312 An Inexpensive Alternative to Cupels for Non Precision Assaying

[@ProspectorTripp]

Great example of reducing your / our refining expense. I like your method of utilizing a crucible for the Portland cement holder. Very clean result guy’s. Thanks for your real world work! Peace Prospector Tripp

[@hardrockuniversity7283]

In the end, it's all about the money.

[@GrooberNedJardine]

Yep , the dry portland cement works fine , i've used it a bit , and after the other day destroying four bone ash cupels to achieve very little , i might start using it again i think . Great results Keith & Eva , cheers Ned . 👍✌✅

[@hardrockuniversity7283]

Thanks Ned

[@mohammednovalija]

Great Tape - thanks for showing this method

[@hardrockuniversity7283]

You are most welcome.

[@TrickyDickyP]

Portland is not perfect but it does work, you will lose some PM's to the cement but can be recovered later. Bone ash works the best but it takes time to make the bone ash and then making and drying the cupels. It does work as a first time pass to get rid of the crap and then re-cupel a quantity of beads at the same time in a bone ash cupel to get the best results. I thought I mentioned this to you some months ago..? I use it sometimes but i do prefer the bone ash.. 😊 good result.. all the best.

[@hardrockuniversity7283]

When cupeling big buttons, things get a little different from normal assays, so we are trying different things. The stripping circuit seems to be working well, but precise numbers will take a few more days. Even longer to see whether the resin can be effectively re-used. Stay safe.

[@indianagoldgetterscottie]

nice video thanks for sharing

[@hardrockuniversity7283]

You're welcome Scottie.

[@bosrecreationalmining]

i love this.

[@hardrockuniversity7283]

We try to make things cheap whenever possible.

[@hunnybunnysheavymetalmusic6542]

I would have a filter on the exhaust fan for 2 reasons" 1, so as to not poison the surroundings with that lead, and 2, because once a lot of it collects up, I can reuse it to keep my costs down some.

[@hardrockuniversity7283]

How would you capture it?

[@hunnybunnysheavymetalmusic6542]

@@hardrockuniversity7283 I would use common shop vac replacement type air filters because you can get them super cheap, you can put as many in there as you want [which that 'want' would be mainly dependent on how much air flow you feel you need] and while they are intended for vacuum cleaners, they have enough actual air flow to use less powerful fans. While I really like K&N air filters, which are more air efficient, I don't know if they stop as much in the way of super fine particles. Either way, you can literally wash the filters [I advise hand washing or a front loading tumbler over agitation though, a an old style agitating washer will damage them] which means they can last literally for decades. What I would advise is to just pull the little pieces out of some old discarded shop vacs, likely shape them some with a sawzall or a right angle grinder [air or electric] so you can fasten them to a piece of plywood with holes drilled into it. The plywood can then be mounted into a silicone sealed box using a little rim seal and some normal foam weather stripping and some wing nuts on 1/4-20 carriage bolts or even some flip latches to snug the filter plate against the lip where the foam can ensure a good seal of the gap. Behind this would be the final part where the fan would be mounted into another half/box which could be hinged to the first one [just makes it less hassle to mess with because it stays together like a big suit case] and a set of flip latches could be used to close that up. The filters can be pre-dampened from the back with either clear or mildly soapy water before you open the box up to minimize dust exfoliation, or, another option is to have a dedicated shop vac to suck all the lead oxides off through a small additional service port, that way you never have to move the main structure, and some times, instead of all out washing the filters, you can just vacuum off the bulk of the lead into a smaller container to handle later. I have a little 1 gallon shop vac, its really handy for tiny areas and it has enough power to get fine dust all day long, and its both small enough and light enough to stand on a ladder without fear of falling off, unlike a really big vac, but does not need 20 feet of hose. Since I plan on using a system much like this myself, I went and got some really big 4 foot long pleated industrial air filters so I can have literally millions of CFM of air filtration, but each shop vac filter should be good for 5000 CFM, and that would help you estimate how many you want for optimal particle hood extraction, based on your current or future fan designs. The shop vac filters can be had from Amazon or Ebay for really cheap, other online merchant sites might also have them.

[@hardrockuniversity7283]

@@hunnybunnysheavymetalmusic6542 Maybe it would work. But what is coming off is lead VAPOR. Not sure how to best capture that.

[@hunnybunnysheavymetalmusic6542]

@@hardrockuniversity7283 Yes, I realize its at nearly single molecule size, same as zinc oxide, but with the right filtration, it will still collect. There is a way to use cascading water to scrub the air discharge that never needs to be cleaned, same as fly ash scrubbers in coal fueled generation towers, just using sheets of plastic inside of what amounts to a shower stall for simplicity, some kind of nozzle that sprinkles water aggressively though the discharge of the exhaust fume hood and you will trap any solids, and some gases [oxides of nitrogen and sulfur for instance] and this can be stored beneath the scrubber in a HDPE container until you have enough to do anything with. In the sitting position, it is technically possible that some of the oxides of sulfur and nitrogen will 'salt out' with the lead oxide in this situation, so one would want to test the contents before deciding how to process the wet scrubbed contents. One really high surface area product I could see trying would be hay bale mesh. While I have not yet tried it [I do not presently have a need for a scrubber, therefore have not yet built one], I aim to get some baling mesh and see how well I can build a low velocity, high volume gas scrubber, because there is a lot of surface area and yet adequate porosity at the same time. To suspend either sheet or mesh, I would advise simply wrapping nylon baling twine around a support frame [PVC would work as it will not rot or corrode, like wood, iron or aluminum might] and then draping the surface contact media over that. Since water does not always like to stick to plastics [they tend to be hydrophobic] it might require a small amount of surfactant [even common dish detergent] in the water to make sure you get a good sheeting action. I'm sure you know about jet dry as a surfactant since a lot of gold miners use it.

[@hardrockuniversity7283]

@@hunnybunnysheavymetalmusic6542 Hmmmm. Food for thought.

[@moktadir4]

I just came here to say, this is the strangest KZbin title I've ever read.

[@jeffbybee5207]

Why?

[@frankenscience3553]

to push a dish into cement

[@hardrockuniversity7283]

It works. Saves about $1 per cupellation. We have gone through over 100 cupels this winter. It adds up.

[@samuelgordonelliott]

2” trailer ball will work

[@hardrockuniversity7283]

Sweet idea. Thanks

[@frankenscience3553]

use a light bulb

[@hardrockuniversity7283]

I'm confused. For what would I use a light bulb?