All of your videos on refining silver from plate have been very illuminating. I've got some period Sheffield sandwich plate I really want to see the recovery percentages from; just broken pieces though I'm not refining a thing of beauty. Thanks for the videos really interesting stuff I've been watching more than once and taking notes!
I love how nice your electrolysis setup is, and I'm blown away by how clean your whole lab is. I'd love to see a video on how you extracted that nice, clean nickel sulfate. 🙂
Thank you so much, tile work bench is great for cleaning! Nickel Sulfate video should be up in about a month. Thanks so much for watching. New video this friday.
I thoroughly enjoy your content, and I likely will replicate the concepts for with my own twist on it. Either way very interesting and I think you created a rather effective model for an electrolytic cell metal refining.
❤ You've peaked my curiosity ❤. I rarely respond to videos. I've been working with recycled electronics for less than a year and although I have recovered a few ounces of .999 silver and almost 15 grams of 22+ gold, I believe there's a lot more missed. I've been saving everything from my refining and now have a pile of circuit boards, about six or seven gallons of pretty much the same colored waste liquid as well as different undefined white, beige and yellow/orange powders and copper and lead bars from about 50 electronic devices. QUESTION, how do I identify this stuff 😊? (Cheaply) Your "four horse" system is a stroke of genius (👍❤️) and although my "wifie"(love you, she'll probably read this)😁 won't allow "household finances" to be used, I'll duplicate as close as possible the system with pyrex (not my wifes) from the dollar store (and a side job mowing my neighbor's lawn😂). Most acids are derived from household products , stump remover, pool supplies, vinegar, h2o2, ect... Thanks for your encouragement through the videos. It's crossed my mind that I'm crazy to continue with refining and just recycle but I really enjoy "exprementing" with chemistry and I'm not allowed to play with fire at the homestead 😁👍❤️🙏 🙏JESUS IS LORD OF MY LIFE AND THE ONLY WAY TO GOD OUR FATHER 🙏
At 12:50, why was the cement silver green? Was that silver refined with nitric then brought out of solution with copper? Was there still some active nitric when you precipitated the silver?
Great question. Cement silver, depending on how thorough you rinse it, which in this case I didn't rinse completely, will always have some copper in it. What looks like a lot of green in reality is very little in comparison by weight. The Silver Cell takes care of the rest. Thanks for watching!
@@anthonythomasfmg I gotcha. I refine on a smaller scale and run a very small cell compared to yours. Did you make the silver nitrate for your cells or buy it? I noticed you mentioned 3 thousand dollars worth of silver nitrate. How many grams of silver per liter are in the silver nitrate electrolyte you use?
@@Steelythestacker I bought a fair amount to begin with but now I mostly reuse. I will still buy some from time to time. Recovery rate is usually about 80% (still trying to figure my rate exactly).
@@anthonythomasfmg I make mine by refining 999 silver in nitric. You have to make sure you have enough silver per liter and you also have to make sure you naturally use all the nitric. You end up with a perfectly clear electrolyte with a known amount of silver per liter. The only issue I had was the first batch of crystal I made was wispy thin crystals, not the thick chunky large faceted crystals I wanted. I found by adding just a few ml of copper sulfate from a previous sterling refine to the electrolyte it fattened the crystals. I also notice you are running 12 volts. I have had my best luck running about 3.75 volts. I'm sure it's a slower process, but you may like the results. Just some food for thought.
Have you considered using oxalic acid to free the nitric acid by precipitating copper oxalate as a solid, filtering, and just boiling the supernatant nitric acid to concentrate? No distillation required. I believe NurdRage did a video on it recently.
@@anthonythomasfmg Apparently the transition metal oxalates are so insoluble it pushes the reaction forwardZ The oxalates can then be burned to leave the metal oxides and or carbonate behind which can be redissolved should one desire
What is the situation when I pour raw silver? There is no shine in all the tin. I ask you to explain the lack of shine. Thank you very much and respect.
The anode bottles are aspirator bottles with outlets. I believe they're 1000 ml bottles, but I may be wrong. They're standard labware that are purchased that way. Just look for "aspirator bottle with outlet" online. The round things in the outer jars are the cathodes. In the copper cells, they're just loops of copper wire. In the silver cells, they're cut and bent out of a sheet of stainless steel.
No, graphite will break down. If you look closely at the thumbnail of 4 horsemen you can see the number one copper cell, anode bottle is black. I tried graphite, it did work but seperated in the acid. It stays in anode bottle and can be filtered out but extra work. Great question!
@@anthonythomasfmg I have no idea how rhodium would react. I've always just seen platinum and lead dioxide offered as the two possible choices in all of the sulfate-based electrolysis examples I've seen. I wanted to point out the other option knew would work. I meant to reply to @readoryx373 originally, since they were asking for an alternative for the anode. Forgot to tag them.
@@anthonythomasfmgNo idea. I'm not familiar with rhodium's properties. I just know from numerous demonstrations I've seen that lead dioxide and platinum are the two choices usually given for non-consumable anode materials when working with sulfuric/sulfate salt solutions.
Good point, I am testing constantly for silver sulfate. So far, I am fairly certain that the amount of silver lost to sulfiding is very low but yet is still a concern. I have noticed that when you flood the solution with base metals +99% of the silver settles out. So it's a good idea to flood your waste solutions with base metals before distillation.
Hello, your video showed up on my suggestions page, and I can see that you are a firm believer in God (I assume you mean the God in Christianity). I am a chemical engineer, raised in a Christian household, but am struggling with my belief. I would like to ask you why you personally believe in God? Thanks.
Yes, I follow christ. Right now the world is struggling with their belief as well, and look at the world. I have lived life for myself and lost, I am living for God and I am at peace. God bless you and I will include you in my prayers. Start very small and God will do very big things. If they forbear, let them forbear.
It's very ironic to make a comment such as "no complaining without suggesting solutions." It's fine if those are your words to live by, but it's deeply contradictory to give such an ultimatum to others as if it's a law of the universe. For instance, by that rational, I'd not be able to complain about the remark, dispite having the freedom to say what I like in this country (as do you, I assume.) The tricky part is that the solution is simple: You shouldn't try to control what others are allowed to say. EDIT: To clarify, my issue with the statement is that he's saying you aren't free to say *X* unless you also say *Y.* This is called Compelled Speech. It's rude for an American to say something like that to another American, as if you have more rights than a fellow citizen, or even a visitor here. I hope this clears up why it bothers me.
How can the solution be simple yet tricky? The irony is that your complaint comes with the very thing you said I shouldn't do. Your words were, "You shouldn't try to control what others are allowed to say". Who is telling whom what to do? My words were, "No complaining with out solutions", which is simply good advice, not an ultimatum. It means complain away, but you better have your facts straight when you complain, because you're asking for it, so long as free speech remains. It is wise to think through our complaints, as you have. Saying I placed an ultimatum means you have granted me power I don't have. We make choices as individuals and choices have consequence. You are free to complain and say anything you like. I choose to offer solutions when I complain, which shows that I fully grasp the problem and I am willing to stand upright for my choices in life. God bless you! I love you and Jesus loves you!
@@anthonythomasfmg I don't mean to be rude. However, I do think that telling people not to complain is rude. Complaining can also be rude, but it's not inherently so, nor so much as telling people how to speak. I mainly take offense to it because it is too broad. There are many issues in the world that someone may complain about, yet not be **able** to come up with a solution even if given a lifetime. Many of these difficult situations are simply written-off with comments such as "it is what it is" or "that's life." It was less so to do with your video, but moreso with my perception of the world as people seems to fall prey to these kinds of trappings. People will go around in circles with platitudes that ultimately serve to stifle progress or drawing attention to the problems in the first place. The remark I complained about does just that. People generally only complain about problems. Problems are best resolved with communication of the topic, but saying "no complaining with out solutions" implies that you'd rather people not talk at all about problems (without offering solutions), as even talking about a problem is likely to be considered complaining. Further, if one person does finally come up with a solution, but it's a bad solution, by the logic of the statement, people wouldn't be allowed to complain about the issues it poses. I don't mean to be contrary, and I hope you'll forgive me for thinking too much into the comment. God bless.
Irony, indeed... The psychology of your statement also deserves a larger mirror. For, It's a sign of good leadership to encourage solutions along with VALID complaints. This ideal enables trust and open communication within any workforce. To authorize any noise at all from a belligerent audience is simply wasteful of one's time. It is, in fact, quite reasonable to request that such attitudes be left at the door, or those who carry them need not attend the lecture. Dedication over time! And now, I'm wasting my time with you... Good day! 😂
@@highseassailor Are you referring to my statement, or Anthony's? You seem to be talking about his statement and why it's a good thing, but also replying to me, so I'm a bit confused. Ultimately, in response to your point, I can agree with the sentiment. Anthony didn't reply to me, so perhaps he also agrees that it's not worth the time. But valid complaints don't automatically have solutions. If they did, the world would be perfect and there would be no room for complaints, perhaps outside of lazy people who ignored those hypothetically obvious solutions. Most problems (aka things to validly complain about) only exist because they are so nuanced that they don't have an obvious solution (barring pure laziness). In those cases, discourse is needed with many people to develop a solution. This moreso comes off as someone who is annoyed by complaining, as if it's a pet-peeve. That in itself is a personal problem, and would best be worked through, rather than complaining that others aren't allowed to also complain unless they meet your conditions. And he's also not addressing a "workforce" in his video. He's talking to an audience. He's not obligated to reply to my comment, or deal with wasting his time as a result of it. I wouldn't say I am belligerent, either. I pointed out that something was rather rude, and people are free to disagree. And yes, I did stop watching when he said the comment that offended me, not personally, but broadly. I believe it's a statement that is breeding ignorance while also preemptively "complaining about complaining" so that you get less complaints. It's hypocritical and naive. I also don't see why you'd have to act like I'm wasting your time. Why make it personal? EDIT: To clarify, my issue with the statement is that he's saying you aren't free to say *X* unless you also say *Y.* This is called Compelled Speech. It's rude for an American to say something like that to another American, as if you have more rights than a fellow citizen, or even a visitor here. I hope this clears up why it bothers me.
Recycling the nitric is pure brilliance thanks
Thank you and thanks for watching! I have to give some credit to NurdRage for all of his great nitric acid videos!
All of your videos on refining silver from plate have been very illuminating. I've got some period Sheffield sandwich plate I really want to see the recovery percentages from; just broken pieces though I'm not refining a thing of beauty. Thanks for the videos really interesting stuff I've been watching more than once and taking notes!
@@anthonythomasfmg Yes Nurdrage is very good. The recycling aspect of the process is really good with your videos too though
I love how nice your electrolysis setup is, and I'm blown away by how clean your whole lab is.
I'd love to see a video on how you extracted that nice, clean nickel sulfate. 🙂
Thank you so much, tile work bench is great for cleaning! Nickel Sulfate video should be up in about a month. Thanks so much for watching. New video this friday.
Just wow, how to recycle as we go, great channel!
Thank you, sincerely.
I like how you combine steps on doing things together. IE heat from the hotplate to dry the silver and clean the next batch for processing.
Thank you! Life is short, gotta squeeze out every drop.
Awesome that you put God first above all.
Great video with clear and precise instructions. I will definatley will try this method sometime.
Thank you, glad you lied it.
Good work. Really good work. I’ll to set this up at my school. I have only been doing one step at a time. Can’t wait to try.
Awesome, thanks! I'd love to see pictures of your 4 Horsemen someday.
I came here because I am a refiner too, I stayed because your initial declaration! Kudos to you sir!
Thank you! Great compliment, God bless.
@anthonythomasfmg hey bud, where can we find your music? That's something I could listen to while doin my metal work
I thoroughly enjoy your content, and I likely will replicate the concepts for with my own twist on it. Either way very interesting and I think you created a rather effective model for an electrolytic cell metal refining.
Thank you! Glad you liked it. Chemistry is pretty awesome!
❤ You've peaked my curiosity ❤. I rarely respond to videos.
I've been working with recycled electronics for less than a year and although I have recovered a few ounces of .999 silver and almost 15 grams of 22+ gold, I believe there's a lot more missed.
I've been saving everything from my refining and now have a pile of circuit boards, about six or seven gallons of pretty much the same colored waste liquid as well as different undefined white, beige and yellow/orange powders and copper and lead bars from about 50 electronic devices.
QUESTION, how do I identify this stuff 😊? (Cheaply)
Your "four horse" system is a stroke of genius (👍❤️) and although my "wifie"(love you, she'll probably read this)😁 won't allow "household finances" to be used, I'll duplicate as close as possible the system with pyrex (not my wifes) from the dollar store (and a side job mowing my neighbor's lawn😂).
Most acids are derived from household products , stump remover, pool supplies, vinegar, h2o2, ect...
Thanks for your encouragement through the videos. It's crossed my mind that I'm crazy to continue with refining and just recycle but I really enjoy "exprementing" with chemistry and I'm not allowed to play with fire at the homestead 😁👍❤️🙏
🙏JESUS IS LORD OF MY LIFE AND THE ONLY WAY TO GOD OUR FATHER 🙏
I stumbled upon gold revovery by watching a Sreetips video where he had a silver cell. I was hooked
Great show. Thanks for your knowledge 😊
I appreciate that, thank you very much!
Great content! And I like your way being human!!!
It's actually hard to be yourself on camera. Kind of like life! Thank you so much for the compliment.
Conner is here and been looking for another channel besides sreetips!!! He's my dude tho! Love your setup
God bless you brother
If someone wanted to get started doing this, do you have a setup guide? Things needed cost to get going, things for beginners.
Not yet, but I'm working on something like that. For now, just my videos. Thanks for watching.
Good job sir
Thank you!
Shalom brother
Peace be with you!
Nice shell necklace. 👀
At 12:50, why was the cement silver green? Was that silver refined with nitric then brought out of solution with copper? Was there still some active nitric when you precipitated the silver?
Great question. Cement silver, depending on how thorough you rinse it, which in this case I didn't rinse completely, will always have some copper in it. What looks like a lot of green in reality is very little in comparison by weight. The Silver Cell takes care of the rest. Thanks for watching!
@@anthonythomasfmg I gotcha. I refine on a smaller scale and run a very small cell compared to yours. Did you make the silver nitrate for your cells or buy it? I noticed you mentioned 3 thousand dollars worth of silver nitrate. How many grams of silver per liter are in the silver nitrate electrolyte you use?
@@Steelythestacker I bought a fair amount to begin with but now I mostly reuse. I will still buy some from time to time. Recovery rate is usually about 80% (still trying to figure my rate exactly).
@@Steelythestacker About 150g / Liter silver nitrate X 5 liters + 100oz in aspirater bottle if you melt shot.
@@anthonythomasfmg I make mine by refining 999 silver in nitric. You have to make sure you have enough silver per liter and you also have to make sure you naturally use all the nitric. You end up with a perfectly clear electrolyte with a known amount of silver per liter. The only issue I had was the first batch of crystal I made was wispy thin crystals, not the thick chunky large faceted crystals I wanted. I found by adding just a few ml of copper sulfate from a previous sterling refine to the electrolyte it fattened the crystals. I also notice you are running 12 volts. I have had my best luck running about 3.75 volts. I'm sure it's a slower process, but you may like the results. Just some food for thought.
Have you considered using oxalic acid to free the nitric acid by precipitating copper oxalate as a solid, filtering, and just boiling the supernatant nitric acid to concentrate?
No distillation required.
I believe NurdRage did a video on it recently.
Interesting suggestion, I will have to look into that. Will the oxalic acid precepitate everything, I wonder... Thanks! Good suggestion.
@@anthonythomasfmg Apparently the transition metal oxalates are so insoluble it pushes the reaction forwardZ
The oxalates can then be burned to leave the metal oxides and or carbonate behind which can be redissolved should one desire
What size is the Aspirator bottle? Have you found any reason to go bigger like 10L beakers? Appreciate the knowledge sharing!
I believe he's using 1-liter aspirator bottles in 5-liter beakers.
I ended up with 2l aspirator bottles so I had to goto a 10l beaker
Things are monsters lol
@@RobHoogeveen-c3q I'm using a soda bottle inside a thrift store coffee carafe to get started. I'm broke as a joke. 😂
what happened to cupper sulfate with sodium borohydride ???
What is the situation when I pour raw silver? There is no shine in all the tin. I ask you to explain the lack of shine. Thank you very much and respect.
Tell us about the cathode materials.
Cathode in the copper cells is just copper wire. The silver cells have stainless steel cathodes made of sheet metal.
God Bless AT
I still have two questions though. How is the anode bottle made and what is that round thing on the inside of the outer jar?
The anode bottles are aspirator bottles with outlets. I believe they're 1000 ml bottles, but I may be wrong. They're standard labware that are purchased that way. Just look for "aspirator bottle with outlet" online.
The round things in the outer jars are the cathodes. In the copper cells, they're just loops of copper wire. In the silver cells, they're cut and bent out of a sheet of stainless steel.
@@TheRealWeirdoC Cool. Thanks.
Could you go over cuS04 to CuNo3 a little bit more I have to much nitric in my solution
What's got got to do with any of this?.
Will a graphite anode substitute for a platinized anode to scrub the remaining metals from the dirty copper sulphate waste?
No, graphite will break down. If you look closely at the thumbnail of 4 horsemen you can see the number one copper cell, anode bottle is black. I tried graphite, it did work but seperated in the acid. It stays in anode bottle and can be filtered out but extra work. Great question!
For this reaction, you need either platinum or lead dioxide for the anode. Titanium anodes coated with either one will work as well.
@@TheRealWeirdoC I have been using platinum coated Ti. I have a rhodium coated Ti that I want to try, any idea how that would work?
@@anthonythomasfmg I have no idea how rhodium would react. I've always just seen platinum and lead dioxide offered as the two possible choices in all of the sulfate-based electrolysis examples I've seen. I wanted to point out the other option knew would work.
I meant to reply to @readoryx373 originally, since they were asking for an alternative for the anode. Forgot to tag them.
@@anthonythomasfmgNo idea. I'm not familiar with rhodium's properties. I just know from numerous demonstrations I've seen that lead dioxide and platinum are the two choices usually given for non-consumable anode materials when working with sulfuric/sulfate salt solutions.
is the silver cement less pure than the crystals?
Yes, depending on how well you process, I would say cement silver is 1% to 2% less pure than crystals. Crystals should be 999+. Thanks for watching!
Please start a patrion series Anthony.
Could be silver sulfate
Good point, I am testing constantly for silver sulfate. So far, I am fairly certain that the amount of silver lost to sulfiding is very low but yet is still a concern. I have noticed that when you flood the solution with base metals +99% of the silver settles out. So it's a good idea to flood your waste solutions with base metals before distillation.
Hello, your video showed up on my suggestions page, and I can see that you are a firm believer in God (I assume you mean the God in Christianity). I am a chemical engineer, raised in a Christian household, but am struggling with my belief. I would like to ask you why you personally believe in God?
Thanks.
Yes, I follow christ. Right now the world is struggling with their belief as well, and look at the world. I have lived life for myself and lost, I am living for God and I am at peace. God bless you and I will include you in my prayers. Start very small and God will do very big things. If they forbear, let them forbear.
It's very ironic to make a comment such as "no complaining without suggesting solutions." It's fine if those are your words to live by, but it's deeply contradictory to give such an ultimatum to others as if it's a law of the universe. For instance, by that rational, I'd not be able to complain about the remark, dispite having the freedom to say what I like in this country (as do you, I assume.) The tricky part is that the solution is simple: You shouldn't try to control what others are allowed to say.
EDIT: To clarify, my issue with the statement is that he's saying you aren't free to say *X* unless you also say *Y.* This is called Compelled Speech. It's rude for an American to say something like that to another American, as if you have more rights than a fellow citizen, or even a visitor here. I hope this clears up why it bothers me.
How can the solution be simple yet tricky? The irony is that your complaint comes with the very thing you said I shouldn't do. Your words were, "You shouldn't try to control what others are allowed to say". Who is telling whom what to do? My words were, "No complaining with out solutions", which is simply good advice, not an ultimatum. It means complain away, but you better have your facts straight when you complain, because you're asking for it, so long as free speech remains.
It is wise to think through our complaints, as you have. Saying I placed an ultimatum means you have granted me power I don't have. We make choices as individuals and choices have consequence. You are free to complain and say anything you like. I choose to offer solutions when I complain, which shows that I fully grasp the problem and I am willing to stand upright for my choices in life. God bless you! I love you and Jesus loves you!
@@anthonythomasfmg I don't mean to be rude. However, I do think that telling people not to complain is rude. Complaining can also be rude, but it's not inherently so, nor so much as telling people how to speak. I mainly take offense to it because it is too broad. There are many issues in the world that someone may complain about, yet not be **able** to come up with a solution even if given a lifetime. Many of these difficult situations are simply written-off with comments such as "it is what it is" or "that's life." It was less so to do with your video, but moreso with my perception of the world as people seems to fall prey to these kinds of trappings.
People will go around in circles with platitudes that ultimately serve to stifle progress or drawing attention to the problems in the first place. The remark I complained about does just that. People generally only complain about problems. Problems are best resolved with communication of the topic, but saying "no complaining with out solutions" implies that you'd rather people not talk at all about problems (without offering solutions), as even talking about a problem is likely to be considered complaining. Further, if one person does finally come up with a solution, but it's a bad solution, by the logic of the statement, people wouldn't be allowed to complain about the issues it poses.
I don't mean to be contrary, and I hope you'll forgive me for thinking too much into the comment. God bless.
Irony, indeed...
The psychology of your statement also deserves a larger mirror. For, It's a sign of good leadership to encourage solutions along with VALID complaints. This ideal enables trust and open communication within any workforce. To authorize any noise at all from a belligerent audience is simply wasteful of one's time. It is, in fact, quite reasonable to request that such attitudes be left at the door, or those who carry them need not attend the lecture. Dedication over time!
And now, I'm wasting my time with you...
Good day!
😂
@@highseassailor Are you referring to my statement, or Anthony's? You seem to be talking about his statement and why it's a good thing, but also replying to me, so I'm a bit confused.
Ultimately, in response to your point, I can agree with the sentiment. Anthony didn't reply to me, so perhaps he also agrees that it's not worth the time. But valid complaints don't automatically have solutions. If they did, the world would be perfect and there would be no room for complaints, perhaps outside of lazy people who ignored those hypothetically obvious solutions. Most problems (aka things to validly complain about) only exist because they are so nuanced that they don't have an obvious solution (barring pure laziness). In those cases, discourse is needed with many people to develop a solution. This moreso comes off as someone who is annoyed by complaining, as if it's a pet-peeve. That in itself is a personal problem, and would best be worked through, rather than complaining that others aren't allowed to also complain unless they meet your conditions.
And he's also not addressing a "workforce" in his video. He's talking to an audience. He's not obligated to reply to my comment, or deal with wasting his time as a result of it. I wouldn't say I am belligerent, either. I pointed out that something was rather rude, and people are free to disagree. And yes, I did stop watching when he said the comment that offended me, not personally, but broadly. I believe it's a statement that is breeding ignorance while also preemptively "complaining about complaining" so that you get less complaints. It's hypocritical and naive.
I also don't see why you'd have to act like I'm wasting your time. Why make it personal?
EDIT: To clarify, my issue with the statement is that he's saying you aren't free to say *X* unless you also say *Y.* This is called Compelled Speech. It's rude for an American to say something like that to another American, as if you have more rights than a fellow citizen, or even a visitor here. I hope this clears up why it bothers me.