QuestionQUESTION: Hi Orlando,
First let me say I know nothing about smelting,or jewelry making, I don't know the terminology. So, I have some of those 24k gold covered roses. I want to recover the gold. I have been looking for answers and now I am here. I read that I can simply buy a crucible and melt the gold and pour it into a mold that I can make by buying a piece of compressed charcoal and cutting a groove into it and pouring in the melted gold. I'm sure there is more to it. I heard I need to use borax powder, that some materials make better crucibles than others. that I can use a melting dish (I've seen them for sale with a handle for about $20. I've seen molds made from tool steel, but I read that the gold would stick to it.
I'm concerned about the rose inside, where is all that burnt up material going to go when the gold melts? Do I need some kind of stir rod made from some special material? I'm afraid my ignorance is complete on this. About the only thing I have is an oxy-acetylene torch, and I read somewhere I should not use the oxy!
Well, I hope you have time to help me. There are plenty of sites where I can buy what I need if I knew what I needed.
Thank you,
Gary
ANSWER: Hi Gary,
Based on the questions, you know a lot about this and the answer is simple.
IT IS NOT WORTH FOR YOU TO DO THIS YOURSELF, I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE ENOUGH MATERIAL TO JUSTIFY THE EXPENSES. But, if you are willing to do this please let me know exactly what you have and send a picture if possible.
Orlando
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Gold Rose
QUESTION: Orlando, I'd like to try to do it myself. I have the torch, what else do I need?
There are some layers of what looks like copper under the gold, so I guess the rose was made from cardboard or something and somehow layered with coper and dipped in gold. I wonder how much gold is actually on this rose. Do you have a guess?
AnswerHi Gary,
Well, I have a better idea of what you have in your hands and what you should do,
Using the torch in this project is not the right way to start.
This are all natural flowers that have gone through a process in order to dry it and then gold electroplate it, it does not have that much gold at all, the gold is the last layer there is, it is mostly cooper.
The best way to get the gold if any out of it is with AQUA REGIA which is a mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid, if you do not have any experience in the jewelry industry I will not recommend you to do this.
I will strongly suggest you to find a gold refiner in your area to recover any gold from your flowers but, if you are doing this for the money you will make more of it if you sell it as it is.
Hope it helps,
Orlando
