Mercury

[Stuart Samuel]

I’ve run into a few antique light fixtures (usually 19c. French) through work that I’m pretty certain were amalgam plated. Mix the mercury and gold, smear the paste that results onto a surface, boil off the mercury. Gives a really fantastic finish, looks like solid gold, nothing like electroplating.

 

[Ian Moss]

Thanks for all the discussion. Looks like I had better take it to the local waste facility and be done with it.

 

[JustaDB]

I collected...PCB oil from old transformers.

One of my first real jobs was driving an 18' body job 3 ton freight truck. Hauled a lot of different stuff over the course of my employment there, including, occasionally, some power transformers. All we had was our backs & a two-wheeled cart to move freight. Tried to move one of the transformers one day off the pallet & onto the loading dock, ended up dumping it on its side. Some slippery fluid started leaking out, never thought much about it, picked the transformer back up & moved it onto the dock.

Wasn't 'til years later I found out about PCB oil in transformers. Don't know if this was said animal or not. Was in early 80's, if timeline helps.

 

[Tom O]

I’ve run into a few antique light fixtures (usually 19c. French) through work that I’m pretty certain were amalgam plated. Mix the mercury and gold, smear the paste that results onto a surface, boil off the mercury. Gives a really fantastic finish, looks like solid gold, nothing like electroplating.

Apparently that’s where “ Mad as a Hatter “ comes from breathing in the mercury fumes as they put gold plating on their creations.

 

[Stuart Samuel]

Apparently that’s where “ Mad as a Hatter “ comes from breathing in the mercury fumes as they put gold plating on their creations.

The only person I know of who's done amalgam gilding in the last few decades is a South African/British guy, Ford Hallam. He focused on traditional Japanese metalwork, as far as I know just sword fittings (guards, etc.). He passed away last year, unfortunately.

If anyone's interested, there's a two part Youtube video of a commission he received, which includes the (I suspect Japanese take on the) gilding process here:

My recollection is it was a lot of work to set up fume hood scrubbers to properly capture the mercury fume, as you might expect.

 

[bhowden]

one other thought / anecdote..... In the late 90's I was camping on the banks of the Fraser River near Hope. Got woke up by the sound of a gas motor. Went down to the river to find an older guy (probably younger than me now) shoveling sand into a sluice and a gas pump adding the water. Turns out he does this every summer for his vacation. What I found interesting was his sluice probably had more mercury than gold. Looked just like the mercury you got from a thermometer that had been dropped (tiny silver globules). Turns out that they figure it came from Chinese gold panners in the 1800's panning near Boston Bar (upstream from Hope). Since it is similar density it accumulates in the same places.

Brian

 

[Tom O]

Should have reported him I don’t think your allowed to use mercury like that anymore or use hollowed out potatoes to separate the gold.

 

[DPittman]

Should have reported him I don’t think your allowed to use mercury like that anymore or use hollowed out potatoes to separate the gold.

Report him for mercury that was found by him but was put there by people there in the 1800's???

 

[Tom O]

Ok I miss read it, it makes you wonder just how much was used through the gold rush.

 

[Ironman]

The hollowed out potato is still promoted in the prospector magazines and make me boil. Mercury is very easy to condense and recover and re-use. It vaporizes at 600F and will start to condense on the lid of a retort at 550.
I have watched indigenous miners in Tanzania frying off the mercury in a frying pan over an open fire. I tried to explain to them how to recover and re-use it, but they were not interested.

 

[Bandit]

There’s lots of “ left over” mercury in many of the older rivers, in hand with the other”silvery metal” that was often found and tossed away as being a pain. It was platinum, if they only knew. Though maybe not much/any use for it before.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Mercury Fulminate is the first fun item that comes to mind when you say mercury.

It was my first primary high-explosive, had to steal my dad's vodka to make it. He was relieved when he found out I wasn't drinking it.

 

[Tom O]

There’s lots of “ left over” mercury in many of the older rivers, in hand with the other”silvery metal” that was often found and tossed away as being a pain. It was platinum, if they only knew. Though maybe not much/any use for it before.

The Chinese didn’t throw it back though.