How is an air scribe tool used to turn gold-bearing quartz into a beautiful crystallized gold specimen?
Hi it’s Dave again from Goldbay, in my previous blogs I have explained the processes of checking a gold’s continuity and removing the quartz through thermal shocking. Both processes come with a video blog so you can see the full demonstration for each. In this blog, I will explain to you the third process which is air chipping using a tool called air scribe to remove the remaining quartz left from the previous processes. Also, below this third blog is a video that demonstrates in full this third step in preparing gold quartz specimens and explain the problems that come with it. While another video below will show what a successful air scribe process can do to your gold bearing specimen.
The Air Scribe Process In Removing Quartz Of Your Gold Specimen
Before going into details let’s recap on the previous process. The first step was a demonstration of how to check the gold’s continuity throughout the entire specimen. This gives us a good picture of the shape of crystallized gold once it’s finish. While the second step was a demonstration of removing a bulk of quartz using an acetylene torch.
This time we will specifically remove the quartz that is closely attached to our gold using a process known as air chipping or scribing. In many metal and wood works, a tool called air chisel are commonly used to mark out and carve a work piece. But in removing quartz or other minerals attached to gold, we will use a more specific type of tool with a tip of a pen like air scriber. Basically, an air scribe is a compressed air driven needle that repeatedly hits the quartz hundred times per minute, removing quartz that are attach to our gold specimen in the process. While air scribe can be annoying and loud, a more refine and more visible gold can be seen after the entire process is done.
Modeling Clay
Before starting to work with the specimen, a modeling clay is needed to hold the gold quartz. The reason for this is that the air scribe will shake the specimen real hard and sometimes pieces of gold’s are going to fall off from the specimen especially those with thinner connections between gold’s. Modeling clay will hold the gold and stabilized it so that the air chipper doesn’t shake the gold off easily. After embedding the specimen into some clay, proceed on removing all the loose material quartz using a very light pressure.
Video Explaining in Full – How To Use Air Scribe
Below is a video of how I work with gold-bearing quartz using air scribe tool.
Unfortunately, the gold quartz specimens were broken into two pieces. Sometimes the gold is fairly attached with the other side of gold. These things could happen and there’s not much that we can do about that. The good news is that the remaining pieces can still be pretty darn cool when it’s done and that it doesn’t diminish the value for each pieces of gold specimen.
The second video below shows a much successful air scribing process that results into an astonishing gold quartz specimen.
In part four of this series, I will show you how to mask the specimen with wax and then putting it into a solution.
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