blow back - I’ll only be feeding in half a cup at a time.
Also worried the energy will be expelled up the feed pipe or back out the main air intake vent.

If anyone has some ideas on how I’d go about this safely and efficiently, please throw anything at me.

I could always just throw a table spoon at my in take fan - though a lot might fall to the ground and be wasted.

I’m thinking this could let the coal dust in, but only release it once it is down and far from my hands. The rod with slot for coal dust should be heavy enough to withstand the explosive blast. It also won’t be flush so the coal dust can fall out and down pipe.

I’d try a shallower angle. The draw of the fire should pull the dust in happily, if not, a little tapping on the pipe should vibrate it in the right direction.

In a vertical vent, you’re more likely to get a flashback as the first grains down the hole ignite and set the still falling grains off methinks.

Yeah that is my concern. Perhaps I will need to make a feed pipe attached to my fan - so the coal powder is forced into the furnace.

Smelting my first bars:
Pouring into damp brick mould is no good.
They sputter hot balls, like a volcano!
Underside is spikey & tarnished.
Mould also needs to sit in furnace for a bit to ensure an even top with out sag.

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I’d give those voids in the brick a smear of clay

Not bad for a first cast :+1: Ali, Lead…or yummy Silver ?

I wondered if it was lead, alloy or silver - if silvwer I wanted toknow how the heat was generated. Of course during domestics enough heat is generate to do the trick and more!

Well brick needs some serious drying. While 70x30mm ingot was resting in mould brick sweat on to floor below, even after 15min when I pulled ingot free there was steam :confused:
It was just a hasty pour - I love shiney ingots :hugs:
Good practice for the future.
Soon I’ll make the mould nicer - brick wore down my steel cutter - silica can be hard!

If anyone can guess the metal (or close enough) I’ll post them out a smaller sized ingot.

Wheel weights! And now I weight patiently for an answer.
I use these for casting lead ingots…they are marvelarse. I see them in second hand shops now and again.

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I’ve seen a few of those around. Thought they were a special type of biscuit/cake tin though?
I considered using them for soap moulds, not quite large enough.
I cast soap too :smile:

Not Alumium, silver, or lead. Though I hope to smelt some of these soon :+1:

I’ve been melting down some lead in preparation:


Running short on fuel, and rain is a bother!
Hope to finish my deathray - will speed things up. Runs at about 500watts - hopefully enough to melt Copper.

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I’ll buy in.
I’ll go for pewter/lead free plumbers solder.

Never thought of using a gem iron for casting ingots… Cunning.

Yep, you guessed correct. :medal_sports:Pewter
At least I think it’s pewter. Trying to figure out how to test resistances… melts at about the right temperature - decent weight, good shiney white colour (when smelted correctly!).
I believe it is English/Britannia pewter 92% tin, 6% antimony, and 2% copper - or a very similar composition.

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Yes they are for baking something but I don’t know what…all I know is that when I get lead nails and lead scraps these molds are great for casting ingots.