Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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Making a small plating tank

 

I want to construct a small gold plating tank(for plating pocket watch cases), does anyone have a set of instructions with diagrams that I could have and any advice?

Tom Power
- Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland

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Tom:

There are a number of ways to go about it. Some of the guys in our group are plating gold from kits with great success. There are a lot of kits you can purchase ready to go.

Tom Haltmeyer
- Peoria, Arizona, USA!
 

Our first "experimental" gold tank was a little 4 gallon one put together on a low budget. Now that we're in full swing production, the setup is more extravagant. Email me and I'll send a diagram and/or description.

Michael Brewington
- Salisbury, Maryland, USA
 

If it is a small scale operation, I recommend to use brush plating, so you won't have to deal with storing large amounts of gold plating solutions, which in most cases are cyanide based. Brush plating gold chemicals usually come in the form of a gel and are also cyanide based, however they are easier to contain in case of spillage.

Alfonso Hernandez
- Aurora, CO, U.S.A