Copper plating problem

[msmith40]

I'm currently re-plating (gold) some parts for an electric guitar. Majority of the pieces are plating just fine and look real good. However, I do have 1 or 2 pieces that are giving me a problem. As I removed the old plating from these parts I detected a layer of copper underneath the original gold layer. (This was the case on only these specific parts.) Therefore, during the re-plating process, I assumed these same parts would require an initial layer of copper, and then a final layer of gold.

After buffing the bare metal to a great shine I applied the copper, and shortly afterwards I noticed what appears to be long, fine scratches in the finish. The bare metal did not have these 'scratches' before I'd applied the copper.

I'm tempted to re-buff these 'scratched' parts and apply gold directly to see what happens.

(All of the other parts - that I'd gold-plated - turned out fine, and I used the same brush, power supply, etc.)



Any ideas?



Thanks!
Mike

[moto-chrome]

Re: Copper plating problem

That happened to me once while plating copper on Aluminum. The best way to find out what is going on is to purchase a small microscope 60 to 100x. They're quite cheap maybe 60 dollars Canadian, and extremely useful. I bought mine at Radio Shack.