still kicking
- Thread starter Dani Girl
- Start date
so I went to try some plating for the first time again today. last time I near lost the use of a hand trying to see how a lid was supposed to fit the beaker which I guess I had upside down or tried to fit too deeply and smashed the beaker. today I went from the ultrasonic with copper tongs, into demineralised water to rinse, only copper wire and into the degreaser. funny thing is my silver turned black instead of super clean. the anode was supposed to be stainless steel hubby said, something he had laying around. I had the positive on the copper wire I was dangling the piece into the bath with. was that the bit I got wrong? what just happened?
in other news I'm getting closer on this one. half a dozen beads fell off. brass doesn't like being nudged sideways. I haven't tried the hart bur method yet and what I did today with the finishing touch to get the stones in being a spin of a 1.3mm round bur in a pin vice by hand did allow the stones to enter the metal but they weren't very inclined to stay in place and not jump out. that meant one stone at a time, tool change, tool change... etc, repeat repeat. took a day and a half just to set this. 98 stones I think. yellow sapphires. engravers brass I think.
I'm guessing I have to throw that batch of degreaser out now? should I not have used copper wire?
yes I had positive and negative backwards
something I assume in my plating equipment turns skin brown.
something fascinating happened in the ultrasonic. I had it on the degass setting which I don't really know how it's different to the semiwave setting. anyway it pulled all the oil paint that had had over a week to set up out of the cuts and left this fascinating pattern in the background where the bubbles seemed to be running. I'll post again when I see how well oil paint blackening after plating works.
something fascinating happened in the ultrasonic. I had it on the degass setting which I don't really know how it's different to the semiwave setting. anyway it pulled all the oil paint that had had over a week to set up out of the cuts and left this fascinating pattern in the background where the bubbles seemed to be running. I'll post again when I see how well oil paint blackening after plating works.
Sinterklaas
Elite Cafe Member
There are a couple different brass alloy some are better than others. If it is hardened it is nicer to engrave. But not for stone setting. The prongs might snap when bending.
Try to find a metal that is sold as dead soft. That way it will probably be soft enough to bend the prongs.
I find Phosphor bronze to be the best practice metal for stone setting.
Try to find a metal that is sold as dead soft. That way it will probably be soft enough to bend the prongs.
I find Phosphor bronze to be the best practice metal for stone setting.
having a good run with plating so far. I had my positive and negative backwards and turned a silver ring black in the degreaser. today I tried to plate copper and turned it slightly nickel coloured, etched when it went in polishedand burned and green. what the heck. 
this might be something folk have considered. say I want an absolute drop dead gorgeous mirror polish on my engraved piece. polish first right? but I slip, I have to repare and sand and polish etc. what's the best way of getting a mirror finish on/back on a piece without rounding off or deleting your engraving or polishing background areas?
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