Re: gold chloride

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On Thu, 22 Jun 2006, Robert Hall wrote:

> See the Post-Factory Journal #3
>
> Web page with contact info...
>
> http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Post/post.html

thanks Robert... my website has been in meltdown, but if that gives a
connection to jseigel@post-factory, I think I'm getting that mail now...

But that's not why (or not entirely why) I write... which is to say, that
the process is not as fraught as it's made out to be by some parties (who
are not nameless). Of COURSE you have to be careful, but my guess is that
ultimately something like dichromates on a regular basis is riskier.

There's a panic about aqua regia because it dissolves platinum, but our
lungs aren't platinum and contrary to much myth, aqua regia is not like
sulfuric acid in that it doesn't foam or splash if you add water not
standing on both feet. Those issues & many more are further addressed in
P-F #4, which has other follow-ups, including Cor Bruekel's tale of making
gold chloride, simple enough so it took just one column! And Dennis
Fielding, who made his from "an old 22 carat ring."

That to me is the delight (or part of it anyway) of making yr own: I sent
Liam what I called, for delicacy's sake, "an ancestral tooth." A relative
had died after shedding a gold-filled tooth and, knowing I used such
chemicals, willed it to me. I packed it in a cell of bubble wrap &
airmailed to Liam (didn't even weigh over the basic airmail ounce). Liam
consulted with his dentist who advised dissolving it in (whatever, I
forget now, but tooth gold is, or was then an amalgum with copper) and
proceeded to make -- by my recollection something like 40 ounces of gold
toner working solution. (The folly of having donated old sorority pin to
thrift shop became clear.)

Liam also talks about buying gold "trinkets" at flea markets, et al. If
you love flea markets (breathes there a soul who doesn't love flea
markets?) it's a great two-fer. He also points out, if you're divorcing,
KEEP THE RING.

cheers,

Judy
Received on 06/23/06-02:52:04 PM Z