gold plating

Dan Gray

Dan Gray

Joined
Jun 25, 2001
Messages
8,474
hey guys
I'd like to start a thread on Gold plating.
I've always liked Brass but for it to tarnish is a pain for non EDC to gold plate brass would be cool way to eliminate this problem and I don't believe it would be that costly to do.. once started.. he!! I'm thinking about gold plating all the brass in my new bath room.. :D if it isn't to expensive :( :)

some questions ? to those that have done this and/or those that have done research on the subject..

what power supply to use. will an etching machine work for this?

can you use old gold rings to plate with?

where's the best buys for the solutions ?

is using the cyanide free solutions as good

do's and don't ?

pro's and con's on brush plating compared to tank plating?

how far will the solutions go you ?

feel free to ad questions.. and answer them..
 
you need to talk to bill deshivs. he does nickel plating which probably isnt any different.
 
VENTILATION REALLY GOOD VENTILATION

cyanide solutions are the way to go (I hate them but the non cyanide ones do not work well)
No acids anywhere!
if your precleaner has sodium bisulfate it may cause discoloration issues
+-130F
goldplating solutions last quite a while in normal use with good procedure

some things you may need to do a nickel strike plating first

Penplating is not a good way to go except for detail work

-Page
 
thanks guys
wow I missed that fourm :thumbup:
I looked at caswell before I started this thread thanks
I'll have to look it over more...
 
sunshadow said:
VENTILATION REALLY GOOD VENTILATION

cyanide solutions are the way to go (I hate them but the non cyanide ones do not work well)
No acids anywhere!
if your precleaner has sodium bisulfate it may cause discoloration issues
+-130F
goldplating solutions last quite a while in normal use with good procedure

some things you may need to do a nickel strike plating first

Penplating is not a good way to go except for detail work

-Page
Click to expand...
I thought so, easier is not in the best interest of doing most anything right,,,
Page to you know if you can use old gold rings or not to slow down the depletion of the solution? thanks for the info, :thumbup:
 
I haven't tried using a sacrificial anode, (scrap jewelry) I would worry about the alloying elements in the ring contaminating the solution. In reality if you have a jar with a gram of gold in solution and you are plating it on 3-5 mils thick that gram of gold will cover many square feet. I used the same quart of gold solution for aout 8 months at my first jewelry job (after that I was no longer finishing so it was no longer my responsibility) I was probably plating 5-10 square inches per day (my memory of that may be somewhat clouded as that was 21 years ago) If you are doing a very large run of plating replenishment may be a consideration, but in the interests of consistency I would recommend using more solution, rather than experimenting. Generally the cost per square foot of plating is not worth the time lost.
Last year I helped a friend goldplate 300 bronze coins for a party, impurities can be a real nuisance! Cleaning your metal and polishing it is an absolute necessity. Electrocleaner can be used as preparation for a nickel or copper strike (helps with goldplating on difficult metals) but we noticed a black smut when we used it to prepare the coins, I talked to the manufacturer, they told me about the bisulfate issue.
Also if you have a dull surface to your plating try burnishing it with a soft cloth. it worked on the coins.

Sorry if this rambled a bit. just trying to get useful info out without knowing how much you already know.

-Page
 
Page has the info.
Also, to polish the plated items, use baking soda. wash the items, shake off excess water, then polish by rubbing with dry baking soda.

Scrap gold can't be used as a plating anode. You need a 24K anode ,or a stainless/titanium anode. 14K gold is only 58.5% gold, the other 41.5% is a mix of copper, silver, zinc,etc. That would ruin the plating solution and the job.
Stacy
 
thanks guys
one more on this one if wanting to use scrap gold can you re smelt it ?
will the impurities separate, maybe not that simple?
or there is another process to it??

why I asked is, in the past I had adding to my reg shop work a pawn shop which I still have a permit for BTW. :)
I've used the diamonds from rings I took in that were not re-claimed and still have some of the rings.

Page please don't feel bad about rambling if you think that is what you are doing, you can assume I know nothing about the subject.. and others looking could be in the same boat, I'd like this thread to be used as a learning tool to archive..

you jewelers have so much to add to the knife making world, that aria is virtually untapped by us..:)
 
Generally scrap gold If clean I cut out any solder joints and remelt it for casting, or melt and roll out into wire or sheet, solder joints, miscellaneous unstamped precious scrap, bench sweepings etc I melt into a button and send to the refiner for credit against clean "new" metal. Refining my own isn't worth the nuisance, and I would be hard pressed to be absolutely positive that my refining was within the purity standards required by the gold stamping laws, besides, cupellation involves lead and mercury heated up. Lead doesn't belong anywhere near a jewelry bench, as it will eat holes in silver or gold, and heating mercury is bad news.

-Page
 
thanks Page
that leads me to one more question,, "to the refiners", you hear about these kits a company wants to send to you for your OLD rings , I'm going to assume these guys will be making a bunch of money on us as a reg guy by doing this, am I correct to think this way, if so where can we send old gold odds and ends to get a fair shake on it.. or is there such a place for the common Joe to do so..
 
I have always sent the scrap to the same suppliers I buy my precious metal from, I don't recall exactly, but I think they take 10% or so off the value of the gold as assayed, and the refining mill charge for buying sheet or wire is 10-20% over london spot, bit again without looking at my actual invoices I couldn't tell you real numbers, but I think the differential between assayed content and metal value of what I get back as sheet or wire runs 25-30% which to me is worth it for getting nice clean sheet and wire (I used to roll my own scrap out and for the time involved it was not cost effective)
If you look in the back of Metalsmith magazine, or Jewelry art there are a bunch of ads for different refiners, I think Rio Grande will deal with folks outside of the trade, and while I don't like them as much as some of my suppliers who are "to the trade only", they have been pretty fair when I have dealt with them.

If you run into hassles, email me.

Page
 
sunshadow said:
I have always sent the scrap to the same suppliers I buy my precious metal from, I don't recall exactly, but I think they take 10% or so off the value of the gold as assayed, and the refining mill charge for buying sheet or wire is 10-20% over london spot, bit again without looking at my actual invoices I couldn't tell you real numbers, but I think the differential between assayed content and metal value of what I get back as sheet or wire runs 25-30% which to me is worth it for getting nice clean sheet and wire (I used to roll my own scrap out and for the time involved it was not cost effective)
If you look in the back of Metalsmith magazine, or Jewelry art there are a bunch of ads for different refiners, I think Rio Grande will deal with folks outside of the trade, and while I don't like them as much as some of my suppliers who are "to the trade only", they have been pretty fair when I have dealt with them.

If you run into hassles, email me.

Page
Click to expand...


I've used Rio Grande in the past but didn't think about them taking old gold thanks :thumbup:
 
They're pretty good about it, last time I sent scrap to them I got a phone call within a couple of days asking if I wanted a check or credit against my next order

-Page
 
I would not try it at home or in the shop. Quality plating requires very poisoness stuff like cyanides. All other "easy" plating is unreliable and poor looking AFAIK.

Hoover$Strong takes scrap gold for refinery AFAIK. Not cheap though.
 
Dmitry.M said:
I would not try it at home or in the shop. Quality plating requires very poisoness stuff like cyanides. All other "easy" plating is unreliable and poor looking AFAIK.

Hoover$Strong takes scrap gold for refinery AFAIK. Not cheap though.
Click to expand...
man you take the fun out of danger :D
and makes me want it more ;) the easy road is not the way for me my friend :)
Page thanks
I just checked with Rio and my account is good :)

I think I'd rather do the same and deal with one outfit to and fro ..
 
I would not recommend a brush/ pen plating system for anything but small detail work. Fot bath plating you will need 3-6 volts limited to 1-2 amps for typical jewelry sized jobs with 6-18 amps at 9-12 volts for stripping/electrocleaning it you choose to do that.
Plugging in a wall wart transformer will not give you professional quality results.

-Page
 
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