How to properly Gold plate Trumpet

[ShaneTPT]

I have some questions on Gold plating. I'm looking to gold plate my trumpet which is currently silver plated. I purchased the plug-n-plate gold kit and found that it takes a VERY long time to plate...forever actually and I am planning to do the entire horn, but dont want to be sitting there brushing the same area for hours... here are my q's

1. I handle the tpt a lot! What is the most durable gold I can plate? 24kt? There are days where I handle the tpt for 6+ hours!
2. How can I plate a large surface area in a short amount of time?
3 How do you achieve a Satin finish?
4. Why does the gold rub off when I'm done?!
5. Can I use the gold plug-n-plate kit to achieve any of your suggestions, or do I need more supplies?
Thanks for your help!
o-iii-<0

[lcaswell]

Gold looking trumpets are usually brass. Are you sure you want to gold plate it?

1. 24kt is 100% pure - very soft. The more impure alloys (like 18K) are harder and more durable.

2. You can't...unless you purchase a tank plating kit.

3. Give the base metal a satin finish first.

4. Depends what you are rubbing it with, how thick the gold is applied, what your surface prep was, etc.

I don't think using the Plug N Plate kit is practical to plate an entire trumpet, especially if you don't have patience.

[ShaneTPT]

Thanks Lance,
tank plating is my next investment. I have several people in Winnipeg who are looking to get their instruments gold plated. I am positive that gold plating is what I'm wanting to do. How exactly to you give the base metal a satin finish? I've talked to a few other guys in the shop I work at and I had not been preping the metal properly....so you were exactly right on that one, Thanks!
Is the FastGold solution a little faster than the regular?
Thanks again Lance

[fcirkse]

As far as satin finish, what we do here is bead-blast in a large cabinet filled with bead-blast material using an air compressor to regulate the amount of pressure the gun pushes the blasting material through. The higher the pressure, the more the finish is "roughed up" by the material. The total cost to do this depends on the amount of prep needed ( dent/ding removal, masking off surfaces not being satinized, etc. ) but we charge $125 plus shipping costs to apply the satin finish. After the horn is blasted, it must be completely ultrasonically cleaned, brushed inside and high pressure air blown to remove any remaining material which would hinder the proper operation of the slides and valves. The parts which are not to be satinized such as slide crooks, valve tops and bottoms, etc. are then highly polished. Some examples of this work can be seen here:

http://www.quality-brass.com/webstor...satinintro.htm

There should be someone local to you who can also do this work. Good luck with the project. When plating an entire trumpet in a tank, remember that any plating that gets inside the valve casings and slide tubes will have to be removed or you will be lapping your valves and slides back into the casings and slide receivers to get them to work again.