DIY silver.

swoydaz

swoydaz

Well-Known Member
Silver Stacker
I'm sure most of us do our best to keep our world clean.

But jeez ... anyone tried home brewing silver?

Anyway I've done the nitric acid bit.

Half a dozen banged up shillings dissolved into the fuming liquid.

Presto. Good bye shillings.

Diluted with huge amount of water.

In with some copper tube.

Fizzzzzzzzz ... blue solution with silver residue in the bottom of the jar.

Coffee filters come in handy at last ... silver filtered out :P

So.

Now I need to hit it with the MAPP gas.

How much borax do I need?

Are there any other nice toxic chemicals I need to add? Don't want milk spots do we :lol:
 
well, I suggest you get a thing called 'Fat Man' and another called "Little Boy' hook them together, and then you press the RED button!


OC
 
swoydaz said:
How much borax do I need?
Click to expand...
I just coat the inside of the crucible (alumina crucible) under a flame and pour off the excess before melting metal.
 
wrcmad said:
swoydaz said:
How much borax do I need?
Click to expand...
I just coat the inside of the crucible (alumina crucible) under a flame and pour off the excess before melting metal.
Click to expand...

x2. just glaze the crucible with borax and your done. you must also posts pics of the pours. forum rules!

you should also be filtering before adding the copper to remove undissolved solids.

i've found you also need to throughly rinse the silver powder caught in the filter. rinse till it is clear. if it's still blue it's still got copper in it, you don't want .998
 
Bunnings perhaps?
I know one can buy HCl and sulphuric acid easily there, but nitric acid has a potential for some 'suspicious' uses which could make it a bit harder to buy?

Otherwise you could synthesise it yourself, and you can find guides for that.
 
I sourced it from a local company that deals mainly with cleaning materials.

You shouldn't find it too difficult to obtain.

Just remember it is frightfully potent stuff and handle with truckloads of care.

Keep well out of the reach of littlies and anyone whom for that matter might mishandle it.
 
I buy Nitric from a lab supplies company - cost around $10-$12 a litre for 70%.
Don't think you will get it at Bunnings.
 
Yes. Lab Supplies co. For Nitric acid. Beware of the fumes. Well ventilated area an advice.
One mustnt try this out if unfamiliar with how chemical react.
 
swoydaz said:
Diluted with huge amount of water.
Click to expand...

You do mean Distilled/deionised water dont you?
adding ordinary tap water will have lost you quite a bit of silver in the form of halides (mostly silver chloride).


as for Nitric acid, you can buy if from hydroponics shops, it`s usually 38% which is more than stong enough for this sort of rxn.
 
Hugh Mann said:
swoydaz said:
Diluted with huge amount of water.
Click to expand...

You do mean Distilled/deionised water dont you?
adding ordinary tap water will have lost you quite a bit of silver in the form of halides (mostly silver chloride).


as for Nitric acid, you can buy if from hydroponics shops, it`s usually 38% which is more than stong enough for this sort of rxn.
Click to expand...


Anyone into chemistry will definitely used distilled/deionised H2O. It is a must.
 
swoydaz said:
It was great fun. A good learning experience.

Moving on.
Click to expand...

That, coupled with the lack of pics, doesn't sound like it had a positive outcome!

The thing which has been stopping me from having a go have been the logistics involved in...

Further refining it from the 95% precipitate into the 98%+

Turning a heap of powder into a bar. I am not sure how long it lasts in powder form but I am sure it would oxidise if I left it around too long
 
Jislizard said:
swoydaz said:
It was great fun. A good learning experience.

Moving on.
Click to expand...

That, coupled with the lack of pics, doesn't sound like it had a positive outcome!

The thing which has been stopping me from having a go have been the logistics involved in...

Further refining it from the 95% precipitate into the 98%+

Turning a heap of powder into a bar. I am not sure how long it lasts in powder form but I am sure it would oxidise if I left it around too long
Click to expand...

your worried about the powder but not your coins and bars? it's the same stuff. it tarnishes only with contact with sulphur in the air just like all silver does.
 
Powder would have a much greater surface area to volume ratio than coins and bars, where as I don't mind a bit of tarnish on the surface of a bar, and on a coin it can hide scratches and give the coin a nice patina, if my entire pile of silver converted to silver sulphide then I would be a little concerned about the retail value.

Very hard to dip a pile of powder and I am not sure if silver sulphide would melt down into a bar. Silver powder I am pretty sure would melt into a bar, but I am not sure about silver salts, and if it did melt into a bar of silver sulphide then I would never be able to clean it.

So that was a concern of mine as I have no idea how long it would be sitting around for and as I have coins in capsules which are colouring up nicely I am pretty sure there are enough pollutants in the air around here that my powder would be affected. I would try and keep it in an airtight jar of course.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top