Abstract The study of cultural heritage requires sophisticated equipment that does not alter or destroys the materials composing the objects under study. The main requirement about an artifact or an ancient work of art, for its restoration or conservation processes, is information about its constituting elements. Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) is a very versatile and relatively inexpensive technique for conducting a nondestructive elemental analysis. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a hand-hold X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Although the EDXRF measurement chain appears to be a simple technique to assemble and use, it requires extensive knowledge about the proper handling of the X-ray beam, the analysis of the spectrum and whether the obtained spectrum is appropriate for a qualitative and quantitative analysis. Even geometry is one of the most important factors since the source-sample-detector distances must be handled with meticulousness to obtain optimal spectra. Acquisition time and the amount of accumulated counts to obtain high resolution spectral peaks are very important as well. This work shows the results obtained from metallic samples of Colombian cultural interest belonging to the collection of Museo Universitario Universidad de Antioquia.