G.I.B.
Gold Member
- Feb 23, 2007
- 7,187
- 8,537
- 🏆 Honorable Mentions:
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- CTX 3030 / GTI 2500 / Infinium LS / Tesoro Sand Shark / 1 Garrett Pro-pointer / 1 Carrot / Vibra Probe 580 (out on loan) / Lesche M85 / Mark1 MOD1 EyeBall
- Primary Interest:
- Other
The great fire nugget-
I'm beach hunting this morning on the west coast of Florida and I get a hit and dig up a chunk of metal.
First glance- melted slag pile of? It's way too heavy for melted aluminum. I have neo-magnets in my scoop, no reaction there, so this will take a bit more work when I get home.
I start the general cleaning process and do the Redux cleaning method. (thanks Crispin for the chemistry and how to lesson)
The reaction is positive for a noble metal, lots of bubbles coming off the piece, 'soot' left in the aluminum foil, which is dissolving in the process. I've basically put the object on wrinkled aluminum foil, added a bunch of baking soda and heated it up. I was given the physics lesson as to what and why, but I don't recall it specifically at the moment. I'm saving those brain cells for a celebratory beer or six.
The chunk comes out of the Redux pan and is a bit cleaner.
I scratch it on my test stone and see no change with the silver acid testing solution. I've managed to scrape off some of the crud on the piece, and it tests as nothing. (bottom right)
I use a new file, get into metal shavings, and test that. Immediate red color to the solution. (upper left in the test photo) Just to be sure I test a known piece of silver of mine, the ring, (top right) and it's red as well.
The chunk weighs about 4.44 ounces. The Suzie coin is there for size comparison.
The object is now in the display case why I wonder what it is, why is silver deformed like this, where did it come from- all the usual.
I'm naming this piece, "gran peptic de fuego"
The nugget with weight.
In the Redux solution.
Top left, shavings from the nugget.
Top right, from my silver ring.
(might be hard to see, but both are the same red color)
Bottom right, no reaction to the surface scratch of the nugget.
Just for size.
With Suzie
Close up of scratch area, shiny upper left.
Lightning starts up this morning so the hunt is over for now, but we'll be baaaack!
I made a couple of earlier scratches to see what was under the crusty outer layer and it has already tarnished a bit.
...and my apologies to Crispin for an earlier post where I poked fun at him- I couldn't help myself either... it's a sickness- I was overcome and just had to dump acid on my older scratches.
Ya just can't get enough of that lovely red color.
I'm beach hunting this morning on the west coast of Florida and I get a hit and dig up a chunk of metal.
First glance- melted slag pile of? It's way too heavy for melted aluminum. I have neo-magnets in my scoop, no reaction there, so this will take a bit more work when I get home.
I start the general cleaning process and do the Redux cleaning method. (thanks Crispin for the chemistry and how to lesson)
The reaction is positive for a noble metal, lots of bubbles coming off the piece, 'soot' left in the aluminum foil, which is dissolving in the process. I've basically put the object on wrinkled aluminum foil, added a bunch of baking soda and heated it up. I was given the physics lesson as to what and why, but I don't recall it specifically at the moment. I'm saving those brain cells for a celebratory beer or six.
The chunk comes out of the Redux pan and is a bit cleaner.
I scratch it on my test stone and see no change with the silver acid testing solution. I've managed to scrape off some of the crud on the piece, and it tests as nothing. (bottom right)
I use a new file, get into metal shavings, and test that. Immediate red color to the solution. (upper left in the test photo) Just to be sure I test a known piece of silver of mine, the ring, (top right) and it's red as well.
The chunk weighs about 4.44 ounces. The Suzie coin is there for size comparison.
The object is now in the display case why I wonder what it is, why is silver deformed like this, where did it come from- all the usual.
I'm naming this piece, "gran peptic de fuego"
The nugget with weight.
In the Redux solution.
Top left, shavings from the nugget.
Top right, from my silver ring.
(might be hard to see, but both are the same red color)
Bottom right, no reaction to the surface scratch of the nugget.
Just for size.
With Suzie
Close up of scratch area, shiny upper left.
Lightning starts up this morning so the hunt is over for now, but we'll be baaaack!
I made a couple of earlier scratches to see what was under the crusty outer layer and it has already tarnished a bit.
...and my apologies to Crispin for an earlier post where I poked fun at him- I couldn't help myself either... it's a sickness- I was overcome and just had to dump acid on my older scratches.
Ya just can't get enough of that lovely red color.
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