Letter 21154

How to copper plate steel handles 

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I am restoring an Antique Mahogany side board. It has pressed steel back plates with cast iron handles of unusual design and quality. The handles have had their original copper plating removed, I want to replate them. Can this be done at home in a well equipped work shop? I have had the handles plated by a local firm who have made a complete mess of them. They tell me that copper plating is too dificult for them.

This is after they were plated, first with nickel and then with copper. I was told that they were to be lightly cleaned with polishing wadding, then lacquered. After a very light wipe the copper was gone?

Yours Hopefully Steve

steve bentley
- Buxton, Derbyshire, England

C'mon, Steve. An amateur with no knowledge of electroplating needs to do this project at home because it's too difficult for experienced professionals--and you'd like us to explain, in a paragraph or so, what these professionals have been unable to absorb in a lifetime of hands-on effort :-)

You cannot directly plate steel or cast iron except with cyanide-based chemistry. That's why the plating shop nickel plated them first. Why the copper rubbed right off, I don't know though. The only thing I can think of is the possibility that they were coated with a copper-tinted lacquer rather than actually being copper plated. Either you're not being quite honest with yourself about what you did in cleaning these parts, or the shop misled you and they weren't copper plated, or you need to find a much better plating shop.

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

It looks to me like they plated copper onto bright nickel. Whilst this can be done, it is not easy to make it stick. Furthermore, if they cannot correctly plate copper onto steel, then they are not a very proficient jobbing shop! You are lucky that you have a good chemical supply house in Buxton who may be willing to help you out if you ask them kindly. Otherwise look for a good jobbing shop - if you can't fin one, contact the Institute of Metal Finishing or the Metal Finishing Association, both of which are in Birmingham. I would suggest you get a good cyanide copper onto the steel base and then thicken it up with a nice bright copper. Lacquering the final surface will preserve the colour and shine. Do not try this at home, cyanides are really bad news.

Trevor Crichton R&D practical scientist - UK

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