Refining scrap 925 sterling silver to %99.999 purity. Part 1

In this video I will be refining some scrap 925 sterling silver. The first step in a long process.

[@raymondcote6669]

MELT THE SILVER!!!!

[@iant419]

HE LEFT OUT THE BEST PART!!! wtf

[@dragon.fromindia3235]

GOLD AND SILVER ARE SAFE INVESTMENT THAN CRYPTO OR OTHER COUNTRIES CURRENCYS..METALS ARE ESSENTIAL THAN CRYPTO....metals are essential than paper currencys///war in the world never stops it is a continuous process till human race finish...

[@derecktimbers8817]

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[@derecktimbers8817]

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[@derecktimbers8817]

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[@donnaparker3748]

My husband and I really would have loved to have seen you turn that into a silver bar or whatever you made from that. Great video! Your voice was calm and informative. Thank you . Hope to see more of your work, but with a melted finished piece.

[@RestoreITdontJunkIT]

Wtf.... this is SO AWESOME..... THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO...

[@kenz.1977]

Very beautiful and detailed process... it really need a lot of time and information and tools to get it done accurately and safely... you rock

[@Cryptobythesea]

Very informative but I couldn't get past the gloveless hands. Especially handling the condensed Nitric acid. 1. Ventilation 2. Eye protection 3. Gloves 4. Apron

[@katana1960]

I'm a silver nut just like everyone else watching this video, but I bet he could have sold some of those pieces for more money than their scrap silver value. I realize that some of the pieces were just scrap, but others were sellable to antique collectors, just saying.

[@philipbender956]

You are correct some of the pieces that I have recycled are probably worth more sold as is. I have noticed that unless you're antique sterling silver is perfect (dent and scratch free) you won't get much more than the scrap value. You will also have to wait for someone to come around that is looking for the piece you are selling. I purchase all of my sterling silver as scrap at a discounted price. So I generally end up dissolving everything that my wife doesn't want.

[@billywalker8631]

Philip Bender can you do a video on making the nitric acid? Would love to be able to save some money

[@philipbender956]

@@billywalker8631 yes I did. Check my channel, I demonstrate how to make concentrated nitric acid from fertilizer.

[@march9807]

Philip Bender can’t find that video to make nitric. Can u send link?

[@rookierollhunter8652]

Are you planning to make part 2, the melt into a bar? Awesome video!

[@lancecpldave]

Bummer I wanted to see it go into a bar or coin in the end still cool though ima go try to find one for 90% coins though

[@musiclover8309]

Hi sir, will normal water not work in silver refining process copper?

[@PHUCKyoutube689]

Nirmal water? Do you mean tap water? Chlorine in the tap water will make silver chloride and is a pain to deal with when melting.

[@LlamaKingGaming]

All these sophisticated tools and equipment and chemicals and he uses a plastic fork to scoop out the silver powder 😂

[@Nightman2152]

Excellent video! Please make Part 2

[@williamwilliam5066]

Chemically and scientifically very interesting. Although I wouldn't trust this chap to look after a grasshopper. Defo a serial killer! :)

[@philipbender956]

Yes, it would appear as though the wildlife has suffered around my residence. But, I am not convinced that I am to blame for the mass deaths. Some of the squirrels have gone hair and toothless. They just sit there and look at you. I'm not an evolutionary biologist but this could actually be a good thing. None of the other surviving animals are eating them. I think the squirrels problem is poor genetics and bad sunlight🤢 That is what probably caused the mutations and deaths. It has nothing to do with the constant toxic fumes being expelled from my lab🤨🤔Thanks, I am happy you enjoyed the video 🤗😀

[@WiderNiner]

PART 2: INGOT MOLD PLEASE!

[@mithrilsilver575]

I heard that

[@BrianBurns-x4r]

I do like your video!

[@bensmallwood8392]

How much actual silver did you end up with after the melt? Did you refine it again after melt to get closer to the 99.999? You left a lot of questions open great video but a lot of questions.

[@philipbender956]

That's a good question 😂 I actually just added that silver powder to a batch of silver powder from another batch. Then I melted it into silver shot. Then I put it through my electrolytic silver cell. Then I usually end up pouring 100 troy ounce bars from the silver crystal.

[@legaia_2804]

That was incredible. Makes me wish I paid more attention in Chem back in my school days. Well done man

[@NandiCollector]

Indeed! 👍😀

[@mickeykeatley3381]

6⁶⁶⁶76⁶6⁶7⁶6⁶6⁶⁶77⁶6the two m ⁶members 6⁶6⁶a and ⁶⁶⁶z,dx: 77⁷⅞::,

[@erichuber1030]

Gloves while handling acids? And you touched the pot after incineration.

[@semanticssimple2053]

would this process work with electrical contacts? Some maybe as low as 68% silver and contain cadmium.

[@mikeward7290]

Any chemist out there looking to work at a base metal mine? Atomic absorption spectrometer knowledge preferred as well.

[@HurricaneDave81]

Probably a loaded question....but what is the high level difference between this and a silver cell?

[@Joshua-je2vm]

You have an amazing robot voice! I confirm your video and have added your knowledge to the collective.

[@josephheffle7137]

Streetips is another one to watch

[@mithrilsilver575]

Yeah what's up with part: 2. I wanna see it melted to a bar. Awesome video tho

[@ericbeeman8717]

U can always make a silver cell and make pure silver crystal basically making a silver plating bowl accept ur not plating anything but the silver on silver using a stainless steel bowl a DC power supply a small basket of impure silver shot use silver nitrate in the bowl contest the ground to the bowl make a silver anode for the hot and put the shot in a dycron sweeper filter doubled over in a small bowl drill holes in the bowl let it hanf in the solution and turn the power supply on let it run for 10 days check every so often and refill with silver nitrate and distilled water and refill the basket with silver shot should get about 1.5 kilo of pure silver crystal in bout 10 days

[@dontask8979]

If the thinner material devolves quickest, wouldnt it make more sense to start with the thicker material? 🤔 As its eaten add the thinner stuff.

[@ThePduncan742]

Great informative video but I'd just like to know what 46 assholes took the time to watch yet gave a thumbs down?

[@prospectorpete]

i have some silver chloride , if its insoluble in nitric , then how do i process it ?

[@darrenredd8326]

I really like your videos. There all so informative. Thank you.

[@philipbender956]

Thanks, I am happy you enjoyed the video 🤗😀

[@adilhakam887]

Those foils are most likely rhodium plating on you sterling stuff

[@gettingpast4391]

I love how you explain the reaction and mention even the smallest details.

[@philipbender956]

Thanks, I am happy you enjoyed the video. 🤗😄

[@treyherndon14]

How do you get silver off of your hands? I guess picking up the coffee filter left stain on my fingers. Any gloves that are ok to use? I heard not to use nitrile? Does steel added to your copper solution in the end precip your copper or which metal? Great video, thanks! I have lots of silver powder to melt :)

[@philipbender956]

Try using ammonia to remove the silver nitrate stains from your hand. You can use a piece of iron to drop your copper out of solution. I am happy you enjoyed the video 🤗

[@treyherndon14]

Thanks I'll try it! What about gloves?

[@philipbender956]

@@treyherndon14 vinyl gloves are very resistant to nitric acid.

[@michaelbarrella3043]

Damn why couldnt the final weight be 999? Lol Great video

[@zubairhakda]

Hello. How much amount of nitric acid is needed for 1 kg for silver jewellery (70% purity) and how much amount of distilled water is needed before adding copper plates?

[@ctrgraduaciones5174]

you need one gallon for 100 metal oz. maybe one liter and half for your kilogram

[@nomanbautista585]

Nice.. I worked in a metal company way back 2007, we refined Ag. I was assigned in electrolysing Ag .then in melting... As far as I can remembered we used salt and sugar...every time I tell my story to my Friend's they laughs...

[@nomanbautista585]

We also used polymer resins, caustic soda flakes

[@nomanbautista585]

Currently working in silver plating company

[@silver-ud5sj]

U talk a load of shit mate

[@edgarsikes1805]

using salt and sugar is the way you create elemental silver. salt (sodium chloride) to precipitate silver chloride. Lye (sodium hydroxide) to create silver oxide, and sugar or corn syrup to convert silver oxide to elemental silver. .999 purity

[@PoorMiners321]

nice, new subs..

[@DaveL0120]

What was it before you smelted it?

[@anylife_photography]

Apart from you sounding like a sick, depressed Morgan Freeman. Not a bad tutorial.

[@philipbender956]

Thanks, I am happy you enjoyed the video 🤗 😀

[@narendrakhona1168]

WHAT IS THE STRENGTH OF NITRIC ACID SOLUTION ❓❓

[@ICYPROFITS]

A stamp of a lion is also sterling silver

[@edgarsikes1805]

there are literally HUNDREDS of sterling hallmarks. he would have spent most of the video just describing them.

[@ICYPROFITS]

@@edgarsikes1805 yes but the lion is a common one as well

[@edgarsikes1805]

@@ICYPROFITS generally the lion is found with british sterling, its the hallmark of britannia silver... and then there are other marks that go with it to denote the maker and the date stamp.

[@mak6286]

Where is part 2 video?

[@SenthilKumar-dv4xl]

Detailed video thank you

[@mystermisterairy6257]

Youre a badass brother, please keep making videos

[@forestarcher47]

How long does it take for all the silver to crash out after adding the copper?

[@philipbender956]

It starts to crash out immediately. Depending on how much silver is dissolved in the solution. It could take between 4 and 12 hours. There are other factors in play. If the copper gets completely coated with silver crystal it will stop crashing out. So you need to periodically refresh your copper. Once you no longer see crystal's forming on the copper. The silver is out of solution.

[@SilverWatcher.]

Ahh the lost art of silver recovery cheers mate

[@philipbender956]

Thanks, I am happy you enjoyed the video 🤗 😀

[@jhumpapanday496]

How long time copper drop in acid liquid

[@philipbender956]

Couple of hours but you should leave it in for 24.

[@thomastindal3724]

this guy knows how to talk! slow, calm and collective! good learning

[@jojojeep1]

What happens if you just melt sterling silver with acetylene torch

[@philipbender956]

You get melted Sterling silver. And a bunch of oxides.

[@tomasbelica9519]

Hello impressive video lots of knowledge. I am First timer and made a mess of mine, used 65% nitric acid, over shot the solution without knowing and added Cooper pipe into it, pipe has disolved partially. Now question is there a way of separating silver from copper which desolved in solution? Thanks in advance

[@philipbender956]

Just keep adding copper. Eventually you will consume all of your nitric acid. It takes four times as much nitric acid to dissolve copper as it does silver. Once all the nitric acid has been consumed the copper will start displacing the silver. Once all the silver has fallen out of solution you should be able to rinse the copper away with tap water. Any remaining copper or pmg's will be removed upon further purification in a silver electrolytic cell.

[@tomasbelica9519]

Philip Bender Thank you very much for valuable advise. I will follow the instruction.

[@loveme6069]

@@philipbender956 Sir fist subscriber all chamical

[@lancemillward1912]

Three nines fine. Not .99999

[@miladkhakpour9531]

How much is the cost of this process? Approximately.

[@philipbender956]

As I made the nitric acid the cost of the chemicals was about $20.

[@andybaldman]

Why siphon the liquid? Why not just pour it, like sreetips does?

[@philipbender956]

It is better to remove the liquid from the top without disturbing the lower layers.

[@andybaldman]

What kind of fume hood has cinder-block walls?

[@philipbender956]

One that I built. It is in the corner of my underground bunker / lab. There are many rooms down here. The lab was part of stage 3 of the build. The 1st part of the build contains a Winnebago that I buried at the beginning of the project. That is where I sleep and produce my KZbin videos. Stage 2 is a bunch of old shipping containers that I buried in the same path for food storage. I should probably start work on stage 4 soon. A proper shower and laundry room. At the moment I only clean up with single use alcohol swabs. Then I wear my clothes for 3 days before donating them to good will and buying new ones. In the end I predict it will be cheaper just to build the rooms.

[@richardkocksworthy8423]

And then I take the silver dust off planet. Good bye

[@philipbender956]

I wish to someday make it a efficient fuel source. I have been working on a lead-silver nitrate battery. The issues I'm having is that it keeps dissolving the lead or just knocking the silver out of solution.🤔

[@markk7509]

Chemistry is awesome.

[@VinylToVideo]

So that dust at the end is basically triple 9s silver?

[@philipbender956]

Yes

[@beshepman7963]

Great video and excellently explained! What material is the large funnel you used? Would it be a problem if I used a plastic funnel?

[@webbit1518]

i increased the playback speed to 1.25...1.50 is good too...haha

[@philipbender956]

If set to slower speeds it will help you sleep🤗

[@webbit1518]

@@philipbender956 Touche" good sir!

[@mustafaateeq2574]

Thank you very much

[@aeternoscorpio5230]

OMFG those foil pieces will be palladium and vanadium, they predominantly only spray it on silver jewellery to give it more shine but sure as shit It would be on upper crust sterling silver too

[@aeternoscorpio5230]

Fuck I hope you kept em, get them tested

[@aeternoscorpio5230]

And if not it is platinum

[@philipbender956]

Yes, I have kept all of my filter papers. I was thinking about dissolving them in sulfuric acid. It's alltinve to burning.

[@youvashekel6509]

What do you need to do to Get out The gold? Thanks!

[@philipbender956]

Filtration

[@Cr8zEightArtistManagement]

Where is part 2

[@msaif9648]

Very thankful from Pakistan 🤗

[@philipbender956]

Thanks, I am happy you enjoyed the video 🤗 😀

[@MolotovAustralia]

i would have paid you more for the teapot...

[@philipbender956]

It was dented and scrached. I purchase most of my silver at auction as scrap. I do try to pick out nice items. The ones I don't keep for my own use I sell. But like I said before I buy most of my silver at auction that is sold as scrap. You can take a shot at purchasing some nice items that are sold as scrap on eBay. Just search "scrap sterling silver lot". The auctions are kind of fun. Be sure to check current silver prices before you bid. I have so much used Sterling silverware. My dining room is fit for a king 🤗 I am happy you enjoyed the video 😀

[@RBYW1234]

18:19 - Do a platinum test?

[@philipbender956]

I don't bother with the platinum test. There should only be trace amounts present if that. Also at such low concentrations it bonds with the silver making it virtually impossible to separate without electrolysis.

[@albertalbert4333]

Sad to say but. That is not 5 9's pure. You need an electrolytic cell to get to 99.999

[@RBYW1234]

7:15 - Where the Tea pot go.

[@philipbender956]

I used a magic potion to make it disappear 🍶

[@stephenwilson7208]

How pure is the silver after this step ?

[@philipbender956]

%98 to %99 The last electrolysis step will remove any platinum type metals that are contaminating the silver.

[@JeremyB8419]

How did you get the rest of the wet silver out of the glassware into the stainless pot? Distilled water?

[@dr.a006]

Your videos are very well explained and thorough. And you explain a lot of “why’s” that others don’t. Thank you!

[@slowmotion2268]

Where the part 2

[@JH-rt2co]

no gloves with nitric acid....?

[@philipbender956]

No, the acid that I produced will ignite gloves on contact.

[@JoshuaAndersonLife]

Are you using a Pyrex beaker during the refining process while on the heat?

[@philipbender956]

Pyrex is a brand name. I am using scientific glass from China 😀 It's the same glass, I'm sure Pyrex has a better quality control. But as a rule of thumb you want to use scientific glass in the lab.

[@russellguthrie9619]

enjoyed the video, but like most other videos on dissolving 925/sterling jewelry, etc....no one gives a timeline...i.e...how long for the scraps to completely dissolve? how long does it take to precipitate the solution with copper?....just curious...hours, days, ???

[@philipbender956]

It took about six hours to dissolve the silver then I let it cool overnight. it took about six hours to fully precipitate the silver but I let it soak overnight to be sure all the silver had dropped.

[@TheGreatest1974]

I enjoyed the video, but I have to say, the viewer wants to see the silver melted and poured. Far too many leave out the final melt and pour which really is the best part? It’s the reward for all your work.

[@philipbender956]

I know I keep meaning to make part 2 but you know how the last few years have been😷

[@k.l.hollister8128]

How did people figure this out? One day someone says ...hmmm, if I add this to this, it will melt, blow up etc ... lol. Woman brain here, I would never think of something like this out in the wild lol. I feel a strong desire to go shopping for pretty silver things to wear ... 🤪. Cool video though. ☺️

[@philipbender956]

I believe this was figured out by people who would dissolve things in acid. Then they would add various chemicals to see what would happen.

[@luckyaf859]

Melt it all

[@lefalinjection3493]

Would it work just as well to melt down the sterling silver first into a bar and then go through the chem refining to melt it back down or would a big chunk be immediately too reactive?

[@philipbender956]

A big chunk would take forever to break down in acid. The thin silverware has much more surface area. Happy you enjoyed 😉

[@prospectorpete]

where would the gold have come from if you only disolved silver

[@chingching664]

He dissolved Sterling silver articles which are .925 or better silver . The gold came in trace amounts from the original sterling that was made. A trace by-product of the mining process of the silver.

[@danielmulas6210]

Hi Philip, I have a question! as soon as I disolved the plated silver and I filtered the very dark green solution left, in order to neutralise the acidity of it I aded some normal bicorbonate and the liquid turned in a light blue solution!! I added the copper coil but nothing hapened apart of turning the solution in a green liquid again.... big disaster!!! how can I get my silver back??? thank you for the video

[@philipbender956]

If you dissolve silver plate using this method. There will be very little silver in solution it will mostly be base metals. Try again using solid Sterling silver.

[@Navschannel3908]

The foils and other remnant metals from the nitric dissolve are easily recovered from a quick round of Aqua Regia... The shortcoming is of course, the time and energy for such small amounts of precious metals, probably as you surmised PGMs.

[@philipbender956]

All the scraps were thrown in to a bin to be refined later.

[@sparcx86channel42]

this is great man thats a lot of trouble but right now, there is demand for such job. if you guys learn how to do it properly, you can find people wanting to refine their junk silver into bars soon.

[@philipbender956]

Thanks, I am happy you enjoyed the video. 🤗😃

[@eltonjcasarez2744]

Make some hand poured bars please and thank you very much for the videos and information very helpful and informative. Silver to the Moon.

[@philipbender956]

Thanks, I am happy you enjoyed the video 🤗😀

[@ericr154]

I like how it just looks like a bunch of grey dirt but it can be melted and polished to create jewelry that people pay 💰 for.

[@philipbender956]

Yes sir.

[@elainefeather9465]

If chemistry had been presented like this when I was at school ,there would be a lot more scientists in the world today 😊. Thank you , who thought chemistry could be so captivating . 😊

[@philipbender956]

Thanks, I am happy you enjoyed the video.

[@johnsherry6021]

Now what? Melt it into a bar?

[@philipbender956]

I melt into silver shot then feed it into my silver cell.

[@k.l.hollister8128]

Wow, I had no idea. Now how does the powder turn into solid stuff? No wonder I failed chemistry.

[@philipbender956]

It needs to be melted down. The powder is metal it's just finely divided.

[@josephheffle7137]

I love Watching precious metal refinery and your voice is so calming it's like a hypnotist

[@philipbender956]

Thanks, I am happy you enjoyed the video 🤗😀

[@plandl1]

Would it help to apply a fishtank type air pump with a small tube at the bottom of the confor easier agitation?

[@philipbender956]

Is the acid will dissolve the air tube.

[@فادينووتشرينو]

كود

[@sass1ap]

Why wouldn't you just melt down all those pieces? Seems like a lot of work for something that could be gotten easier

[@philipbender956]

If you just melt down the pieces you still have sterling silver I wanted to purify the silver.

[@genius1198]

Do you work at a morgue by any chance????

[@philipbender956]

I worked at the county morgue for 10 years. At 16 I got the job through my biology class in high school. I was the only kid in school with a steady supply of embalming fluid. I would work nights after school 60 hours a week. I then went on to start my own crime scene clean up business at the age of 26. Man the things you see on that job.😐 I guess that's why I prefer robotic friends. You can just turn them off when you're done talking to them.🤔

[@genius1198]

@@philipbender956 nice hahahhaahahahahahahahwhahahahwh

[@faisalhayat23]

What will you do of Copper nitrate waste?

[@philipbender956]

It was destroyed and properly disposed of.

[@faisalhayat23]

@@philipbender956 i thought may be you recover copper or nitric acid, if this step is possible and cheap...

[@philipbender956]

@@faisalhayat23 I don't bother trying to recover nitric acid or copper. The acid is very dilute and the copper is very contaminated with other metals such as iron and lead. The process may be cheap but it also costs time and energy.

[@absalonganiza7634]

Dear Philip, how do you realise at 13:58 that you overshot the nitric acid ?

[@philipbender956]

I usually dissolve sterling silver in 1000 g batches. It usually takes about 1 l of nitric acid to dissolve the 1,000 g. So during the process sometimes the mixture will get a little acidic 😌 but in the end it is all reduced to a nearly neutral state. I always overshoot the silver as the extraction is wrapping up.

[@jasonhaddeman4035]

Step by step explaining every action in each step helps a ton.good video thank you

[@philipbender956]

Thanks, I am happy you enjoyed the video 🤗😀

[@davidtweeddale5775]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@PokeRelativity]

You are truly an alchemical magician my friend. Wow.

[@philipbender956]

Thank you, I am happy you enjoyed the video 🤗😀

[@amazingvideo2869]

Best Tutorial I have seen so far on 925 purification, Thankyou!

[@philipbender956]

Thanks, I am happy you enjoyed the video 🤗😀

[@midwestchem368]

Really enjoying your channel just found it. Keep it up man! 👍

[@philipbender956]

Thank you, I am happy you enjoyed the video

[@schoolofhardknockscoach9123]

How do you produce your nitric acid?

[@philipbender956]

I made the nitric acid myself in a previous video.

[@philipbender956]

It's distilled from potassium nitrate and sulfuric acid. I give a detailed explanation in a video on my channel.

[@moweber]

Sree student from Bragg?

[@mikeanderson3762]

Is there a part 2 ?

[@philipbender956]

There will be soon.