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View Full Version : Can you recycle PMC?



scooch
07-10-2009, 12:00 PM
Hello All,

I've unearthed some dodgy PMC creations I must have made about ten years ago! :o
Now if they were sterling pieces, I'd melt them down to reuse the metal, so I am wondering if there is anything that can be done to 'recycle' old or unwanted PMC pieces.

I mostly just work with sterling silver and wire now (I'm a chainmaille addict :)), but I remember when PMC first arrived on the scene there seemed to be a bit of snobbery about it - like it was just a bit of a toy or novelty, and made jewellery creation too easy. These weren't opinions I shared but I did get put off using it by this kind of attitude. I can see that PMC has come a long way since it first came out, and some of the creations are just fantastic, but I wonder if any of you that use PMC think these attitudes are still out there?

Many thanks.
Scooch

agent_44
07-10-2009, 12:08 PM
PMC is just fine silver once fired properly, so yes you can recycle it!

scooch
07-10-2009, 01:12 PM
Alllright! there's a saving! :ta:

Lindyloo
07-10-2009, 09:02 PM
So can you just add it to your sterling scrap or would you keep it separate?

agent_44
07-10-2009, 09:14 PM
I'm not sure if you can mix metals in your scrap pot, I try to keep mine seperate but I did notice on my last return to Cooksons that they had paid me for some fine and some sterling, so I am assuming you can at least mix silver, but don't quite me on that! It is something I have wondered about though...

Di Sandland
07-10-2009, 09:16 PM
well, if you put fine silver in with your sterling, it will reduce the purity of the fine and improve the purity of your sterling - so I imagine that the result will be of a non-specific purity?

agent_44
07-10-2009, 09:48 PM
Well the credit note I got from cooksons where I managed to send them a mix had the weights of the quantity of the fine, with the scrap return price for that, and then the same for the sterling, so it seems they have a way of separating the two out.

snow_imp
08-10-2009, 08:08 AM
A while back I emailed one of their scrap people and asked about mixing different silver scrap metals and they said it was fine to mix it all together. I assumed they had a way of sorting it out themselves from that.

Rob Taylor
08-10-2009, 08:34 AM
Hi
We need silver in one scrap pot and gold/platinum in another, but within each of those pots you can mix different grades of alloys.

Rob

Jayne
08-10-2009, 08:50 AM
Hi
We need silver in one scrap pot and gold/platinum in another, but within each of those pots you can mix different grades of alloys.

Rob

So, if it's not too complicated to ask, how d'u sort it out?
J x
(if it too complicated, don't worry ;) )

agent_44
08-10-2009, 08:58 AM
Hi
We need silver in one scrap pot and gold/platinum in another, but within each of those pots you can mix different grades of alloys.

Rob

Ah, thanks for clarifying :)

Rob Taylor
08-10-2009, 09:42 AM
Short answer; we melt it down and assay the results. There is a long answer which we will write up properly and post to CooksonGold as I assume people might be interested in reading?
regards
Rob

MuranoSilver
08-10-2009, 09:47 AM
Ohhh yes I love seeing "behind the curtain" ;)

ps_bond
08-10-2009, 12:33 PM
We need silver in one scrap pot and gold/platinum in another, but within each of those pots you can mix different grades of alloys.


Any suggestions on keum boo?

snow_imp
08-10-2009, 12:37 PM
Any suggestions on keum boo?

Um, what is 'keum boo'?

MuranoSilver
08-10-2009, 12:45 PM
22/24 karat gold diffusion bonded (heat and rub it on till the particles merge) to Fine Silver ;)
Here's a nice example of a Bangle (https://www.artfulhome.com/product/Jewels-Curnow/Hephaestus-Keum-Boo-Bangle/50068)
Nic x

snow_imp
08-10-2009, 12:47 PM
Ooooh - sounds shiney.

Thanks for the info.

WitchfordSilver
10-10-2009, 11:39 AM
I thought that PMC was recycled silver in the first place anyway!

So should it be re-recycling

agent_44
10-10-2009, 12:32 PM
Hehe, it is, something like that :)