Small tools you should have handy when you go hunting for precious metals indoors
What’s in Your Toolbox?
We have written blog posts in the past about metal detectors, drones, and other equipment that can help you locate gold, silver, and other precious metals outdoors. But what tools and equipment should you have on hand when you go looking for precious metals indoors? Let’s say, for example, that you are going to comb through an old jewelry factory, welding shop, or other building that is soon to be demolished or sold?
What should you have in your toolbox? Here’s a checklist of equipment that can help you find gold, platinum, and silver wherever they are hiding.
A Wallabot
What’s a Wallabot? It’s a small rectangular device that snaps onto the back of your smartphone. After you install an app, you can “see” what’s hiding behind walls. A Wallabot will find studs, wires, copper, and other pipes, plus it will give you visual cues to whether anything is hidden behind sheetrock – like a safe or a box of coins, or . . .? A Wallabot will cost you about $70.00 and if you are scouring a building for hidden items, you are going to want to get one.
A Hammer and a Few other Very Basic Tools
Okay, we barely need to mention that you will need a hammer, do we? You will also need a selection of screwdrivers so you can remove cover plates on switches, several pairs of pliers, and some wire clippers.
A Thin Crowbar
There are all kinds of crowbars – some big and fat and robust. But if you are looking for precious metals, you are going to want one that is blade-thin so you can pry off baseboards and lift floorboards without damaging them. You can then use your hammer (see above) to replace them without causing damage.
A Gold Testing Kit
You can buy a good one for about $25.00 – the kind that has a selection of testing chemicals and an abrasive rubbing stone. The fact is that in order to get a really accurate test done on some of the items you might find – stuff like coins and bullion – you will need to send them to a qualified precious metals testing facility like ours. But a basic gold testing kit can give you at least a preliminary idea of whether you are looking at something that could be valuable. Don’t give away gold, platinum or silver scrap!
A Rechargeable Screwdriver/Drill
Having one of these in your toolbox can speed up routine jobs like taking cabinets and medicine chests off walls. Thanks to modern battery technology, these devices are now more than “toys” that don’t stay charged for long. We especially like our Milwaukee 2401 lithium battery screwdriver. It cost about $85.00 but it’s compact, powerful, and it holds a charge for more than a week.
A Dustpan and Brush
You can’t always carry a shop vac with you, but you can carry a small dustpan and brush and use it to collect sand, dust, small bits of welding scrap and other little bits. A small dustpan/brush combo will cost you only a few dollars and it could turn out to be worth its weight in gold.
A Small Ball-Shaped Steel Wire Brush
If you’re looking for gold in a jewelry factory or anywhere plating operations were performed, you need one of them so you can collect samples from tank surfaces, from inside pipes, and in other places where your fingers cannot reach. Scrape away, collect the scrapings in a small plastic bag, and send them to us to be tested.
A Digital Camera
Okay, we know that you are probably using your phone to take all your pictures these days, right? And you should be. And when you snap images of promising items you have found, email them right to us! Then call us at 800-426-2344 and let’s discuss your discoveries.
Storage Bags, Garbage Bags and Small Plastic Food Storage Boxes
There is no point in finding stuff that could be valuable if you have no way to carry it away with you, right? So come well equipped.
And What Are You Going to Find?
Well, we won’t really know until you find it, right? You might find thermocouple wires behind walls, a hidden wall safe, a pile of silver-bearing dust underneath floorboards, or . . . ?
With the right tools on hand, you can find and collect whatever you find. And when you do, call us at 800-426-2344 and let’s make a plan for turning all those odds and ends into cash.