Gem Recovery

Hi - how do you remove very small gem stones from scrap jewellery? Mainly diamonds & sapphires.
Do you cut them out? I've heard that cyanide stripping is a good way of recovering them, but I'm unsure?
Would appreciate some feedback
Thanks

Sorry you don't have any replies Lucie, but it is rather an open question. It would help to know how your stones are set and how many you are talking about.
My gut instinct is to skip the idea of playing with cyanide before you do an Agatha Christy.
If the stones are small, using a scorper to remove the retention should do it. Perhaps you could tell us what the difficulty is. Dennis.

Hi Dennis, thanks for your reply.

I was told that there are companies out there that can recover gems from jewellery using acid dissolution? I wouldnt try it myself - I would most certainly end up in A&E!

Seems like a good idea to disolve the gold and get the stones out problem free. But I wont mess with cianide in my workshop.
I stil use the elbow greese and the quickest way posible to get the stones out of scrap gold. Stil takes me more time than you would imagine sometimes.
Scorpers, flats and sawblades are my favorite tools next to a set of good pliers. Wish that for diamonds I would dare to melt them out :)