FxrAndy Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 Does any one here have any experience with elecro plating and in particualar, pen plating? have a look at this link to see what i mean http://www.goldn.co.uk/online_shop.htm something elase i want to have a go at and to finish my last project off, any advice would be well recieved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stilty Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 first off... beautiful work on the mainplate! For rhodium plating it might be best to find a jeweller to do it. They plate rings all the time. I have tried some home plating kits with mixed results. I bought a couple kits from a company called caswell plating. http://www.caswellplating.com/ I tried their nickel kit with mixed to very poor results. I also tried their silver kit and had pretty good results. They have rhodium kit, but it is $180! http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/rhodium.html That is why I figure it might be cheaper just to go to a jeweller and have them do it for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted February 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 first off... beautiful work on the mainplate! For rhodium plating it might be best to find a jeweller to do it. They plate rings all the time. I have tried some home plating kits with mixed results. I bought a couple kits from a company called caswell plating. http://www.caswellplating.com/ I tried their nickel kit with mixed to very poor results. I also tried their silver kit and had pretty good results. They have rhodium kit, but it is $180! http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/rhodium.html That is why I figure it might be cheaper just to go to a jeweller and have them do it for you. Thanks Silty, i have heard good things about this place and the kits from the cutom bike world, and like to do every thing my self, I aways hated send my pait work out when building bikes becase i tried and just could not do it. I have emaild this place in UK for info so, it is a wait and see for answers for them, how long did it take to pen place with silver say to do a square centimter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stilty Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 Thanks Silty, i have heard good things about this place and the kits from the cutom bike world, and like to do every thing my self, I aways hated send my pait work out when building bikes becase i tried and just could not do it. I have emaild this place in UK for info so, it is a wait and see for answers for them, how long did it take to pen place with silver say to do a square centimter? The silver plating went fast. I was dipping, not brushing (or pen). Only a few seconds for a thin layer. I repeated a few times. With silver it goes black, then needs to be polished. For some reason I could not get a nice nickel finish with their kit. I was plating brass with both kits. Also, you may want to try electroless plating. Most decorative plating is too thick for watch applications. You may end up with too thick a layer and parts won't fit. With electroless, they can control how thick of plate they can apply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 first off... beautiful work on the mainplate! For rhodium plating it might be best to find a jeweller to do it. They plate rings all the time. I have tried some home plating kits with mixed results. I bought a couple kits from a company called caswell plating. http://www.caswellplating.com/ I tried their nickel kit with mixed to very poor results. I also tried their silver kit and had pretty good results. They have rhodium kit, but it is $180! http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/rhodium.html That is why I figure it might be cheaper just to go to a jeweller and have them do it for you. Ditto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offshore Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 Agree with Stilty & Freddy. I too, have a Caswell kit, and struggle to get consistent results. I think the trick is to be totally sure of the metal you are plating to. Although I have always struggled with gold, even when I am fairly certain I'm working on stainless. Very patchy. Offshore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLudlowe Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 Although I have always struggled with gold, even when I am fairly certain I'm working on stainless. Very patchy. Plating on stainless is inconsistant, you really have to nickle plate first or use the stainless prep solution that Caswell sells - but if you use the solution you get a result that is more smokey, kind of like antique gold. If you want real yellow gold you have to nickle plate first. Also, make sure your surface is absolutely grease free. I've had a lot better results with the wands than the pens - you can transfer more metal to the surface. The pens take forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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