Electroforming Tutorial - Gold Plating on Plastic Electroplating
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- We show you how to plate a plastic item through the process of electroforming, in 8 easy steps, to create a unique gold plated version.
In this video:
0:12 Introduction
0:31 Covering the plastic in conductive paint
0:57 Top Tip - electroforming articulated items
1:10 Rigging the item
2:01 Electroforming
2:57 Rinsing stage
3:12 Nickel Plating
3:17 Rinsing Stage
3:27 Top Tip - textured plastics
3:43 Gold plating
3:56 Rinsing stage
4:06 Final outcome
Electroforming enables you to completely transform non-conductive items, allowing you to work on an almost limitless range of items that are not usually suitable for electroplating.
Plating on plastics is easy when using a kit from G.S.P Prodigy Range with Mirror-Tech System™. Our kits are also popular amongst creatives such as artists, sculptors, and designers making use of 3D print technology for prototyping. With the recent trend for copper electroformed jewellery, we have also helped jewellery makers to bring to life unique and bespoke pieces, crafted from a wide selection of organic and unusual materials and objects.
To view the Prodigy Range: gsplating.co.u...
For a written step by step of this process, please see our website article: gsplating.co.u...
For further information, see our website or contact us: enquiries@gsplating.co.uk
Check out more tutorials:
How to Plate Alluminium - Step by Step: • Aluminium Plating Tuto...
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Very interesting video and clear instructions. Thank you for sharing. Keep up the great work!
Many thanks!
@@goldsolutionsplating1761 My pleasure.
Very cool, I've just bought a plating machine.
Very cool!
Hey guys another plater here. Quick question, how is it that you do not need to submerge the item into a electro cleaner solution then surface activator solution in between the copper set and the nicel step?
Hi, great question! Electrocleaner is not needed because this proceedure is ideally done concurrently- IE straight out the copper electroforming tank, rinse in under a minute or so, straight into nickel. The item is held by copper wires, which are only held at points that never enter the tank. There is no time or opportunity for either grease or oxide to build up (and our electroforming copper contains anti-oxide agents, you can lower a copper tarnished coin into it without power and in seconds it de-tarnishes) and so there is chemically no reason- and no excuse- for the nickel to not plate perfectly and cleanly on to the nickel.
If you decide to break the electroforming stage up into shifts (for eg you want to eform a leaf for 24 hours but want to do it in 6 hour sittings over 4 days) then each time you restart the electroforming to carry on, you would indeed electroclean it first for 3 minutes in the included electrocleaning tank before rinsing it and putting it back into the electroforming tank to carry on plating (you would lower it in without power for about a minute to remove oxides then turn on the power, so the plating can carry on without creating layers)
Opening music comes on, "how do I skip this Pachanga Casino ad?.. Oh wait." 😅
Thanks for the tutorial, cheers.
okay so i found the bells i was looking for is it maybe possible to send the bells to you and let them be electroplated gold?
Hi, sorry we do not offer a plating service- we supply the kits and chemicals for you to do it yourselves.
Kind regards
lovely video! I really want to learn this process
Thank you! It is an interesting process, we are always happy to help, if you would like any further information or advice, please do let us know!
How did you get the details in the Star Wars logo of that bobblehead?
Hi there, the logo you are referring to is actually a sticker that is originally on the toy, which we remove before plating and then re-apply afterwards.
I hope this has helped!
Is it possible to reverse the electroplating on a plastic product ? And if so would all the original paint and detail still be there ?
Great video very well explained 👌🏼
Glad it helped - many thanks!
Great video and I love your detailed explanation and tips of your colleague. Keep up good work & Greetings from Germany!
Thanks!
Nice sharing. Never plastic can be plated before. Keep it up with more interesting content like this. ❤
Hi, thanks for your lovely comment. We are filming some more videos next week on various subjects, including a small electroforming plastic project which will be very interesting indeed!
Anyone found a great conductive spray paint?
Niceee you do best expirement
Many thanks- this plating kit is actually one of our products for sale on gsplating.co.uk
Hi, thanks for this video. I want to chrome plate my plastic key fob. Is this method heavy duty, i.e will the gold plate wear/rub off easily? Thnks in advance
Hi, the metalization is extremely hardwearing when done to our recommended 6 hours electroforming time. As for the gold that goes on top, that will last as long as you want based on how much gold you deposit- a thicker layer takes more wear and tear before rubbing down to the nickel, but ends up using more of the gold out of your solution compared to a thinner gold plate. Our gold can be tank plated up to a thickness of 10 microns, though the gold that comes as default with the Prodigy kits is a type of 24k gold which has a 1 micron thickness limit. There is nothing to stop you applying the other type of 24k solution though, with the thicker limit, after the copper and nickel plating.
Can you do this to a car grille
Hi, I assume the car grill is metal IE chrome plated steel etc? in which case you would need a huge industrial sized tank setup. If the condition of the car grill is good, and it is chrome plated, and you wanted to gold plate it, you could do that with our recruit kits by brush plating. This takes longer than tank plating, but does not involve tanks or large volumes of chemicals or a huge outlay comparable to a new business, instead just a straightforward brush plating kit which is powerful enough to tackle larger items like grills, but will also allow you to tank plate smaller parts. If you went for a BR2 kit it would even allow you to do plastics like you see in the video.
the Recruit kits can be seen here gsplating.co.uk/shop/kits/gsp-recruit and the larger Prodigy kits can be found here
gsplating.co.uk/shop/kits/gsp-prodigy
Many thanks again!
Just gold no other colors?
Hi, we sell different shades of yellow gold, as well as rose gold (a pink coloured finish), rhodium and platinum (a white silver) nickel and palladium (a straw toned silver colour) silver (the whitest of the metals but prone to oxidation) and true rose gold (a peach toned yellow gold)
not sure why you're calling this electroforming rather than simple electroplating. What am I missing?
Electroforming is commonly used when the plating in question is A) of a thickness where the plating becomes a physically solid shell with its own rigidity and structural strength and B) involves a plating solution that has the actual ability to plate that thick (for eg, rhodium can only plate up to about 2 microns max, and so will never create a "skin" thick enough to hold form away from the substrate and so is not electroformed with, but electroplated)
Electroforming usually involves copper going on in the order of hundreds of microns.
Some also consider electroforming to be where you line the inside of a mold with conductive paint and electroform until the whole mold is filled in creating a solid positive of the mold, though this is now thought more of as being electrotyping.
Many thanks!
Hi, I have a fibreglass item that I need to finish in 24k gold. How to go about it? Thanks for your time
Hi Bondfamous, basically you would treat this no differently than a plastic item, paint- copper- nickel- gold. The only thing I would say is that if there are fiberous bits or frayed bits, or some sort of leaking point leading to "inside" the walls of the part, then they would need sealing first
Crikey, this is fascinating stuff!
Yes it is isn't it! Many thanks for your lovely comment!
I want to take training.
Hi JayantaDas, training comes supplied with our prodigy kits, or we offer it as a stand alone but the training is centred around our products, we do not offer training on other companies chemicals..... what did you have in mind and what are you looking to plate?
Where can I buy this stuff?
Hi there, the kit used on the video is from our G.S.P Prodigy Range for electroforming, here's a link: gsplating.co.uk/shop/kits/gsp-prodigy
Any questions, please let us know, we'd be happy to help!
Greetings. What can I use to prevent unwanted parts to be plated during the process? Like I dip a circle in the solution but don't want the center to be plated.
Lots of masking options, the easiest being to mask off areas before applying the conductive paint- the plating won't take over bare plastic areas.
If you mean you want to metalize but not fully gold plate then lots of masking options, from coloured nail varnish to masking tapes. The process is very flexible!
do you also do orders of files. because im looking for someone or a company that could make my pair of bells gold
Hi- sorry we do not actually offer a plating service, instead we supply the kits and chemicals that allow you to do the plating itself, as well as the training.
Is electroforming the same as electroplating?
Hi, electroforming usually refers to a process of plating the copper on so thick that it actually creates a thick shell around the item, and this is how we refer to it also. You could literally peel off the plating and be left with a shell that holds its shape etc.
Electroplating is when plating is done much thinner, and also encompasses plating solutions that do not deposit as thick, or hold the ability to form a solid shell. For eg gold or rhodium plating relies on a rigid substrate as the plating would not hold form if this substrate was somehow removed.
So in short, plating is just the act of depositing any metal onto a surface, electroforming is a much thicker version of this, using metal solutions that can yield an independently solid form (such as copper, nickel but rarely precious metals)
Electroforming is also nowadays used to describe the act of plating over non conductive items, utilizing conductive paint.
I hope this has helped!
Kind regards.
@@goldsolutionsplating1761 Thanks for your reply! I want to buy a ring which the seller claims it’s 18K gold electroformed without removing the mandrel inside. What could that possibly mean? Whether it indicates the ring is better or worse than say a ring which is 18K gold plated? What is the typical gold layer thickness for a ring when it is made by electroformed? I know a “electroplated” layer is typically 0.5 microns. So I wonder whether that “electroformed” ring is better quality or worse? The seller is not willing to give me more information so I want to hear your fair judgement. Thanks so much in advance!
@@stellasong4714 Hi, the mandrel is the item inside that they electroformed over. The thickness of the gold is not necessarily determined by this, if they literally electroformed IN gold, then the microns would be very thick and it would add hundreds and hundreds if not thousands on to the value (something done to about 6g of gold is already inherently worth about £3k just in gold weight.
However.....if the ring was electroformed in copper, and then ultimately plated in gold on top (after a palladium plate) then how thick the gold is, is up to the plater.
Very very few people literally electroform in gold- that is to say they build up 50 or 100 microns+ in a way that creates an actual stiff solid skin.......the vast majority of electroforming is usually done by building up a copper solid "skin" and then just a thin electroplated deposit in gold.
Ask them was it electroformed using only gold, or was it electroformed using copper, then plated in gold.
Then it is all about how thick the gold plating itself is, some do it to 0.5 microns, some to 1 micron, premium is 2.5 and higher than that is unusual but certainly pricey.
@@goldsolutionsplating1761 Thanks for your detailed explanation! That’s very helpful. Because the ring they sold is less than $100, it must be 18K gold electroplated on top of an electroformed layer. The way the seller describe the item is indeed very confusing! Probably both the “mandrel” inside and the “electroformed layer” are made with copper or other metals. If that’s the case, there is barely no difference between this so-called “electroformed” ring and a regular ring which is only electroplated with 18K gold. The 18k gold layer is what matters the most to the value. Otherwise, I guess what’s below that gold layer and how they made it make no difference to a buying decision?!
After it’s plated in gold can people tell that the base material is plastic?
After 6 hours of electroforming, then no, it feels heavy, cold to the touch, all the tactile qualities that solid metal has.
at 4.08 what is that on the gold plated Yoda's ear?
It looks like a miniatuire T-Rex with his back to us, perched and ready to bite! No, in fact it is the far side of Yoda's head, the back of his head on that side has these bumps that is like a rear crop of hair- you are seeing one of those bunches, but from an angle that looks like it is as close to the lens as Yoda's face.
Do you sell the conductive paint?
Hi, yes we do! We don't list it on our website but we do sell it. Contact us at enquiries@gsplating.co.uk
If you are outside of the UK or the EU, then shipping is very high on it so it is best to get bulk amounts in that instance.
Is this plating done on abs plastic or pp plastic...
Some people says pp plastic not possible to coat... ?
Hello, thanks for your question. With our electroforming system, all plastics can be plated, not just abs. If you have any questions, please just ask!
All process ditails with camical
Hi the process is shown in this video, there are not any other steps necessary with our system. This system can be used on all plastics and non conductive surfaces, and the Prodigy kits can also be used for plating over all metal surfaces as well. You can see the full range of Prodigy kits here gsplating.co.uk/shop/kits/gsp-prodigy
They come in 1, 5 or 10 litre sizes (depending on how large the biggest item you want to plate is, or how many items you wish to plate at once) and larger plating kits are available on request, which can involve more powerful machines for items with a surface area size over 274cm2. I hope this has helped!
Welders aerosol primer is the same and commonly available at an trade counter for paint sprayers
From what I can tell, welder primer is (at best) oxide either zinc oxide (which is no good for electroforming over due to issues that zinc has with copper being plated over it) or copper oxide paint, which we have tested before and they just do not work. they may be conductive from a shielding perspective, but ultimately, for electroforming over with the copper, they are no good- which is unfortunate because they are very cheap!
Wife order this for me can wait to use it
Please contact us when it arrives so we can arrange to videocall and guide you through how to use it.
THATS AWESOME thanks
Our pleasure!
Is this commonly done on trophys?
Amongst many other things yes!
How can i buy conductive paint spray ??
Hi,
The conductive paint is part of our electroforming prodigy kits. You can buy it from us individually of course, though we do not currently list it on the site. To buy it individually, simply contact us through the website. Please note, that the paint alone is not what gives the great mirror shiny results, that is down to a combination of the paint, our plating machine, the very specific formulation we use in our electroforming solution and finally the exact grade of copper we use and the type of anode bag we use. Changing any of these elements will alter the results.
If you have any enquiries on electroforming, and how to get commercial grade results, then the best way to contact us is through the website.
Many thanks!
Can its work with gold 22 carat?
If you already have 22k gold plating solution, and it is an actual electroplating solution, then yes it will absolutely work with this system, and would simply be swapped for the last step (so you would copper plate and nickel plate the item just like in the video, but then go into the 22k tank)
Do you need 3 rectifiers to do this process of gold-plating? what specific kind of wires do you use in the nickel and gold baths? Is it 24K gold or can it be a 14K gold-filled for example? Not a ton of videos out there on electroforming except with just copper...any help/answers is much appreciated
To clarify...I know that copper baths use copper sulfate solution and copper wire. What solutions and wire do you use in the other baths? I don't believe it was covered in the video?
Hi You do not need 3 rectifiers with our kit the one that comes with it is fully suited to doing all the jobs involved. The wire throughout doesn't change from tank to tank I don't understand the question about wires? The gold in the solution is 24k gold but we do a variety of types of gold solution, 18k gold, rose gold etc.
The type of electroforming that we cover here is done by using copper, electroforming with gold or silver (where you electroform into a mold) is a slightly different process
We do cover in the video the contents of the other tanks, they are nickel solution and gold solution.
@@goldsolutionsplating1761 Hi! Thank you for your reply. To clarify my question about the wires: when I have watched other videos about just copper plating the anode is usually copper wire submerged in the solution. I was wondering if the anodes in the nickel and gold baths are also copper? Didn't know if the anode metal changes based on the solution..Does this make sense? Trying to understand the composition of how these solutions work a little better so I can experiment on my own before purchasing a huge package.
Sorry if this info was covered in the video, but I don't think I heard any mention of it. Thanks!
@@erinconnor7449 Hi I understand now- ok so the anode in the copper tank is our own type of copper, which contributes to the mirror shiny plating. The anode in the nickel tank is made of pure nickel, and the anode in the gold tank is 316 stainless steel (other types of steel will spoil the solution even if they produce an initial result)
The anode material is very important not only to the quality of the plate (so it does not come out dark, dull or lumpy and grainy) but also important to the longevity of the solution itself. the anodes that get used up the most in this process, are the copper ones.
is this a service that you provide
Hello! We used to provide the service alongside selling the kits but as the kits have become more popular, we now concentrate on supplying those and technical support for users. We have a large range of products for home users and busineses who want to do plating in-house. Do you have something in mind that you would like to plate?
I with you till the rigging. Then I'm like NAH.
It is not too complicated, you just basically create an outline of the item to ensure it doesn't burn on edges and high points. Takes just a few minutes!
Did the gold metal also need to make rig like that?
@@saidota89 only one rig is needed, it stays in place during copper, nickel and gold plating, and then sat the end you remove the item from it.
@@goldsolutionsplating1761 can u make a video tutorial for gold?? Easy for me to understand
Is this plastic peace
Hello, yes the toy in the video is made from plastic and has been electroformed so that it can be plated in real 24k. With non-conductive surfaces such as plastic, the copper stage is used to make the object conduct electricity (essential for electroplating) so that plating can happen. The gold plating on an item like this will last a very long time and is very shiny straight out of the tank.
👍👍👍👍
Thank you, glad you enjoyed the video!
AMAZING
Thanks! It's really not hard to do in all fairness though, but i will take that win!
@@goldsolutionsplating1761 I love the videos you guys been making and the plating etc. Im ordering the stuff needed for plating and will try some out
@@MogoVFX Look forward to helping you!
@@goldsolutionsplating1761 How can i contact you for what exactly i need to make this happen and to make sure the tools i order are right tools for this Gold plating.
@@MogoVFX Our email address is enquiries@gsplating.co.uk, we are always happy to assist! Many thanks.
When wrapping the item with wire , isn't it gonna leave blank unplated spots ...
Hi there, by stripping the wire with steel wool as seen in the tutorial, this guarantees that you do not get left with bare spots, it plates through the wire and leaves no marks. You do have to move the item on the rigging every half hour to prevent it from fusing to the wire.
@@goldsolutionsplating1761 ❤️ thank you