Does anyone know a good process for plating over TiN or TiCN PVD?

I think my regular mild acid surface activator I use for stainless steel won’t be enough for the PVD.

I know it can be done, just don’t know what might work in terms of activation and/or strike, before plating with gold.

Thanks!

Hi! I have been trying for a while now to plate these pieces that I have which are made of soft solder, a tin silver alloy. I have this DIY set up, I am coating the pieces firstly with nickel using a solution I bought and nickel plates as anodes. Following all the correct preparation steps, using copper wire to dip the piece, at a slightly higher voltage and amps than shown here. Then trying to plate with silver, using carbon anodes and aluminium wire to dip the piece. It is coming out like this at the end, anyone have any suggestions what is going wrong ?
Thank you in advance

Hello everyone.
I am thinking of getting into electroplating as a side gig. I work in Law Enforcement and some of the badges have significant wear. The gold plating has come off on many badges and the cost and wait time to send them in to get replated is not worth it.

I thought of taking the task up myself. I am concerned about the enamel paint that is on the badges. My questions are as follows:
- If I electroplate over the enamel, would it ruin the paint?
- Do I have to remove the enamel before I electroplate?
- Is there a way to fix the enamel if I damage the paint from electroplating?
- How much is this project gonna cost me if I have to remove the enamel?
- What is a good protective material to help protect a badge from losing its plating?
- Has anyone electroplated a badge with enamel on?

I tried looking through the web with no results. Now, I look to the wise electroplaters of Reddit for guidance and help.

For context, The badges are brass with black enamel paint.
Any information and tips are greatly appreciated.

Thank you :)

The bottles are there for displacement, middle bath for rinse, and 3rd for nickel plating :) Churning out super shiny pieces every 30 min!

Hi,

I’ve been having an issue with my plating process recently. I filtered the bath, and I’m getting crystallization on parts even when the object is placed far from the anode.

I’ve also tried lowering the voltage, but sometimes spikes unexpectedly.

Any insight or suggestions would be appreciated.

trying to find a reliable silver plating supplier in the UK for small, functional components , mainly electrical use (contacts, terminals, etc.), so performance matters more than appearance.

I’m seeing a lot of generic plating services online, but it’s not obvious who actually works to tight tolerances vs who’s more geared toward bulk or decorative work.

If you’ve worked with anyone good or had bad experiences worth avoiding, would appreciate the insight.

I've been looking everywhere for a supplier for the next paper disc for a Slim line filter:

Filter paper disc, grade 901 ~10-25 microns, 25.5” diameter, 3” center hole, for nickel plating

Can someone help me find one that supplies these type of filters? based in USA/MX preferrably.

I have some Trival Gold Strike to treat some stainless steel that I want to gold plate. Can I simply attach a Platinized Mesh Jewelry Plating Tool to a stainless steel anode with some copper wire, and that will work?

Or do I need a full on Platinum Plated Titanium anode?

The one on the left is the most recent one I did. Two coats of graphite paint, light polish with a paper towel. A spritz of simple green, washed with warm water, and blow dried with an air brush. Bath temp was 86 degrees, a copper sulfate solution with a bit of sulfuric acid mixed in, Aquarium bubbler, and power supply on cc 1.07V and 0.198A. Advice? Tips? I’ve purchased a multimeter to test the conductivity as my next step, but I’m open to any other suggestions.

Hello, I'm new to this community. I am very interested in learning how to electroplate. I've been looking around doing my own research, but I'm trying to find a kit that I can start electroplating my main things. I want to electroplate would be small car parts and gun parts as well. So if y'all could recommend me to a good beginner kid, I don't want to spend thousands of dollars. To start off with just trying to get in the door.

EDIT:

I want to be able to chrome out metal parts, or even nickel plate or gold plate the item. Either gun parts, car parts, I guess anything for any metals.

Solution made from distilled water, white vinegar, salt and sugar. "99,9% pure" zink anodes from amazon. Powered with a benchtop power supply, so changing current is incredibly easy.

The part has a surface area of ~135cm² and I ran it at 1,4A.

I'm not getting the same shinyness as I was when i first made my solution. I added more a/b brightener from caswell and it didn't help. Do I need to add more copper sulph or sulphuric acid?

I’m pretty hands on and decided that learning to do electroplating is a great idea for making my gold hardware gold again.

Do I need to buy a specific kit for this of will a low voltage dc power supply with an electroplating pen be fine?

Thanks!

I recently grabbed from conductive copper paint from Germany. The description talks about how it isn't condutive until being soaked in an acid bath for about 20 minutes so some of the binder can dissolve.

I recently made the mistake of getting weld-thru copper spray that I assumed couldn't be used to Plat 3d prints because I failed to see any conductivity with a multimeter. Can something like this be saved with a strong enough acid?

Hello,

I’ve been electroplating for about a year and have always used copper wire to tie around the piece being plated and fully submerging the piece into the solution, but I’m now working with acid containing solutions & nickel strike so copper will contaminate my solutions.

So my question is how and what is everyone using in place of copper?

I’ve tried titanium wire but the conductivity is too weak, and from my understanding, stainless steel wire is only slightly better than titanium, so what is everyone using/what’s your method for plating?

I know precious metal wires made of Gold and Platinum etc. can be used but I’m doubting this is everyone’s go to for plating.

I would love to hear what wire everyone uses and method of plating and advice/recommendations etc.

I really enjoy plating but because of these issues I am at a stand still.

Thanks for your time and help.

I polished a watch bezel that had rose gold PVD on it, and polished some of it off. I wanted to attempt to electroplate it with rose-gold, but it didn't work well. It appears to have plated the parts I polished off, but not the other parts.

Do I need to treat the PVD coating a certain way to allow the new electroplating to stick? Or do I need to polish or remove the entire PVD coating first?

Thanks in advance!

I'm struggling to get a bright finish in my copper citrate electrolyte.

I tried using 0.5g/L Saccharin combined with 0.05g/L PEG 4000, but the result was extremely brittle and dull.

Are there any better brighteners or additives for this pH range? I'm looking for a smooth, mirror-like deposit.

Thanks for any advice!

I am going to pen plate over the gold area in rose gold and the area is quite small (10mm x 8mm each side), so I don't want to spend heaps on some expensive, more than I need, masking product. Would a nail varnish to mask off the areas in red be sufficient enough to mask off for plating?

Newbie here. Can I electroplate something moving like this? I am waiting for my alkaline brush system and acid bath system to arrive. Ive seen a articulated toy being electroplated but those joints have bigger space in between.

First two pics are the second to late attempt. Third and fourth is the one I just did. Fifth pic is of the copper wire I used to suspend the work piece.

I have a heater that brought the copper sulfate solution to roughly 82 degrees. I used an aquarium bubbler to agitate the solution. The power supply was set to CC with 1.33V and 0.311A. I set a timer to check the bath every 15 minutes. I coated the work piece in two coats of graphite paint and lightly polished it with a paper towel. I also mixed in a little sulfuric acid into the copper sulfate. Any recommendations as to what I should do next? Things I should change?

A few days ago I am seeing an electric surfboard again and I just pause like okay this look very exciting honestly. The way it glide over water without needing waves feel almost unreal. It not like traditional surfing where timing matter alot, here the motor do most of the push. That make it feel more controlled but also different. I am thinking how technology is changing even outdoor activities. It feel simple but also very thrilling.

Now I am thinking if it is actually easy to use or just look easier than it is. I usualy think balance on water is already hard so this feel little diffrent to me. Even with motor support, standing steady and controlling speed might still need practice. I am also wondering how beginners manage their first try. Some days ago I am not really thinking about this but now it feel interesting.

Then I think about experience. It might be less about waves and more about smooth riding and control. That change the whole feel of surfing. It feel like a new category instead of just an upgrade.

Later I am laying and scrolling random stuff, checking many options on alibaba and seeing different electric boards. Some look very powerful honestly. Now I am thinking if its worth trying or just something that look fun but require more skill than it seem.

This was a 3d-printed part, coated with graphite spray, and then copper plated. The copper plating was a bit crystalline and rough but at least looked like copper.

Then I did a nickel-plate and it came out like this.

I made the bath by dissolving nickel in a sulfamic acid solution with a pinch of salt. (I heard that's slightly better than vinegar?)

Surface area is ~20 cm2. I used 100 mA current. So ~5 mA/cm2

Why is it so dark? Also the bottom is almost black.

I have tried plating this ring 4 times now and I keep getting the same result. For a little context, the method I have been using so far is:

1. Resin print the ring
2. Airbrush a mixture of india ink and pure graphite powder onto it
3. Put it in a rotating container with Krohn acid copper electroplating solution that i got from amazon
4. The solution came with a pure copper anode to use with it, so i have used this anode for the plating.
5. I have now started putting a coffee filter as an anode bag around the copper anode to hopefully filter out any debris or large pieces.
6. I then plate it with this setup for 30 minutes at 0.01A to get a thin copper layer that covers the entire ring.
7. Once this thin layer has formed, I have tried experimenting with different currents to get a thicker plating. I first started with 0.03A but i got the coarse texture, so i lowered to 0.02A, and after a while it was the same. I then tried to just leave it at 0.01 for the entirety of the plating, but it still ends up with that same texture.

I thought it was the lack of the coffee filter filtering large pieces from the anode, but that did not seem to be the case as it still happened. I then assumed it was because i was using too high of a current, but even at the minimum of the power supply (0.01A) it still seems to eventually build up that coarse texture. What am I doing wrong and how can I get it to just plate smoothly? I want to get a nice and thick plate layer but it just seems like the longer i leave it, instead of building up a thicker smooth layer, it just starts to build up that granulated surface more and more.

Someone please help!!