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 Replies: 9 / Views: 2,039 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1723 Posts |
Did a search on the forum here and cant find specifics on how to test old silver bars without damaging the bar. I've read about acid and drilling which don't appeal to me. Is there a visual way or other means besides a magnet? I've seen pics of the bars and have studied them closely, researched the brand and compared pics and everything looks right...still a bit nervous sometimes. Looking at a listing on kijiji. never dealt with kijiji before so I'm like a dear coming out of the woods. very cautious. Any insight would help guys and gals. CHEERS!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
The magnet test is reasonably good and will spot iron, nickel, cobalt, and most alloys containing them. It is also non-destructive, which is nice.
About the only other test you can do that is non-destructive is to carefully weigh and measure the bar to calculate its density. For pure silver that should be 10.49 grams / cc.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
1723 Posts |
Well the gravity test looks interesting. Same principle when testing a 10oz bar?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
Quote:
Well the gravity test looks interesting. Same principle when testing a 10oz bar? It should be the same. You can either use the width x height x thickness in cm and the weight in grams to calculate the silver item's density in grams / cc or you can use the volume of water displaced by the item to get its volume. Divide the weight by the volume to get its density. Water volume displacement can work well, especially with irregularly shaped objects but some equipment is needed for that. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1723 Posts |
Is there a particular kind of magnet I should own that will give me the best most true results when testing? I mean would an earth magnet be the best magnet to use over ...lets say... a fridge mag?
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Yes. Buy a larger Neodymium magnet - strong, permanent. Just the job.
You might not have one, but a metal detector produces different noises at different pitches for various metals. Learn to distinguish silver using things yu know the content of.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1723 Posts |
Quote:
Yes. Buy a larger Neodymium magnet - strong, permanent. Just the job.
Can you elaborate on this BEN? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
My wife used these Neodymium magnets to make various things to sell in her shop and I can tell you that these little hummers are ferociously strong! The ones that she got were about 0.4" x 0.2" and will stick to any iron-based alloy so strongly that it takes some real effort / finger power to be able to pull them off, hopefully without getting a good finger pinch for your efforts. I use 4 of them to hold the plastic filter screens in place above each of our downspout drains. These catch debris and keep it out of our underground drain system. No matter the weather or how torrential the downpour, those screens never move until I take them off for cleaning 3-4 times a year.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1119 Posts |
You can also find neoymium magnets in old (and New) hard drives. If you buy the really strong magnets be careful, if you get your hand in between them, these magnets are very strong they can snap together with several hundred or thousand pounds of force and you will be lucky if you only lose a fingernail. Also if they break they can have thin sharp edges that can be like a sharp, dirty, jagged razor.
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Replies: 9 / Views: 2,039 |
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Posted 11/24/2012 7:05 pm
