Gold plating - Forums Archive

gumpucky

2013-02-09 20:23:05

Been researching the process and doesn't look like brain surgery. Just curious if anyone has had any success plating their old brass and has any recomendations or tips.

yak2you2

2013-02-10 02:16:33

Lot's to read on the internet about it. There's some easy looking how to do videos on youtube. Thing I've always worried about is this. I've messed around with painting my own spoons, love how some of them came out. Trouble was, it never stuck like factory. Teeth would wear them out WAY faster than factory, and in some cases, they didn't even get bit. Some paint would just peel right off from water friction. I believe they bake the paint on factory spoons, and it seems like a critical step. Would electroplating be the same way? I have no idea.

I believe it's still doable, I just think at the price of gold, a guy is gonna want to call some factory guys up and try to get the recipe for baking the paint on, if it needs to be. Let me know if you get it figured out I've got several dozen ready to ship. :)

mydona

2013-02-11 19:58:16

I've tried electroplating copper. I was a fun experiment and may have worked better if I could have come up with a concentrated copper solution. I think it can be done if you could find some copper sulfate. http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Electroplating/ and http://www.finishing.com/faqs/howworks.html

I've also tried powder coating. This is a very durable bake/coat that isn't hard to do and seams to out last the factory paint. I started with a toaster oven from the dump and a cheap powder coating kit on E Bay. There are draw backs. 1. temp is critical and the easy bake oven just doesn't work well. 2. the correct colors are hard to get. Many of the P/coat suppliers claim to copy any color. http://www.eastwood.com/hotcoat-powder-coating.html and a Portland, Or company, http://www.nicindustries.com/ I sent in spoons for a color match and what I got back was a few shades off after baking. They do have chrome, copper, brass, gold/yellows and even colors with different size sparkles. 3. cleaning the metal is the most important step. The silver polish with aluminum foil layer on the bottom works fair if the old paint is all stripped. The wire wheel is a lost cause and will cost you a pair of leather gloves per doz spoons and the vice grips mar and scratch your spoons. P.S. losing your grip is like tossing bullets in an open fire. I tried the chemical paint strippers, works, but yuck, and leaves the paint a pasty rubber like goo that still has to be removed . There is a non corrosive stripper available that does not have to be sent as hazmat, on the barge and can be shipped via USPS. It works good and rubber gloves are an option. I found the remover for sale at the powder coating web page. 4. to bake you have to buy heat tolerant tape from them if you want a 2 color on one side end product. The swivels have to be protected with a little piece of aluminum foil. Painting them is a no no.

Have some fun with this but remember if you send me spoons I'll have to keep them. Next project is the salt water battery. all you need is old zincs from the grid and a few carbon motor brushes (also from the local dump) a doz plastic coffee cans and you'll have enough juice to light a short string of LED tree lights

gumpucky

2013-02-12 17:12:44

Thanks guys, really appreciate all the info mydona. I'll have uses for both powder coat and plating. About 30 lbs of coho spoons and 4-5 handsful of old superiors. With all the crap coming out of china these days these old spoons are getting more and more desirable and worth the refurb I would think.

Salty

2013-02-13 00:27:46

I agree gumpucky.

adkgar

2013-02-13 17:30:12

I recently finished painting up about 12 dozen coho spoons using powder paint from Jan's netcraft magazine. The paint was easy to use once I got the process down and it seems that the finish is good and durable, as well as very affordable. A little went a long way. The color selection was kind of standard and I only tried a few base colors to see if the paint would work, but pending how these freshly painted spoons fish, I think I will try some different stuff in the future. The prep was the biggest pain as you really need to remove all the old paint to get a good finish. I ended up burning the paint off (with my face mask on!) then it stripped right of with a wire wheel. A little tedious, but a far better result in the long run. Also the new powder paint seems a little heavier then the factory paint adding a little wait to the spoon. Guess we will see how much difference that makes this summer, for better of worse. Can't wait to try some electroplating, sounds like a good little science fair project.

mydona

2013-02-14 17:15:05

The 1st time I electroplated was copper on a dime. I got a chem experiment kit for ages 7-14 yr olds from Santa in '64. It had a lot of different bottles (24 + -) of chemicals. and a fun things to try. Thanks Mom and Dad. You might check at a hobby/ educational store next time your looking at radio controlled boats, for sending the spoon of the day to your buds on the drag. P.S. I still have that dime

lone eagle

2013-02-15 04:48:23

I've always been a gold spoon guy but I've not had any luck with any but the tommy mack...canadians, superiors, emeralds in gold are taking up space. I don't get how you guys up north catch on all the stuff you use...