Gold Plated Rose

[Unix3000]

Ok I have started the process of plating a rose with gold

Here is what I have does so far,

Created a bath to dipped the rose in sealent

Applied two coats for 30 minutes

Hung the rose to dry and painted the rose with silvraspray



Now my question is, do I contunue with a copper acid plate?

Or should I use something else? Any advice?

[dadkar2]

If it were me, I would let the Silvaspray cure for a week.

Then I would go right to the nickel bath, and plate about 1 hour.

Then brush plate with Fast Gold.

Kind regards,
Ken

[Unix3000]

Problem is, if i let it cure for longer than a couple days the rose starts to wilt and the paint cracks.

[dadkar2]

The longer you can cure the paint the better. It prevents the paint from failing in the acid solution. Maybe go as long as you can watching carefully for cracks. The paint MUST thoroughly cure before plating it, or it will not hold up.

Ken

[Unix3000]

Maybe I will try to dry the rose on silica gel or borax before I coat and paint. But im not sure how that will make the rose look afterwords

In the meantime, I am still getting the tanks ready



Battery



How should reduce the current for something as small as a rose?

[dadkar2]

Go to Radio Shack and buy a 39 ohm 5 watt resistor and put it in series with your car battery and the anode. That will give you about 300mA which should be about right for something like a rose (assuming your battery is 12 volts).

The resistor will get HOT so keep it away from anything flammable.

You can also get two 22 ohm 5 watt resistors and put them in series. It will give you about 270mA which should be close enough. The resistors will also stay cooler.

Ken

[Unix3000]

Should I worry about the gas this produces, I started up the pump and heater and the heater was making noise and it started to smell so I turned it off. Im in my basement and dont want an explosion or somethings. any advise?

[dadkar2]

What is producing gas? What bath are you referring to?

Ken

[Unix3000]

I dont know does it? I just making sure I do everything safely

[Unix3000]

Ok, I moved it into my garage becuase it remined me of the days I had to go to the gas chamber when I was in the millitary. I have a fan and I leave the door open.

What if I use flash copper before the bright acid copper. Will I still need to let the paint cure for 7 days.

[dadkar2]

Flash copper will remove the Silvaspray rapidly. They are not compatible. The flash copper is as alkaline as a medium strength ammonia, which is a great paint remover.

Nothing you do can make up for the uncured paint, at least that I know of.

Perhaps you can try some silver epoxy. Paint over the whole thing by hand, then cure it in an oven per directions. Many hobby shops will carry that. I have never tried it but have a feeling it would work pretty well.

Or you could use regular epoxy mix from a hobby or craft store, the kind that is thin enough to dip the rose into. At least it would keep the rose from drying out. Then put the silvaspray over that.

Ken

[Unix3000]

After hours of google searching, I found to use epoxy resin for the rose then use a conductive paint. So does this mean I dont even need the sealent I bought?

[dadkar2]

You shouldn't need the sealant if you are going to epoxy encapsulate the rose.

Ken

[Unix3000]

I would to first off to thank you for all your help.

I went to Radio Shack and bought 6 10 ohm resistors, but they are 10 watt. I plain to use 4 of them, the other are for future use. I placed them parrallel on the a board, they are not touching the board. But, I just realised that you said series. Should they be series or does it matter. and also, does it matter if they are 10 watt or not?

[Unix3000]

Ok, I think i have the hang of it here. Watts is just the rating, and I will need to go in series. This setup should give be the ablitity to go from

200mA - 600mA

Any lower would like 10 Ohms = 1.2amp would give me 14 watts and be over the rating on my resisters.

Let me know if im wrong