copper plate ?

[bobby7821]

i was messing around and found i can copper plate using copper pipe pieces i had as a anode a 12 volt battery charger for current and baking soda as my electrolite i have had pretty good results but the plating is thin after i buff it by hand i put the piece back into my electrolite solution how if any way can i get better results to build a thicker plated surface

[woodjames]

Glad to see there's a few other "beakers" out there. Congrats on getting it to plate, I remember the first time I did it I felt like a mad scientist/magician.

The straight dope - Simply getting something to plate is rather easy, getting it to plate well and for a long duration requires more work. Homebrews work, I've done it with copper, but they don't hold a candle to proprietary (Caswell's for example) solution. Guess it all depends what you want to accomplish. Chemicals other than in bulk are really expensive too, not to mention shipping them. The hardest part is in the brighteners, same thing- you can homebrew it, but they suck compared to the proprietary ones, and the proprietary ones often require specific bath components.

To sum it up, congrats on getting your first plate! Invest in a kit and you'll get your first "great" plate.

Originally Posted by bobby7821

i was messing around and found i can copper plate using copper pipe pieces i had as a anode a 12 volt battery charger for current and baking soda as my electrolite i have had pretty good results but the plating is thin after i buff it by hand i put the piece back into my electrolite solution how if any way can i get better results to build a thicker plated surface

[bobby7821]

i was really happy to be able to plate something i did a old socket at first my dad gave me some old gun parts to do and he was really impresed i had to plate polish reclean and plate over a few times to build up the finish but i played with the set up all day with good and bad results i am going to buy the copy chrome kit and the zincate primer for alloys i restore cars and motorcycles as a hobby i already new the real work with plating is the prep and ive been polishing car parts up for years one car i did for a friend was in muscle mustang magazine i saw on you tub people useing vinager with salt and peroxide as there solution instead of baking soda they were also useing welding rod as there anode to plate zinc and tin im going to mess around with that and see what result i get alway wanted to do this kinda stuff and would like to get good at it any advise would be great thanks