Anyone here done some electroplating?

[tegendemuur]

Got this thing which is not in a great shape. Would love to see it finished in brass, as that's what I am going for with the details on this instrument. Problem is, these string attachement wire thingies... I am afraid I'll fuck them up if try to pry them loose. Would there be ways to get a good plating going with such an object?

As I've never done this before I will find myself some hobbyist in town to help me out. But before I go out of my way to find someone, I rather figure out if what I am thinking of is even feasable to those who have dabbled with electroplating. For sure some folks have tried their hands at this!

 

[Erik S]

Never done any electroplating, but I did some reading about it at some point. If I remember right nickel or silver would usually be plated onto something copper based like brass, copper, or bronze. I don’t think brass would normally be plated onto something else. Not sure if that’s because it wouldn’t work, or just because if you want a cast object with a brass finish it would be much cheaper to just cast it in brass.

I wonder if your object there is actually brass underneath, and if you could find a way to strip off the existing plating and get down to the brass.

 

[tegendemuur]

Never done any electroplating, but I did some reading about it at some point. If I remember right nickel or silver would usually be plated onto something copper based like brass, copper, or bronze. I don’t think brass would normally be plated onto something else. Not sure if that’s because it wouldn’t work, or just because if you want a cast object with a brass finish it would be much cheaper to just cast it in brass.

I wonder if your object there is actually brass underneath, and if you could find a way to strip off the existing plating and get down to the brass.

Ah, after some grit it shows the "horse shoe" and the top bar are brass (it's very faint, but yellow for sure!) , but the middle bar is copper! Almost lucky!

I suppose I just order a suitable bar of brass from Alibaba for 4,- and figure out a way to replace it!



Well, that was easy!