How to Metallize and Electroplate Resin

A. Hi Aaron. I think the thing is that you should try to enjoy playing around with your hobby, and see what you can learn a small step at a time, as opposed to trying to read just enough to make a leap to much greater levels of difficulty. There is so much to electroplating that many of us have worked in the industry for 50 years and only know a small piece of it.

The more money you spend -- example, silver-based metallizing solutions specifically designed for subsequent electroplating rather than metallic copper paints -- the better the likelihood of success; and copper plating before nickel plating before gold plating will surely be "better" than gold plating directly on copper paint. But I think it is unlikely that anyone will be able to answer the question "Can Aaron brush plate his resin figurines to his satisfaction and how should he do it?". Best of luck.

Regards,

A. I am buying both spray-application silver and silver paint that we use to silver coat wax mandrels. We then copper electroform the final product and evacuate the wax. I think the material we use would probably work great to get a conductive surface on resin.

A. Robert, You went from plating wax to resin. Which is it? Both are done by us but we plate polyester resin which is cast in rubber molds. We use different methods for different items. Being in the jewelry industry we get an assortment of items.

You have to etch the resin which is tough for polyester, once that is done you sensitize with tin or palladium and then metallize with silver nitrate either in an oblique barrel or with a spray gun.

As for wax, the only thing that works is silver paint. Wax exudes too much oil for our other methods to work.

Are you putting gold or silver directly on the piece or copper? What are your specs?

Good luck

Dear David, your responses to letters at finishing.com show that you have a very generous nature. Thanks, I think this last letter is a great one and will certainly help our readers.

Best Regards,

A. Please see our FAQ's on this subject, and other hobbyist letters through the years, and for the latest effort in home plating, see me at work on my latest formula for zinc plating at letter 1222. There will be a rash of silvery pennies on the East Coast shortly.

It is very difficult to make plating solutions without the use of toxic chemicals, especially if you are fussy about what kind of metal you want to plate. Jewelry might be worthwhile, but only the custom, artsy stuff, plumbing is definitely out. I don't have the formula, but some of the titanium pieces with the rainbow colors (anodizing?) are really beautiful, and sell in the high class resort shops. I won't look back now to find it, but artists have listed some reference to finishing for artwork on these letters, I think. Artists are not going to share all of their trade secrets for obvious reasons.

A. Hi, James. Follow this link to the list of books you were requesting. The single best one might be the Metal Finishing Guidebook because it covers a lot, and ought to be reasonably inexpensive since thousands of copies are printed every year and you don't need the latest edition. Follow this link to the list of specialty journals about plating that you are seeking.

Regarding chrome plating we have an online article "Introduction to Chrome Plating". Bronze plating and real silver plating will require cyanide-based electroplating solutions, but you can deposit a very thin layer of silver from less toxic stuff: See our "Silver Plating at Home" FAQ.

It is not easy to make certain plating solutions because they require proprietary addition agents which, even if you could discover them, require synthesis rather than simple mixing to create.

After taking a walk through the materials we have identified for you, please feel free to come back with followup questions. Good luck!

Regards,

A. I don't believe that "reducing agents" is a useful way to describe them. Lowenheim's "Electroplating" [adv: this book on eBay , Amazon, AbeBooks] (McGraw Hill) states that "most effective additives increase the activation overpotential at the cathode, but there are exceptions". See our Library for a list of "must have" books.

Some are organic.

Some are mixes.

Most good ones are trade secrets or patented.

Cane sugar in my zinc plating bath with almost zero throwing power. You almost need a conforming anode to plate the little spot under Abraham Lincoln's nose on a US penny. (See?), the good ones are secret.

Specific.

If you find a review, let us know where! When it comes to buying the right equipment, no matter what you read, you will have to leap in somewhere and start doing. I wouldn't spend too much money until you have tried plating using a 1.5 volt battery and some beakers [beakers on eBay or Amazon] full of chemicals. You will find that you can't do much unless you buy proprietary additives, and you will have trouble buying in small quantities. I doubt that you can get a lot of plating done unless you devote a small business to it, essentially opening a small shop so that you can have the right safety and production equipment, and have a place where it is legal to ship the hazardous chemicals needed.

Everything is easy when you know how, and have the right equipment. You can plate taps in situ. By any chance, did you look over our directory for suppliers of brush plating equipment and supplies?

A. Hi, Don. I can't answer your question specifically, but there is an "Australasian Institute of Surface Finishing" and an "Australian Association of Metal Finishers" which probably can. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi, Eduardo.

After your sealing, you need to apply a conductive layer somehow or other before you can do electroplating. Our FAQ, "How do you electroplate flowers, leaves, animal skulls, and other organic materials?" explains the options available to do that. Most silver plating solutions are cyanide based, which is obviously dangerous, but where an exact perfect silver color isn't required, non-cyanide options are available. You can try contacting companies such as EPI / Electrochemical Products Inc. [a finishing.com supporting advertiser] or Zinex for cyanide-free silver plating solutions.

Regards,

Dear Ted,
Thanks for your reply. I will investigate the sites you suggested. I am pursuing more gold electroplating. I have used gold leaf before and it has an impressive reflection except that it is expensive and it only comes in squares of 3" x 3" or 5" x 5". It will take me a long time to cover a big canvas. If you have information on gold plating please forward it to me. I am willing to work with a chemist on this if necessary. The best I think is if I find the right company that will dip the canvas into the gold plating solution holistically and see the results. I am sure there are plants or factories out there that can do this, I just have not found the right one. I have called many but most only work on small items or military and government projects. Thank you again,

Eduardo

A. Hi cousin. The thing is: please don't look for the one single best solution to all problems, because there is no such thing, and you may needlessly lead yourself into very expensive and very complex finishes. If you are simply looking for an attractive, silvery, metallic look for resin articles then "chrome look paint" is very good these days and very practical. It consists of a smoothing base coat, followed by a layer of either tiny aluminum flakes or two-part silvering solution, followed by a clear coat.

Although there are cyanide-free silver plating processes available from a number of sources including Zinex, they would involve metallizing of the resin first (see our FAQ "How do you electroplate flowers, leaves, animal skulls, and other organic materials?") and they would not be tarnish-resistant unless you followed up with rhodium plating or a clear coat. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi Michael. You have at least two choices, both described on this page. You can metallize the resin and electroplate it, or you can use 'chrome-look paint' with a bronze colored lacquer topcoat. I think you'll find that the latter is good enough if the trophy is kept indoors.

Regards,