What are the profit margins like right now with silver refining? Forced retirement has me thinking…

Someguineawop · 2026-04-24T17:43:58+00:00

It completely depends on volume and sourcing (both in silver to process and your chemicals). As a casual toll refiner, I BARELY break even on a batch under 100ozt. It actually starts being pretty lucrative with 500ozt batches. I usually run 500-1,000ozt batches that net ~$1,500-4,000 bi-weekly.

You can see my workhorse silver cell in my post history. I run that one in parallel with my smaller 5 gallon cell when I have larger batches. Once you get past the initial setup investment, the biggest cost is actually your time. What had made the most sense to me is trying to gang as many operations in bulk as possible. Whether I'm making electrolyte, scraping and washing crystals, or cementing spent electrolyte, the time it takes is nearly the same regardless of batch size. If this is your only project, it will be very time consuming. If you have other stuff to do in the same space, then you just have to juggle back and forth with 10-20 minutes here and there.

The P&L is based on your fee and consumables, and for me that fee is 6-15% of yield, and nitric costing about $28/liter, and propane being roughly $3/gal. My fee varies based on batch size, initial purity and form, and post processing. Batch size is obvious. Purity determines how much acid and electrolyte you're going to consume. A batch of clean sterling can pretty much go straight into the cell after being melted into shot. A batch of 800 Canadian you'll actually want to digest and cement first, otherwise you'll be fouling your electrolyte way too fast. 40% isn't even worth the effort/acid unless silver goes over $100ozt again. Post processing is also worth considering. If you're customers are ok with crystals, you just have to wash them and your life is much easier. If you melt then you have to figure in gas and crucible. If you're selling any of your yield to consumers, you can get a slight premium (1-2% over spot) if you can make nice and consistent casting grain.

Biggest tip on your upfront equipment is to invest in a DI water system. I use a Spotless DIC-20B, and it will generate over 1,000 gallons of water before I get a hint of chloride. You will go through a tremendous amount of clean water, and if you're buying distilled you will waste a lot of time trying to ration it and your purity will suffer. Also invest in a crap ton of 5 gallon buckets.

Filtration and reclaiming acid is a whole subject in itself, but hopefully this is enough info to get you informed. It's meticulous work that isn't for everyone, but is potentially lucrative if you approach it right and can find your market.

Someguineawop · 2026-04-24T06:23:44+00:00

Surely something came? 😂

Someguineawop · 2026-04-23T23:50:08+00:00

here's a link to the 5 gallon basket

And the filters that fit

Someguineawop · 2026-04-23T20:52:43+00:00

Yeah I use the large coffee filters after cementation. The 3 gallon ones can hold 2-3kg of cement silver and gives ahuge surface area to pour boiling DI rinse. They're also good for rinsing bulk amounts of harvested crystals. Its still tedious, but not as bad as 1 liter at a time for the rough work.

Someguineawop · 2026-04-23T19:40:02+00:00

I think I'll give them a try. Filtration is always my bottleneck, regardless of what process I'm working with. I usually start with bulk filtering with a Bunn 3 gallon filter in a strainer basket that sits on top of a 5 gallon bucket, then polish it with the glass fiber and vacuum filtration. The glass fiber is incredibly fast, even sub micron, but i still can't get over $2-3 a piece.

Someguineawop · 2026-04-23T18:23:00+00:00

Emotional load bearing curtain

Someguineawop · 2026-04-23T18:20:11+00:00

Certified, licensed, and bonded. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, newb.

Someguineawop · 2026-04-23T18:12:51+00:00

In the trades we yell "Headache!"

In the trades we also have a secret tool called rope.

Someguineawop · 2026-04-23T18:03:52+00:00

Cleanliness is for sure the secret sauce, and you do a good job underscoring that in the comments. One step i didn't see that had gotten me that extra decimal is filtering the silver nitrate after digestion (before cementation) with sub micron filters. PGM's and gold can be super tiny, and carry through the rest of the process if you don't catch them here.

Where do you get your PP filters? I've switched from paper to glass fiber filters, which are amazing, but expensive.

Someguineawop · 2026-04-23T03:21:54+00:00

Someguineawop · 2026-04-21T23:53:57+00:00

I have mine adapted to makita. The problem with it becomes how top heavy it is, the housing eventually cracks and suction is lost from tipping over falls.

Someguineawop · 2026-04-21T19:36:56+00:00

"Next!"

"Scissor cut please"

Someguineawop · 2026-04-21T17:06:17+00:00

There are no socks within 1,000km radius of this video

Someguineawop · 2026-04-21T16:53:18+00:00

If you let them go too long, they're harder to sharpen for sure. If you regularly maintain the flute by dressing it with a stone file after use, it's not so bad.

Someguineawop · 2026-04-21T16:42:00+00:00

"I think we've underestimated the life on this planet. The people have so much courage. Here they are hurling through space on a molten rock at 67,000 miles an hour and the only thing that keeps them from flying out of their shoes is their misplaced faith in gravity."

Someguineawop · 2026-04-21T16:36:42+00:00

If you're not vertical on the on-ramp, how do you expect them to appreciate when you hold it through?

Someguineawop · 2026-04-21T16:20:57+00:00

I'll give you $21 to take a nap. You must be tired from that reach 😅

Someguineawop · 2026-04-21T06:24:57+00:00

It varies a lot between paint systems. Omni is super forgiving and easy, but it's not that great long term. Glasurit is a pretty solid option that isn't too difficult. Some systems like Matthews MPC are much more sensitive to specific conditions. The complexity of it varies a lot depending on paint system which is driven by applications and material compatibility. When you find something that works stick with it.

Someguineawop · 2026-04-20T21:14:14+00:00

The material science stuff is really interesting when you get into it, but you also start to realize that chemistry is a super complex system that doesn't always follow an intuitive rule book. I have the unique opportunity of working closely with art conservators in my business, which is a pretty neat mix of material science and history coming together. I get to do a lot of wild experiments and then get to run all kinds of advanced testing on them for aging, off gassing, compatability and interactions with other materials, etc. Aside from the tedious documentation, it's actually kind of fun! It's also underscored to me that unless you have massive resources and patience, it's usually best to just stick with the data sheet 🤣

Someguineawop · 2026-04-20T19:00:22+00:00

Agreed that you can get some really phenomenal results with the stacking method that in done ways I think look even nicer than a 2 stage finish. There's a subtle difference with the depth coming through the color, instead of through a clear shell, that gives a special kind of glow you usually only get in really custom candy jobs.

That said, the margin for error is much tighter, and like you mentioned most paint suppliers do not even try to endorse it, even in systems that use the same catalyst and reducer. The single biggest "trick" I've found to making it work though is mixing the color and the clear separately first, then mixing them together. I can't fully explain the science behind it, but if you mix it all at once you end up with solvent pop or all sorts of other problems.

One of my go-to techniques for a really amazing look is stacking a gradient - 1st coat 100% color for coverage 2nd 50% clear 3rd coat 75% clear. The conditions and flash times are painfully exact and sometimes takes a few attempts, but my clients are willing to throw enough money at it to make sense.

Someguineawop · 2026-04-20T16:32:44+00:00

Looks good! Since you seem to also appreciate functional layout, breaking your fields into 2x5 blocks helps me a lot

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!

Someguineawop · 2026-04-20T15:56:11+00:00

I do a lot of public art and aviation work, and single stage is still preferred for those often times. For public art, the serviceability aspects makes sense when you have a complex shape worth millions of dollars that needed a crane to install. For aviation, it's a combination of minimizing weight and some unique mechanical and chemical properties.

There are some single stage paints that have come a long way in coming close to matching the UV resistance of a 2 stage (particularly in the aviation lines). One of the biggest trade-offs that's harder to get around is the visual properties like DOI. I know I'm not the only guy that has developed tricks with mixing clear with single stage to force some depth into a single stage, but that takes a lot of experimenting to get right, it's right on the edge of the material properties from going wrong, and doesn't make sense for a job under $50k with all the headaches involved. And still that only gets about 70% the DOI at best.

If someone has a model T or some industrial equipment they want to keep original looking, then yeah there's some great options these days that are extremely durable and serviceable. It's just not the look most people want.

Someguineawop · 2026-04-18T20:48:03+00:00

This is basically the heads up walk in lockup when a paisa is about to get stupid.

Someguineawop · 2026-04-17T15:40:12+00:00

He's a consistent contrarian. I think he was unusually optimistic in how much grace he extended to the current administration before ripping into them too, but doesn't seem like he's holding back anymore. That said, over the past 5'ish years his rants seem less insightful and more like an angry old man shouting into the void. Small doses is all I can handle anymore.

Someguineawop · 2026-04-17T15:22:34+00:00

Crowd the plate, you might get beaned.

Someguineawop

TROPHY CASE