What I work on at night

Just wanted to post a couple of pic's of some stuff I've been breaking down for further refining, but I won't be doing the refining. I leave that to the pro's.

This is a pile of gold pins from floppy drive connectors, not worth shipping the drives and the connectors are only a couple bucks a lb.

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/...e/100_0830.jpg

And these are laser eye's out of CD/DVD drives, the one in the middle of the drive. Usually tucked up into the side of the laser. Some just have gold legs and others are solid plated.

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/...e/100_0824.jpg

You must have a steady hand!

Looks like tedious work.

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Originally Posted by mikeinreco

You must have a steady hand!

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You would be surprised at the detailed work you can do with a 10 X work light/glass. Just rest the heel of your hand on the table or bench as you work.

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Originally Posted by phildogg

Looks like tedious work.

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I have to say it sure is boring, but I'm hoping the end result will be worth it.

so what do just the fingers sell for price wise? And what are the laser eyes worth? I usually don't mess around with them....i must be missing something

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Originally Posted by Gnraxlrose88

so what do just the fingers sell for price wise? And what are the laser eyes worth? I usually don't mess around with them....i must be missing something

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Don't know how much value is there with the laser's but here was someone's auction on Ebay of a lb of pins.
1 lb of Gold Plated Computer Pins for Scrap Recovery | eBay

Good money for pins & still have other items to scrap . Little by Little the process is sinking in (getting the gold off pins ) I wonder how much gold is on a pound of pins. Knowing that weight could radically change a persons desire to learn the full process of refining.

I think I read somewhere theres about 2.5 grams of gold per lb. of pins.

plated metal is going for $100-$300 pound depending on grade

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Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Don't know how much value is there with the laser's but here was someone's auction on Ebay of a lb of pins.
1 lb of Gold Plated Computer Pins for Scrap Recovery | eBay

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wonder what those pins are off of ? They're not off ide connectors. The only thing it even remotely reminds me of are the long connectors used in some older server power supply and board connectors

Cool! good to know im not the only compulsive scrapper around here! now im gonna have to start tearing down those laser eyes (was selling them as IA) and add to the misc gold plated retirement pile.

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Originally Posted by Big Tex

I think I read somewhere theres about 2.5 grams of gold per lb. of pins.

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A 2.5 gram gold bar is $137.50
I say sell the pins

I have a few pounds of the laser heads. Is it worth much to knock out those eyes? I think they are actually diodes.

Don't forget to take out the neodymium magnets on each side of the floating eye. Those are great and very powerful for being only 1/4 inch squares.

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Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Don't know how much value is there with the laser's but here was someone's auction on Ebay of a lb of pins.
1 lb of Gold Plated Computer Pins for Scrap Recovery | eBay

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$105 for just 1lb...hmm I wonder if that is a normal thing to pay? If so, I will start to pull them all for that!

Mechanic, what tool do you use, to seperate the pins from the connector? I am guessing perhaps a simple pair of pliers?

Also, this would be for any type of PC connector, as long as the pins are gold color, correct?

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Originally Posted by jghilino

plated metal is going for $100-$300 pound depending on grade

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Can you provide a picture of this?

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Originally Posted by GeorgeB

$105 for just 1lb...hmm I wonder if that is a normal thing to pay? If so, I will start to pull them all for that!
Mechanic, what tool do you use, to separate the pins from the connector? I am guessing perhaps a simple pair of pliers?
Also, this would be for any type of PC connector, as long as the pins are gold color, correct?

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George I pulled these pins out of floppy drives so the majority are easy as the backs of the pins are sticking out of the back of the plastic connector. I cut the connector off the floppy and pull the small motor on the back, only 2 screws cause the shaft of the motors are brass or SS. I use a bolt cutter to snap off the motor shaft.

As far as pulling the pins I use a long needle nose pliers from the end and grab ahold and pry the pin out the back one at a time. Lift up a little then reach down and get a new grip and just kind of leverage them out.

As far as a the ones with the pin flush with the plastic I think I'm going to gently use the "hammer technique" and give it a couple of whacks so I can get ahold of the back of the pins.

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Don't forget to take out the neodymium magnets on each side of the floating eye. Those are great and very powerful for being only 1/4 inch squares.

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Yea, I missed those, thanks for reminding Pnut.

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Originally Posted by Mechanic688

George I pulled these out of floppy drives so the majority are easy as the backs of the pins are sticking out of the back of the plastic connector. I cut the connector off the floppy and pull the small motor on the back, only 2 screws cause the shaft of the motors are brass or SS. I use a bolt cutter to snap off the motor shaft.

As far as pulling the pins I use a long needle nose pliers from the end and grab ahold and pry the pin out the back one at a time. Lift up a little then reach down and get a new grip and just kind of leverage them out.

As far as a the ones with the pin flush with the plastic I think I'm going to gently use the "hammer technique" and give it a couple of whacks so I can get ahold of the back of the pins.

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Gotcha, so they both came from Floppy Drives, I dont know why I was thinking the other thing. I blame it on tired I guess lol

Anyways, so it would just be the old style floppies, that took the floppy disks, correct? I have a couple of them, so I will test this out over the next few days, and setup a separate tote for them.

What do you believe your Iris's will sell for?

I would think a gus ball mill would be awesome for getting pins out of gold connector ends.

Curious what if u had like a table grinder like one could use to tell if something was alum/ss/ or ferrous would that get all the gold pin residue off faster and be more efficient like 100fold?