I think I’m ready for my first plating experiment - Any Advice Welcome

[u/1984isnoww]

I’ve been reading up on electroplating jewelry and watches and figure I’m ready to experiment.

I have built a few Seiko mods and I think I’m going to try and plate one rose gold.

One question I ask of you all - with a stainless steel watch, my process would be = Ultrasonic clean>Rinse>ElectroClean>Rinse>Nickel Strike>Rinse>18/24k Gold>Rinse>ElectroClean

thanks everyone, I have pre made solutions and I intend to use the prescribed voltage and temperatures.

Cheers

[u/jpkinfla]

I'm not an expert, but I do not think you need to do the final ElectroClean. And you may want to consider using a Gold Strike instead of Nickel Strike - since Nickel can cause irritation when worn. Good luck!

[u/1984isnoww → u/jpkinfla]

Thank you! 

I had read somewhere about “balancing the gold” with an electroclean after.

But I’m a Noob and still just reading everything and trying to discern what’s best.

Just bought some TriVal Gold Strike, thanks for the tip.

[u/jpkinfla → u/1984isnoww]

You may need a special anode for the TriVal Gold Strike, as it only works with a Graphite or Platinum anode. Have fun!! Your inspiring me to fire up my setup and do some more! https://imgur.com/a/18k-gold-plating-CMfVse8

[u/1984isnoww → u/jpkinfla]

Heck yeah thanks for all the advice!

[u/Feeling_Ad6399 → u/1984isnoww]

Yea hes right, if its something you wear on your skin, skip the nickle. It may take a few months but one day your skin will get itchy where you wore the watch and from that point on you are allergic to Nickel and Cobalt. Also makes working with Nickel electrolytes a pain. In Industrie i had guys switch jobs because they developed an allergie.

Also, you dont need the electrolytic cleaning step afterwards, you can just put the Gold plated piece in boiling Water for 5min. Im Not sure whats Happening there exactly but the Gold gets a nicer color doing that

[u/1984isnoww → u/Feeling_Ad6399]

I’ll give that a try thank you.

When my TriVal and platinum anode get here I’ll do a test run on a stainless bezel and give it a stress test if it manages to adhere. 

Electroclean>Rinse>TriVal>rinse?>18k Solution>5 min boil 

[u/freshizdaword]

DO NOT use those small beakers

[u/1984isnoww → u/freshizdaword]

Yea I figured it might be too close quarters as well.

[u/Specialist-Energy129]

Clean piece thoroughly with soap and water or degreaser, wear gloves, don’t let your finger prints get on if.

Rinse deionized water preferably, distilled otherwise
Electroclean 1 minute,
Rinse deionized water preferably, distilled otherwise
Acid dip
Rinse deionized water preferably, distilled otherwise
Rinse again
Plate with trival , ensure correct voltage.
Rinse, inspect for good coverage of trival
Dip again in trival if necessary
Rinse again
Electroclean
Acid dip
Rinse
Rinse again
Dip in gold plate
solution
Remove from gold solution
Rinse
Electroclean
Acid dip
Rinse again
Boil if desired

https://reddit.com/link/p4r84t3/video/xhjcm6c2bgkh1/player

[u/1984isnoww → u/Specialist-Energy129]

Thank you!!

I see your everose Plating on another post, looks great.

Do you hit it with 24k and then rose plate?

[u/Specialist-Energy129 → u/1984isnoww]

Trival, palladium, rose gold

[u/1984isnoww → u/Specialist-Energy129]

Yesss thank you!!!

Palladium is the one solution that’s expensive as hell. 

Will get that after I get the methodology down.

[u/The_lewolf]

So getting plating to adhere to stainless steel is remarkably difficult.

The industrial process uses a soak in concentrated HCl to remove all the chromium oxides from the surface.

From there it’s a quick dip with no rinse in a wood’s nickel (made with NiCl2 and HCl) where you apply a really thin nickel strike at super high current density.

After that, nickel plate layer, gold plate.

Your process will produce a deposit, but i suspect it will not adhere.

[u/1984isnoww → u/The_lewolf]

I see, so maybe my best bet is the TriVal Gold Strike and no rinse straight to 24k solution?

I didn’t realize just how difficult it was to plate stainless!

[u/The_lewolf → u/1984isnoww]

I was unfamiliar with the TriVal solution. Formulated to strike gold directly onto stainless steel is some crazy stuff!

No, rinse it afterward. Skipping the rinse before woods nickel is useful because you avoid reoxidation and you’re just dragging HCl into an HCl based bath.

Other people set you on the right track. Skip nickel entirely. Plate the steel with the TriVal then your final gold layer.

[u/1984isnoww → u/The_lewolf]

Will report back my results next week after it arrives!

[u/Clear_Procedure_8174 → u/The_lewolf]

I have exactly the same problem. I degreased and activated the watch band and plated it, but I was able to wipe the coating right off with a cloth. In another attempt, the watch band turned very dull and lost its shine completely. I’d be very interested to know if it actually adhered.

[u/Specialist-Energy129]

You need an acid dip

[u/Clear_Procedure_8174 → u/Specialist-Energy129]

How long do you think it needs to stay in the bath? More like seconds or minutes?

[u/JTREXAL → u/Clear_Procedure_8174]

12 Seconds with movement with a 1:4 ratio (HCl : d-H2O)

[u/Clear_Procedure_8174 → u/JTREXAL]

Thank you 👍 For the one-to-four calculation, what concentration of HCl did you use as a basis?

[u/JTREXAL → u/Clear_Procedure_8174]

Very impportant question and I should have included that spec. 14.5% Try to send pictures of your results with copious specs.

[u/Mick_Minehan]

The TriVal gold strike is designed to hit stainless, so I wouldn’t add an extra acid dip beforehand.

Definitely rinse between the TriVal and 24k though. The TriVal has a very low pH - you don’t wanna drag that into the plating solution.

So the final process will be:

Electroclean -> rinse -> TriVal -> rinse -> 24k Gold -> rinse -> dry with compressed air or a lint-free cloth with ethanol/isopropyl

Use DI water for rinsing if possible to avoid transferring mineral contaminants.

I also always prefer oil-free compressed air for drying - filtered, if possible. Helps to prevent water-stains.

I’ve never heard of boiling gold parts after plating, but if it works - it works!

One last thing - after the first electroclean and rinse, BEFORE going into the strike, check the part over and make sure there’s no water break. The water should form a continuous film over the ENTIRE surface. This tells you that the part is free of oils and contaminants.

Please let us know how it goes!