How to Refine Your Scrap Gold for Jewelry Making
If you make gold jewelry, you are sure to collect scrap gold. You have two choices on how to recycle this scrap gold. You can melt down and refine the gold yourself or you can send your scrap gold to a refiner. This tutorial will explain the steps needed to refine scrap gold in your own shop. The gold refining technique can also be used for old, unwanted or broken jewelry.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
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1
Gather the gold you intend to refine. The gold can be scraps from your studio or old gold from jewelry that is broken, out of fashion or no longer wanted.
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2
Be sure that the gold is the same karat. While you can mix gold of different karat, if you do so the resulting refined gold may be of a lesser karat than you need for your jewelry making project. In general, to ensure you are in compliance with FTC labeling laws for gold jewelry, it is a good idea to mix only 14kt with 14kt, 18kt with 18kt and so on when you refine jewelry and scrap gold.
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3
Cut your gold into small pieces.
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4
Paint your crucible with borax to act as a flux.
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5
Put the pieces of gold into the crucible.
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6
Melt the gold with your torch until it is a hot liquid. You may want to use two torches to hasten the process.
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7
Pour the liquid gold into your mold to make gold sheet metal or wire.
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8
Allow the gold to cool. Run the gold through your rolling mill until it is the gauge you want to use in your studio. Note that you may need to anneal the metal and run it through your rolling mill multiple times until it is the size and shape you need for your jewelry making.
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