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I've been watching the weather news this morning and I'm stunned at how cold it is across the country, especially in the north where a number of our posters live. Just wondering what people like Pat, MRH, Steveo, Ed, Turkey Hunter, Sven, and Medic are dealing with. I'm sure that for many snow just adds another complication to the frozen ground. Also wondering if Ed, being so close to the lake, has to deal with that freaky lake effect snow. It's cold and clear here in Virginia with no snow, though the ground is frozen. It seems the change from mild and huntable weather to the impossible happened very abruptly this year. Anyone got any projects in the works to occupy your time for the winter? I'm trying my hand at soldering and circuitry and attempting a few simple projects so that I can learn a bit about electronics. Happy New Year to all and hoping for milder weather to set in; and if you're outside for New Year's Eve, (I'm skipping the "possum drop" in Clay's Corner, N.C. this year) please stay warm! Also a special Happy New Year greeting to Joe: my wish is to see you back here in 2018.
Thanks for asking Shade , it is forecast for a high of 15 F with the temperature falling . We just got almost an inch of snow (already had 5 + inches on the ground)with the occasional finger of lake effect snow just barely reaching us. I am almost 150 miles from Lake Michigan. We will be under 20 and a few days struggle to reach 10 for a high with wind.
I have been doing little things around the house and watching the kids enjoy their Christmas presents , back to work on the 3rdSad .
My project to fill extra time is to try to learn 3d design so I can actually make useful things on my 3d printer. I am not much of an artist so it is a slow process ....
New Years Eve outside ? This year that is a younger man's game , the kids and I will sit up playing board games and watch the ball drop safely indoors.
I too hope for the return of Joe in the New Year , I had expected it when field hunting season started.
Hopefully you will have a healthy and happy New Year and I wish that upon all of you here.
Pat
I ai'nt doin nuttin for New Years! Every day for me is a gift. Except I gotta go to the grocery store for the wife today and it's snowing outside!No

But being that we are covered in snow and frozen ground, I must get to cleaning clad, which for me is a chore because nobody will take dirty or worn coins, including the banks, coin machines and even the local Convenient, and I have a boatload of them.

First I rinse them off by type of coin real thoroughly. Then I give them a tumble in a propriety solution along with fast cut ceramic for around four hours. Then I open the drum up, rinse it all off, pull out all the nice ones, add some more dirty ones with fresh solution and put it back to tumble for another four hours. I've found that the 3# drum rule can be broken to about 4#'s, which is a real time saver.

The trick is to get them out of the solution, rinsed under hot water and then dried very quickly with an old terrycloth towel.

At that point I take the dried coins and burnish them with a stainless steel brush. This process separates the wheat from the chaff. I use a rubber coated glove to accomplish that. Bandaides are too expensive! Chuckle What I mean by chaff is the example dime I've pictured.

I do a test at the coin machine after I've cleaned a few of each and see how far the limitations of the machine go. Once I know that I can separate them accordingly. The reject rules I generally use are bent, nicked, can't read the date, lettering etc....., it's too worn overall, or it's really a metal slug. As you can see by the pile of rejects, there are many. About $11 in quarters and so far about $3 in dimes. But net result is around $160 cleaned and ready for the bank at this point. I foresee it taking another 2 weeks to get through the whole pile. I'd guess I have around $50 in pennies, which take less time to tumble btw.

And you have to count them because they end up slightly thinner so the count tube shown does not represent the true amount and is for quarters about .75 cents and for dimes about .20 cents.

Other than that hope all you guys have a healthy and happy new year! And HAPPY HUNTING IN 2018!

Ed
Hey Ed,
What do you do with the rejects? Do you collect a lot of them and then submit them to the mint to replace? Or do you pass them off at the local convenience store? Just a curiosity thing.
Love the Irish 2 pence!
Stay warm
Pat
(12-30-2017 06:00 PM)Digsit Wrote: [ -> ]Hey Ed,
What do you do with the rejects? Do you collect a lot of them and then submit them to the mint to replace? Or do you pass them off at the local convenience store? Just a curiosity thing.
Love the Irish 2 pence!
Stay warm
Pat

Hey Pat,

Stay warm there too!

Dumpster! I don't collect them. Too much postage to ship a quantity to make it worth while. If it were torn up $100's, well that'd be different! Chuckle I save the real bad coppers though. Maybe someday the scrap copper price will go up! Long ago I thought I would just scatter all the bad ones back into the woods but I nixed that idea because I didn't want to be the guy digging them up again. The way I look at it is I've saved a lot of them from destruction. If 10% are too toasty to use as coinage, they weren't meant to be.

Yes that 2 Pence was a surprise. In pretty good shape too. Pic really not that good. I gotta get a new phone. Camera and such is getting real slow even with cleaning it out.

This is just what I collected, had left over from the Winter/Spring cleaning in June, from July this year on. I turned in $140 in late June. So I'll be over $300 for the year by the time I'm finished with all this.

HH & GL in the new year!

Ed
Nice pics and story Ed; I like your methodical approach to clad cleaning; it yields good results. And a really good total on your non silver coins. Shows the wisdom of digging all the signals. Many people think of jewelry and silver coins as the only way to make detecting a "pay for it's self" hobby, but those other coins add up fast and over a few years could mean another detector or at least some nice accessories.
(01-02-2018 03:13 PM)shadeseeker Wrote: [ -> ]Nice pics and story Ed; I like your methodical approach to clad cleaning; it yields good results. And a really good total on your non silver coins. Shows the wisdom of digging all the signals. Many people think of jewelry and silver coins as the only way to make detecting a "pay for it's self" hobby, but those other coins add up fast and over a few years could mean another detector or at least some nice accessories.

Thanks Shade and yes, it does add up. I remember when I got my first detector, a Teknetiks Delta 4000, I was able to buy extra coils with all the change I dug up. Now it helps out with the miscellaneous supplies we all pine for. Can't really say I'd quit my day job but breaking even on a hobby isn't too bad a scenario!

Ed
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