gold plating

SunShadow....You mean you can actually reverse the plating proccess and remove the gold with a higher amp and voltage? If so does it take a different solution?

If you do remove the plating what do you do with the gold you get,can it be used t plate another piece or does it need to be sent to a refiner for new gold.

If I wanted to send out my pieces to be plated does anyone know a ball park figure a person would be looking at to plate say a throat and tip for a sheath or a guard and buttcap.

Bruce
 
I do not have experience with removing plating by electrosripping so I cannot speak to that. some of the pre plate electrocleaners are technically a strip as you reverse the polarity
the theory I've been told is that they are supposed to strip off an atom or three, taking off contaminants and providing a fresh clean surface for the plating to bond to.
I don't know what the professional plating services would charge, I would imagine the most expensive part of the job would be the surface prep and cleaning.
 
Thanks....I have been thinking of doing the gold recovery for years now.We get so much of the new electronics stuff through the scrap yard and so I checked into the recovery a few years ago but all I found was using acids and a couple other ways.But they all seemed way to dangerous to have around the shop when the kids were little.Thought the eloctro stripping might be somethiong to look into.

Thanks again.
Bruce
 
Bruce Evans said:
If I wanted to send out my pieces to be plated does anyone know a ball park figure a person would be looking at to plate say a throat and tip for a sheath or a guard and buttcap.

Bruce
Click to expand...

When I had the octopus on my knife plated, the charge was only 20 bucks, so I don't imagine your parts would be any more.
John
 
Bruce I think it all goes back into solution but I'm not sure how much contamination it gets from underneath the gold and from on top ?

Page, or Stacy,
can you tell me why you have to use Cyanide for the solution? I'll be getting the stuff anyway I just what to know the why's to it all.

also I have a variac for a power supply if that don't work I know where there is a very good car battery I can use :D:D
 
If you are planning on using a variac, you will want to rectify the output to DC, and filter it. (I cheated when I set my plating up, I bought a factory made rectifier as I had a white gold repair to do and needed to be able to rhodium it and it had to be right) You will also want to make sure you do not run too much current, and have a fuse or circuit breaker or some other current limiter just on the off chance you bump your piece into the anode. How do I know this? when I was working as a polisher I touched a chain I was plating to the anode, and it instantly turned red hot and burned a groove into my finger. Never did that one again! just to be on the safe side though, current limiting ws one of the things I looked for in buying my machine.
I can't give you an explanation of why the cyanide solutions work best, believe me if I thought the non cyanide solution was even remotely comparable I would not have cyanide solutions, as I work out of the house, but my experience is that the cyanide solutions are reliable, they work every time if your surface is clean, polished, and free of leftover polishing compound residue, and give a nice rich gold color, the non cyanide solutions seem trickier and not as rich a color. The company I bought my plating rectifier from stopped selling the non cyanide solutions because they got tired of dealing with unsatisfied customers.

I think I have a schematic for an adjustable voltage regulator that should be able to handle your current needs for plating if your variac is unable to be fine tuned to 4-6 volts output for plating, 9-12 volts for electrocleaning (actually a cheap 6 and 12 volt 1 amp motorcycle battery charger with the voltage regulator and a filter capacitor and a ferrite choke added would probably work in a pinch)

-Page
 
thanks Page..
I have rectifiers on my variac now for anodizing so that is a go, but you are loosing me on the other stuff. I know what you mean and sort-ah why but just need to know the means I think. I wonder ? would my etching outfit work.
it's an
Electroetch model V10A 0-10 amp on the meter
with the dial settings from 0 to 100 and it's AC / DC of course.. I always thought it may be a little weak for this type of thing though, am I right or wrong?

edited to add
I think I have a schematic for an adjustable voltage regulator that should be able to handle your current needs for plating if your variac is unable to be fine tuned to 4-6 volts output for plating, 9-12 volts for electrocleaning
Click to expand...
if you have a schematic that would be great if you don't mind...
 
You're looking for 3-6 volts at around 1 amp for plating, depending on your solution, and about 8-10 volts for electrocleaning, you can do a couple amps for electrocleaning if you have enough current capacity in your piece. the filter capacitor and ferrite inductive choke are simply to smooth out your voltage into a continuous flow rather than a bumpy average. You can probably do without them. I'll see if I can find my schematic and get it up, I built tons of the regulators 10 years ago, and I think they're good for a couple amps at up to 42 volts, I'll see if i acn find une I've built already and test it if I have time.

-page
 
sunshadow said:
You're looking for 3-6 volts at around 1 amp for plating, depending on your solution, and about 8-10 volts for electrocleaning, you can do a couple amps for electrocleaning if you have enough current capacity in your piece. the filter capacitor and ferrite inductive choke are simply to smooth out your voltage into a continuous flow rather than a bumpy average. You can probably do without them. I'll see if I can find my schematic and get it up, I built tons of the regulators 10 years ago, and I think they're good for a couple amps at up to 42 volts, I'll see if i acn find une I've built already and test it if I have time.

-page
Click to expand...

OK I see
a simple automotive condenser will do the same thing I'm thinking. that is what they did for point type ignitions, to smooth out and store spark voltage. of course we don't have to store voltage here so I'm thinking we just need to put it in line.

you got me on the ferrite inductive choke, though..

you can do a couple amps for electrocleaning if you have enough current capacity in your piece
Click to expand...
current capacity in your piece ?

thanks
 
Interesting thread here
I have a civil war officers sword that was made in Germany and it needs all the furniture re-plated with gold. I do have a 1-25 amp electroplater and have had good results on some of my plating jobs in the past. It seems that if I take many applications the gold will finally build up and even measure thicker with a micrometer.
My question is this: these misc. parts are already plated but need to be replated. They are dull and must be cleaned first but what do I use? How do I go about it?
 
Bruce Bump said:
Interesting thread here
I have a civil war officers sword that was made in Germany and it needs all the furniture re-plated with gold. I do have a 1-25 amp electroplater and have had good results on some of my plating jobs in the past. It seems that if I take many applications the gold will finally build up and even measure thicker with a micrometer.
My question is this: these misc. parts are already plated but need to be replated. They are dull and must be cleaned first but what do I use? How do I go about it?
Click to expand...


Bruce
if I'm wrong I hope Page will correct me.
where it's gold on gold I'd think clean well as you would other wise and plate over the gold..
or strip by reversing polarity at the higher voltage to clean then replate.. I think I've been told the striped gold goes back into solution
Page am I learning anything :)
 
as for the sword fittings I would polish them with rouge, rougecloth, whatever and clean them really well to remove residue, then plate them. You're going to have to do a whole lot of platings to build up measurable thickness. Do not try to electrostrip off any existing gold, it will not strip evenly.
The filter capacitor would go between positive an negative output leads, and the idea is taht it absorbs surges and fills in drops. Ferrite inductors level out voltage, an inductor does not like to change dc voltage running through it, kinda wierd, you probably do not need the inductor, they are just another way of backing up the filter capacitor to ensure constant and steady voltage. I have a reputation among people who know me for compensating for my lack of formal engineering training by overdesigning. When I build something I want to make sure it works and never breaks, that's why I included the filter and the inductor. If I have time I will take a look at my plating rig on an oscilliscope and see how noisy it's output really is.

-Page
 
Current capacity is how much current can it safely carry. You do not want to run 3 amps through a very fine chain, it will burn up, on the other hand a bangle bracelet made of sterling silver can probably carry 40 amps without heating up, although in reality your solutions will probably self limit your current to 2 or 3 amps based on the surface area of your piece and your anode

-Page
 
These sword fittings are much too intricate to polish. They will need to be soaked in something? What do you suggest? I dont want to strip any gold off because I would just have to put it back on. I also not worried about building up thickness on these parts, they just have to look good.
 
thanks Page
I see by your explaining the auto condenser is set up the same, the body is grounded.

I se what you mean about Current capacity I wasn't thinking about thin..
I'm on the bolster size thought train right now.. :) ..

in Bruce's situation not worrying about a build up or not, would striping be enough of a cleaning to replate..? I'm sure there must be a chemical cleaner or acid that would work as well? again thanks..
 
Physical polishing usually is best, followed by cleaning, followed by electroclean. In severe situations my boss at the shop I worked at when I was 19 did some sort of chemistry experiment using sodium cyanide eggs and hydrogen peroxide for cleaning really corroded jewelry, but the shop didn't have ventilation, so when he did that I would leave for the day, so I don't know exactly what he did, but since it sprayed all over the plating room the second time he did it while I was working for him (he called it "cyanide egg bombing" I figured he'd kill himself some day playing with that stuff in a poorly ventilated space and didn't want to join him in Valhalla) I wouldn't even consider it an option.

-Page
 
sunshadow said:
You're looking for 3-6 volts at around 1 amp for plating, depending on your solution, and about 8-10 volts for electrocleaning, you can do a couple amps for electrocleaning if you have enough current capacity in your piece. the filter capacitor and ferrite inductive choke are simply to smooth out your voltage into a continuous flow rather than a bumpy average. You can probably do without them. I'll see if I can find my schematic and get it up, I built tons of the regulators 10 years ago, and I think they're good for a couple amps at up to 42 volts, I'll see if i acn find une I've built already and test it if I have time.

-page
Click to expand...

Hi Page
just checking if you had any luck with this.. I'm not trying to push
but just wondering.. thanks
 
Page , at one time I became lab supervisor in Syracuse .I was checking supplies , etchants etc.You can find some very old stuff doing that .Then I came across two containers ,next to each other in a cabinet. One was an acid , one was a cyanide salt !!! Needless to say I immediately assembled the technicians and explained the facts of life to them ! There is actually a kit to save your butt when exposed to hydrogen cyanide but it must be used immediately !
 
Dan Gray said:
Hi Page
just checking if you had any luck with this.. I'm not trying to push
but just wondering.. thanks
Click to expand...

So sorry!
SH_t has been hitting the fan at work (Can't wait to either be able to live on my own business or get a better day gig!) and I've been swamped with my work at home (several very intricate repousse orders due on the 15th and a bunch of fencing rapiers), I got distracted. I will try to get that tonight.

-Page
 
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