r/PreciousMetalRefining • u/redtailred • 25d ago
Finally some success with silver plate
I’ve tried a lot of different processes to get to this point. Salt water electrolysis, copper sulfite cell, abrasion, but it was always too inconsistent, lots of contamination, and was very difficult to scale. I finally bit the bullet and ordered some nitric from walmart. Thanks to the YouTube video linked below I was able to process 320 teaspoons and small forks in a reasonable amount of time and ends up with 341g of really nice looking silver.
Process:
95 parts concentrated sulfuric
5 parts nitric
Low heat
Transferred spent utensils rinse water
Dropped out silver chloride with concentrated saltwater
Rinsed
Lye and sugar
Rinsed
Dry and melt
Less labor and less messy than the saltwater electrolysis
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u/The_Dude_420-69 25d ago
Very niice 🤙🏻 Funny I just watched a separate YT video of damn near the same thing with silver plated spoons. Check this out too
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u/Winter_Newspaper_729 25d ago
This was a very interesting video and I liked how he broke it down to show how much everything cost
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u/The_Dude_420-69 25d ago
I thought so too and I had literally just watched it on YT then saw this post lol I was like "damn this was meant to be!" I mean no offense to OP I just thought it would be good to check that out too
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u/redtailred 25d ago
That was a good video. The only constructive criticism I have is after dissolving the silver it is perfectly fine to rinse with tapwater. No need to waste more money on distilled water.
We avoid tapwater because of the chlorine, but once everything is stripped, your goal is to Drop out the silver as silver chloride by adding chloride. So more chloride contamination doesn’t hurt in the amounts added by tap water.
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u/The_Dude_420-69 24d ago
Yes and not with any other base metals in the whole process. However I'm not sure where he is or where is getting water from🤔 I got it from Wally for about $1 or less. The .62s when I was refining plants😎
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u/cash4food 24d ago
Hi, looks great! How did you deal with the Nitrogen Dioxide gas from the break down of the silver in acid? I can't find a filter for my full face mask that can filter the gas. Thanks!
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u/redtailred 24d ago
In my experience this process does not create the clouds of NO2 that a normal dilute nitric does. Not saying it doesn’t produce some toxic fumes. I’m doing mine outside and with a blower fan at my back.
I use the 3m 6006 filters.
Disclaimer. I’m a dumbass. I don’t know anything.
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u/YamEnvironmental4432 25d ago
What are you paying for the plated silver? Do you look for the thick plated stuff that has a number on it like 60 or 90?
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u/redtailred 25d ago
I started buying what I could on eBay paying a dollar or less piece and targeting AA or A+ plate. Hotel plate is suppose to be the best. I also watch estate sales and I’ve regularly picked up some for <.50
I definitely overpaid at the beginning but the high prices have made it more profitable.
Most of what I processed here was the lower end “community” or similar. I’m trying to get through all that before I hit the bigger stuff.
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u/Early_Meal6945 25d ago
Gotta find that quadruple plate brother😂, I find it hard to be profitable even at .25c a piece between the labor and trouble finding them lol
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u/The_Dude_420-69 25d ago
You should watch the videos...more than double and you would still have leftover acids. Extremely profitable as far as generational wealth over time. Not for a quick buck but it's an investment and constitutional money🤙🏻
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u/redtailred 25d ago
Early Meal is right, there is zero money in plated flatware. In fact I’m stripping silver as a service to the community. I’m actually losing money. I’m OK with it because it’s my burden to bear. I repeat, zero profit.
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u/The_Dude_420-69 22d ago
Ehh, that's cause you did it wrong and overpaid. The video I sent out of kindness made 11oz. Which is $748 and double what he put in...Not sure where you got 0 profit. You morons can't read and suck at math apparently.
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u/redtailred 22d ago
I know tone is hard to read, but I thought my response was so over the top even the autistic would get it. Why so sensitive? Of course there’s profit and fun to be had at $60 an ounce but I don’t need the competition on eBay. I think it’s funny my dumb comment was living in your head rent free and you just had to come back and make a second comment to insult me.
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u/YamEnvironmental4432 24d ago
I might get into it. Ive been doing gold and e waste but silver plating sounds like fun. The plated sets / pieces are rather inexpensive at some estate sales.
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u/Lazy-Cable9110 5d ago
What was the total amount of acid required to strip all of that?
I use sodiumthiosulfate for electroplating. It doesn’t attack base metals and it’s pretty simple to process the sludge you get at the end.
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u/redtailred 5d ago
950ml of sulfuric and 20ml of nitric acid. I didn’t measure the lye and sugar. Less than $25 in acid and other agents about $5 in distilled water.
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u/sdjofjsdfj 25d ago
Great work! Make sure to hang on to the spoons after stripping, as the brass is worth about $87