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Q&As since 1989


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Gold Plating direct to copper

Please give advise how to plate gold directly to bright copper without loosing it's brightness (never use nickel). What type of gold bath (alkaline, neutral or acid). I tried many times but still fail. The result always fades. Thank's for your help.

Anton Bijosono
- Ujung Pandang - Indonesia
1999

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You will need some barrier coating, if you cannot use nickel. The gold is mixing into the copper.

  
Tom Pullizzi
Falls Township, Pennsylvania
1999

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Rhodium is a good alternative to Nickel but is quite a bit more expensive.

Jim Conner
Anoplex Software

Mabank, Texas USA

1999

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Anton, You could try one of the bronze plating processes from Macdermid or Enthone-OMI as a barrier between the copper and the gold. We use this process for nickel-free jewellery plating with good success.

Bob Lynch
plating company - Sydney, Australia
1999

If the objective is to avoid nickel, silver under coat helps in decorative applications. Silver does not stop migration, but life of plating is better that plating gold directly on copper. Silver, migrating to top of gold does not cause unpleasant color change for quite some time.

Yashawant Deval
- Pune, Maharashtra, India
1999