Smelting Pure Silver From Industrial Scrap

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  • Опубліковано 14 лис 2020
  • Smelting silver from carbon generator brushes. Using flux, chemistry and metallurgy these carbon generator brushes were turned into pure silver.
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  • Наука та технологія

КОМЕНТАРІ • 306

  • @josephpecoul6532
    @josephpecoul6532 3 роки тому +28

    Even though I probably won't even do this its fascinating to see.

  • @GeoffBosco
    @GeoffBosco 3 роки тому +85

    "When you getting that new collector metal?"
    "None of your bismuth."

    • @adventuresinmetals7636
      @adventuresinmetals7636 3 роки тому +7

      Underrated comment.

    • @GeoffBosco
      @GeoffBosco 3 роки тому +4

      @@adventuresinmetals7636 You would say that.

    • @canaan5337
      @canaan5337 3 роки тому +6

      When he does he might say "alright lets get down to bismuth"

    • @pauliewalnuts5241
      @pauliewalnuts5241 3 роки тому +1

      HA!

    • @deelunbeck5647
      @deelunbeck5647 3 роки тому

      @@pauliewalnuts5241 okay wise guy looks like you led me in the wrong direction dammit

  • @velceaiulian6439
    @velceaiulian6439 3 роки тому +6

    Silver is too expensive for this method and not for the one that involves dissolving it in nitric acid. It is good, however, that you show this method in the sense that it gives good knowledge in general for the passionate man.
    But, for those who master chemistry quite well and do not set their hair on fire and are not suckers enough to work without protective gloves and a protective visor, I remind them that the method of dissolving in nitric acid followed by precipitation with copper gives surprising results in terms of the final purity of the silver obtained.
    If the method of attack with nitric acid is preferred, the metal losses are the lowest, considering its price. The silver passes completely into the solution (colorless) while the graphite remains on the bottom of the container. After relative decantation, the solution is passed to another container through the filter paper in a funnel, after which it is ready to be treated with simple metallic copper. Silver has a lower deposition potential than copper. The silver is deposited on the copper wire / bar, in the form of a black powder, which is very chemically pure. Copper gradually passes into solution, replacing silver, the solution becoming more and more blue. The black silver powder is collected, washed with distilled or rain water, and passed to the crucible for melting, along with a little borax. The result is silver in an advanced state of purity. In this way you get rid of Bismuth and Lead which are two horrors for human health and not only for humans but also for animals.
    Be very careful where you hand over the remaining waste, do not throw it anywhere in nature or in the trash, because if you have a clear conscience, you will not sleep well at night due to possible consequences. : D
    An additional clarification: For good efficiency and speed of dissolution, the first condition is that the motor brushes must be ground very well, until the powder state, and during the reaction with the acid, it must be spun with a glass rod or polyethylene. The container must be made of glass. Nitric acid is extremely corrosive, so do not play with utensils made of anything other than glass, preferably laboratory.
    For what I chopped here, I insist on a digital beer in a silver mug ! ;)

  • @jasonwilliam2125
    @jasonwilliam2125 3 роки тому +26

    You do all this stuff so we do not have to.
    I have used some of your techniques that i would not have experimented with normally.
    Because you do the work i have literally reaped benefits .
    SO thanks.

  • @JimNichols
    @JimNichols 3 роки тому +6

    I loved the chemistry lessons here and the way things interact with heat applied. Thanks for the time and effort these videos take and sharing your interests with us!

  • @snarky_user
    @snarky_user 3 роки тому +22

    I don't think you need to crush those things at all. There was a lot of silver blowing around in the wind. If you just melt them as they are, you should see the same segregation in your melt that you saw here - carbon floating on top. Putting charcoal (carbon) on top of melts is an ancient method of working metals. It acts as an oxygen barrier because it floats and reacts with the oxygen, forming CO2 "insulation" as the melt is completed. You should be able to do 99% of the job without any fluxes or admixture.

    • @silverraider2688
      @silverraider2688 2 роки тому +3

      Thats what I was scrolling through the comments for, was curious if that was a necessary step.

    • @donwatts6588
      @donwatts6588 Рік тому

      Totally agree with that

  • @DavidSmith-zr3nd
    @DavidSmith-zr3nd 3 роки тому +24

    I always enjoy your experiments. Thank for taking us with you.

  • @johnnys7292
    @johnnys7292 2 роки тому +3

    Dude you are wicked smart , I learn so much from your channel from smelting to mining and crushing random items and showing the full process ... thanks for all the educational information you provide

  • @billsmathers7787
    @billsmathers7787 2 роки тому +14

    I'm guessing those brushes are primarily silver-tungsten alloy, from past experience. You can separate the silver using the method you set out with in the beginning, but you need a strongly alkaline oxidizing flux (a lot of sodium nitrate and lye). Under the conditions the tungsten oxidizes and dissolves into the slag, and your silver separates out nicely. Should be a pretty clean lead-free method for those brushes

  • @davidlees2963
    @davidlees2963 3 роки тому +8

    Bismuth makes really cool cubic shaped crystals. Might be worth a really short video by itself.

  • @pneumatic00
    @pneumatic00 3 роки тому +1

    Excellent demo of your thought processes and procedures. Always interesting!

  • @wefukthenwo
    @wefukthenwo 3 роки тому +10

    So many comments, but not too many thumbs up! Thanks for sharing this video.

  • @andie_pants
    @andie_pants 3 роки тому +12

    I love watching all these UA-camrs fabricate awesome-looking furnaces out of beer kegs and 55-gallon drums and whatnot... and then there's this guy with some kaowool and baling wire. And it works just fine. :-D

    • @pixelpatter01
      @pixelpatter01 3 роки тому +6

      The kaowool dust from his furnace ends up everywhere. He is starting to talk about the hazards of the lead oxides from cupeling, but the other dangers are the dust from the uncoated thermal blanket and other metal oxide dusts aren't mentioned. I poisoned myself with some Beryllium spring material while melting silver relay contacts. The truth is you really don't know what the ingredients of some of the industrial stuff you are recycling. Cough cough.

  • @------country-boy-------
    @------country-boy------- 3 роки тому +2

    your gonna make a fortune!!! i was thinking of doing this for a few years now. I have a few large graphite blocks i got from ebay. They have a copper colored tinge to them so i know they are the brush type graphite for use in motors. I just never knew the silver content was so high! Regular graphite blocks are just dull black. Also don't forget the copper commutators on large motors and generators have a high percentage of silver as well !!!

  • @MOEFCO
    @MOEFCO 3 роки тому +4

    Re: opting for bismuth vs lead - i love metal recovery videos, much better than seeing it just go into a landfill, but it would be awesome to see a nearly non-emission based operation. Maybe an organic digester to make combustable gas, a solar installation with batteries (made from recycled lead?) for an electric furnace, wastewater capture and settlement tank, etc. Nice work!

  • @rickb5946
    @rickb5946 3 роки тому +2

    More amazing and instructional than usual. Keep up the good work !.

  • @profjekanadler-collins6414
    @profjekanadler-collins6414 2 роки тому

    Total amazed with your knowledge and your ability to risk the experiment .

  • @ericprater4017
    @ericprater4017 3 роки тому +2

    Wow, I love these vids! Keep on doing this!

  • @yoopermann7942
    @yoopermann7942 3 роки тому

    thank you for the information, i now know who to send these to if i run across some in my scraping! just to see you preform the "magic" of taking some thing that some one was willing to throw away and get some metals out of it! GREAT VIDEO

  • @GreenblookUK1
    @GreenblookUK1 3 роки тому +1

    Always fun to watch. Keep the videos coming.

  • @kevinsteve9453
    @kevinsteve9453 3 роки тому

    Appreciate all your instruction, keep em coming

  • @ltgood
    @ltgood 3 роки тому +1

    You’re furnace is just a fire blanket. This is awesome.

  • @nnyz3819
    @nnyz3819 3 роки тому +1

    I found this channel a week ago, and I’m hooked

  • @unitedstatesdale
    @unitedstatesdale 3 роки тому

    I had no idea about the process of recovering silver.
    Very very fascinating.
    Thank you

  • @j.b.3113
    @j.b.3113 3 роки тому +1

    Just found your channel and been going through all you vids. Great content!
    Recovery and refining is so interesting to me, Cheers!!!

  • @stevesoanes9937
    @stevesoanes9937 2 місяці тому

    Your vids are the best. Very clear and understandable.

  • @mithrilsilver575
    @mithrilsilver575 3 роки тому +1

    Extremely interesting! Good video man!

  • @chriswhite4678
    @chriswhite4678 3 роки тому

    Really cool video 😎 hope to see more in the future!

  • @michiganprospectors
    @michiganprospectors Рік тому

    I love your videos because you share every detail, even mistakes. Its great to learn from. I wish you would share the cost overall at the end of each video.

  • @gefginn3699
    @gefginn3699 2 роки тому

    Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed the video.

  • @SuperMortiki
    @SuperMortiki 3 роки тому +1

    Awesome job, very interesting

  • @MrAllan9
    @MrAllan9 3 роки тому

    My go to place for top notch info👌

  • @dionbritten5777
    @dionbritten5777 3 роки тому +1

    Awesome video man

  • @RalphReagan
    @RalphReagan 3 роки тому +8

    Sure wish I paid more attention to this stuff we did at the mine.

  • @cheesynuts4291
    @cheesynuts4291 3 роки тому +1

    I love your videos jason. You have inspired me to set up and run some of my sulfides and concentrates from my high banking sessions. I get lots of heavy Magnetic and non magnetic black sands so maybe they will have something in em? Fingers crossed.

  • @metatechnologist
    @metatechnologist 3 роки тому +2

    Just chanced upon your video. One way silver recovery was done on a large scale with photography materials (I worked for a film developer briefly back in the day) was with electrolysis. Likely cleaner and more efficient i.e. a bit more material was recovered.

  • @darrenbenson2606
    @darrenbenson2606 3 роки тому +1

    Very cool stuff! I’ve been saving gold coated connector from medical battery packs. I’m going to try to recover it this summer. Wish me luck.

  • @2010invent
    @2010invent 2 роки тому +2

    The carbon will keep much of the silver with in the microscopic form within the carbon it self. Grind all the brushes super fine, burn all the powder to a white ash "very important for it to be white ash" than smelt it all with some borax. you will get all your silver.

  • @josephcormier5974
    @josephcormier5974 3 роки тому

    Cool is that all brushes? This is the second video of yours that I have had the pleasure to view thank you

  • @ngantnier
    @ngantnier 3 роки тому +1

    That's really neat about the bismuth!

  • @philbartoli2011
    @philbartoli2011 3 роки тому +3

    Nice Slowmo shot !!

  • @GarageSaleMonster
    @GarageSaleMonster 2 роки тому

    AWESOME video!

  • @nathanielgarcia7768
    @nathanielgarcia7768 3 роки тому +1

    Good job on that

  • @jam2190
    @jam2190 3 роки тому

    That was amazing, to see the silver pour out of the crucible, kinda separate from the slag

  • @mdwdirect
    @mdwdirect 3 роки тому +1

    That was awesome.

  • @frankierutherford1888
    @frankierutherford1888 3 роки тому +1

    Thanks for sharing

  • @skoitch
    @skoitch 3 роки тому +1

    Very cool! I’d love to buy that silver off of you!

  • @hiddenchambers2922
    @hiddenchambers2922 3 роки тому

    Thx for sharing!

  • @johnweimer254
    @johnweimer254 3 роки тому

    Your always giving great vids

  • @DuncSargent
    @DuncSargent 3 роки тому

    Fascinating.

  • @davidroberts6810
    @davidroberts6810 3 роки тому

    Thanks a lot very good video

  • @micheleshaw4280
    @micheleshaw4280 3 роки тому +1

    what a pretty smelt

  • @brennonmyers4226
    @brennonmyers4226 3 роки тому

    Cool video bro ! Wish I was a boss like that

  • @seanb3516
    @seanb3516 Рік тому

    When I worked in a Gold Assay lab they had large furnaces cooking lead 24/7. The lead fumes and particles were handled completely by Electrostatic Precipitators and a Bag House.
    That sounds complex but it's not as bad as you think. I'm sure a Welding Fume Collector with filtration could be employed near the source. Since you have welding eqpt it might be worthwhile.

  • @shaneyork300
    @shaneyork300 3 роки тому

    Very cool video!
    Have a Great Day!!

  • @mawi1172
    @mawi1172 3 роки тому +12

    Are you like a modern day alchemist? 🤣🤣🤣

    • @Cryton12345
      @Cryton12345 3 роки тому

      He turned lead into silver lol

    • @velceaiulian6439
      @velceaiulian6439 3 роки тому

      @@Cryton12345 You also got in like the OB;)

    • @Lollomius
      @Lollomius 2 роки тому

      Thats what recycling really is...

  • @PoorMiners321
    @PoorMiners321 3 роки тому

    wow i like your furnace sir..

  • @geraldfawcett9479
    @geraldfawcett9479 3 роки тому

    Awesome always enjoy

  • @HouseholdDog
    @HouseholdDog 3 роки тому

    Those jaw crushers are amazing

  • @Boviathan
    @Boviathan 3 роки тому +1

    Nice!

  • @ProspectorTripp
    @ProspectorTripp 3 роки тому +1

    Good work Jason.. thanks buddy
    ✌️PT

  • @williamedwards6519
    @williamedwards6519 3 роки тому +3

    Thank you for the video, and more importantly.. the education! You certainly know smelting and refining. One question :was the effort performed, from obtaining the brushes to weighing the 91 grams of yield worth, in your opinion, the approximate $76 cash value? You have far more experience than I. If i were recycling and reclaiming on the regular, I have my answer.
    Thank you.

  • @dbomber69
    @dbomber69 2 роки тому

    Old Buus fuses for homes used to have pure silver end caps. I'm talking about the main house fuses, the ones used in the box with the lever to disconnect power.

  • @sultanafareen9597
    @sultanafareen9597 2 роки тому

    Amazing

  • @jonathansonnier3078
    @jonathansonnier3078 2 роки тому +1

    World pretty good if yiu make a funnel out of the cement with 45 degree walls. You literally just use a funnel as a mold and it eliminates all the extra needing because gravity helps with the silver collection

  • @johnhawk9321
    @johnhawk9321 3 роки тому

    Very cool

  • @RobinhoodCoins
    @RobinhoodCoins 3 роки тому +3

    Thanks for the video. I’ve been trying to use a cupel and lead to oxidize the copper out of a 40% silver half dollar. How much lead should I use per gram of base metals Ike trying to remove? And how do you know when it’s done in the cupel?

  • @texasslingleadsomtingwong8751
    @texasslingleadsomtingwong8751 3 роки тому

    Lead , mercury ... the joys of plumbing . Want some of either?

  • @swatbaer
    @swatbaer 3 роки тому +2

    Change your Flux ingredients. You could have used saltpeter to help oxidize the carbon and the soda ash/borax needs another ingredient to help it be more fluid. This can be done on a large or small scale. Copper would have been a good collector in this event that way you know what your yield is. Many ways to skin the cat in this area. Many fluxes out there im not seeing in your "toolbox". Just friendly help from someone who does this which contains almost all of the main precious metals in a dor'e bar or button.

    • @waynoswaynos
      @waynoswaynos 2 роки тому

      Can you elaborate, friend? A lot of learners picking up breadcrumbs here in the comments

  • @miltondamiao6540
    @miltondamiao6540 3 роки тому +2

    Fantástico,top.

  • @orixxboy
    @orixxboy 3 роки тому

    Absolutely fascinating and very fluky but based on a good well of knowledge. I wish you'd of left it on the cement it remenisced of something celestial and made a great art piece.

  • @jonny555ive
    @jonny555ive 3 роки тому +1

    Subscribed, supporting a local 👍👍
    I live in Bellingham

  • @skeets6060
    @skeets6060 3 роки тому

    This is like interesting chemistry class

  • @csachevauxsansabri2612
    @csachevauxsansabri2612 3 роки тому +2

    I think the chemical way is a muche cleaner way. It's with almost certainty environmentally cleaner and from a financial point of view more profitable in the long run.
    Because you get a muche more pure result in the end.
    Offcaus it all depent on what you are planning to do with it. But it's interesting waching someone taking a different approach.
    I recommend taking a look at Sreetips to see it done the other way.

  • @mikemckenzie3078
    @mikemckenzie3078 3 роки тому

    Hi Jase, any chance you could do a video upscaling the size of your sulphide / black sand con smelts but still within the resources of a professional miner ... we’re getting about 5 tonne/week .
    I caught part of one of your melts using a large crucible and small overhead crane (2 people ) but can,t find it again ?
    I think a lot of the operators would benefit from your insight and keep up the great ideas they are really inspirational

  • @grantsmith6052
    @grantsmith6052 3 роки тому +10

    I would like to see rhodium recovery as it’s 24k an ounce.

    • @johnlockesghost5592
      @johnlockesghost5592 3 роки тому +2

      @Badger we don't talk about that.

    • @dont.ripfuller6587
      @dont.ripfuller6587 3 роки тому +3

      Id like to see economic recovery but I think we all know that rhodiums not going to be seen

    • @grimfpv292
      @grimfpv292 3 роки тому

      @Badger Catalytic converters

  • @josephbragg6388
    @josephbragg6388 3 роки тому

    I take it you can use motor brushes as well. Very interesting.

  • @lonjohnson5161
    @lonjohnson5161 3 роки тому +1

    1) I would like to see the entire bismuth cycle in action as described at the end in a single video.
    2) It would be nice to have some comparison of cost/availability of lead vs. bismuth and maybe a comparison of the relative toxicities.
    Unrelated to the content of this video: Are the tailings from the shaker table toxic in any way? Can they just be dumped (I'm talking both legally and ethically) or do they require some special handling?

  • @cr62silvermore60
    @cr62silvermore60 3 роки тому

    Great work buddy. Like and sub.

  • @victoryfirst2878
    @victoryfirst2878 3 роки тому

    How did you get the crushers that you use. Real cool stuff.

  • @armandklopman2288
    @armandklopman2288 3 роки тому

    Silver flotes when It's that fine!!

  • @bobhoward6676
    @bobhoward6676 3 роки тому

    For your time, Gas, electricity, cost of equipment & materials hardly worth it as a business but hobbies are what we do for fun at any cost. Plus I hope you made more for the video than the $100 of silver.

  • @Sylvain_lx
    @Sylvain_lx 3 роки тому +2

    Nice video. I prefer chemical method. For this material you are lucky to be able crush it. i would use Poor man's aqua regia (HCL+nitrate) to form silver chloride with your grind. Clean with water and you can separate silver chloride and carbon with decantation. When the silver chloride collected you can transform it in silver. ( i'm french sorry if i made language mistakes)

    • @PHUCKyoutube689
      @PHUCKyoutube689 Рік тому +1

      Or he could have just dissolved it in nitric then cemented the silver with copper.

  • @getprobed838
    @getprobed838 3 роки тому +11

    maybe you can work with sreetips to purify the metals you recover

  • @sledgenwedge
    @sledgenwedge 3 роки тому +1

    I just looked at the video and it's got 88 downvotes what the hell? Now I really have to watch it all the way through

  • @jefferycrawford9194
    @jefferycrawford9194 3 роки тому +1

    Where can I find some brushes like that? Is there a specific brand?

  • @autisticamateur1198
    @autisticamateur1198 3 роки тому +3

    Do yall make a smaller shaker table? Like 1/8 scale? - There's a plastic one that's $5k...

  • @matthewclavette6302
    @matthewclavette6302 3 роки тому

    Would using saw dust make a good flux with the borax and soda ash?

  • @markmumm4177
    @markmumm4177 2 роки тому +1

    How would you suggest extracting the silver out of 40% silver clad coins? I would love to see that video.

  • @lawfuldefenseofnaturalrigh9790
    @lawfuldefenseofnaturalrigh9790 3 роки тому

    Can you do a comparison between bismuth and copper powder as the collector metal? ....and then removing each collector metal?

  • @saltybuckeye
    @saltybuckeye 3 роки тому

    Where do you get one of those fancy stir sticks

  • @alexbrewer4570
    @alexbrewer4570 3 роки тому +1

    Where did you find these brushes and how much did you pay for them?

  • @tracywebber4906
    @tracywebber4906 3 роки тому

    Is there any true/good silver in stainless steel bowls, teasets, silverware etc.

  • @jeffcrumpler8793
    @jeffcrumpler8793 3 роки тому +1

    What what kind of brushes did you get them out of?

  • @kalfaxplays7899
    @kalfaxplays7899 3 роки тому

    that's an amazing amount of slag for so little silver.

  • @israelburkett8575
    @israelburkett8575 3 роки тому +1

    You might try using a mixture of concentrated sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide on the initial crushed material in order to convert a significant amount of the carbon into carbon dioxide.

  • @richardchase4019
    @richardchase4019 3 роки тому

    Cool

  • @jeffarto8340
    @jeffarto8340 3 роки тому +1

    are you preheating your molds?

  • @williamickes3143
    @williamickes3143 2 роки тому

    👍👍👌🙉🙈🙊 I'd love to have one of your buttons of silver. Do you sell any. Is there a list I can get on? Love the show!

  • @tri-forceblades3123
    @tri-forceblades3123 3 роки тому +1

    What size generator do these brushes come from?