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I have a question: Does anybody have experience using electrolysis to copper-plate aluminum? We have had success with smaller items...but it's a battle getting them coated. I'm looking for suggestions on voltage and maybe an idea of what the proportions of copper sulfate to acid should be as the electrolyte. My next step in the process if to attempt to plate the cam cover, which is a larger item than we have had success with, and have already failed once at it. It appeared to have plated, but turned black upon emerging from the solution and washed clean with a dish-sponge. Some copper did stick, I bead-blasted it earlier today and a thin tint of copper did survive multiple passes. I'm currently thinking less acid, more voltage.
I use a vinegar bath to remove fire scale from steel blades after forging. I recently put a couple in a jar tainted with a small amount of copper by accident. The blades came out well plated after 24 hrs without any current. Since then I have done a several steel pieces by simply suspending in vinegar with a coil of copper wire in the bottom.
I believe there is a small current generated in the process, think a lemon powered clock. I don't know if it would work with aluminium, but it might be worth a try.
Oh wow, and that worked on bare steel, eh? Did you try polishing the blades that were plated, and if so do you have any pics of the results? Oh, thanks for the reply btw. ;D
The majority of this info is well documented on the web, and is pretty common in the art/metal sculpting community to obtain patinas and coloration on different surfaces. The majority of my research has come from turn of the 20th century ebooks off google books.
First step in the experiment is to get copper heavy vinegar. The most efficient way is to produce verdigris (coppuric sulfate). By suspending coils or plates of copper over a pool of vinegar you allow the acetic acid vapor to mix with the surface of the copper indirectly producing a copper sulfate scale.
A lot of the copper salts end up draining back into the vinegar, loading it with copper and turning it blue.
The first pic is a piece of mild steel (slug from an electrical panel with the zinc removed), and a 1085 carbon steel nail. Both were given a quick sanding, but it works on a polished piece too. These are known variables. I do this in my little lab quite a bit.
The next is a scrap of extruded aluminum. This is a first, so we'll see.
I usually suspend the piece from a copper wire, and add enough vinegar to completely cover the piece. In addition I throw some scrap wire in the bottom, just for giggles. No idea if it helps. for this experiment the pieces are just laying on the bottom.
After three minutes the surface has already started to take a copper hue. At this point the copper on the steel is attached pretty good. When I pulled the aluminum out for the pictures, the copper rubbed off on my fingers. We'll have to see if it gets better in time.
Interesting topic. Everything you are explaining is exactly what I have been going through. Sometimes the copper just wipes right off.
I have been messing around with copper plating as well. I like the aged patined look. I still have not got this down quite yet. Have tried plating my spokes which didn't turn out well but took the finish off of them and gave them an aged look as well. And then I did the brake linkage. Came out blotchy but I actually kinda like it. I wasn't looking for perfection but one day I will be wanting a nice solid plate that will polish up nice and last.
It's definitly a science on how much copper sulfate and acid to use as well as the current.
This is by no means as exact a process as electroplating. It is however an ancient form of plating that has been documented in Japanese and Egyptian texts over 1000 years old. I would assume a trickle charger style home rolled electrolysis set up could be added to this process to improve the results, but I have only ever used it to plate coin sized pieces for other hobbies. One Japanese source shows what appears to be a citric acid battery used in this way.
The verdigris can also be used in a wide variety of pigment applications. Just take the coil of copper out, let it air dry, and scrape of the powdered verdigris. It can then be mixed in with paint, lacquer, varnish, etc... There are some great youtube chemistry videos on using this process to refine copper and gold out of alloys of cheaper metals. Fun on a small scale, but you'd have to go industrial scale to make and money at it.
The finish wiping off may be due to the prep. Etching and degreasing is key. Contaminates from the cathode can be an issue to. Don't know if copper plating over chrome would be easier, or harder.?
I bead blasted my brake linkage parts and the plating stuck pretty good. The spokes I just wiped down and then plated, not so good. One thing I did notice was the spokes were really clean after I pulled them out and wiped them down. Now with what you just said, I wonder if I tried replating them maybe it would stick. I also read somewhere that plating steel is tough(?)
You might try electro-polishing the piece first. After your regular cleaning process, stick the piece in a fresh bath, maybe 70/30 distilled water water to vinegar and some salt to increase connectivity, or whatever acid solution you use. Use a steel anode, reverse the current to blow the surface coat of the piece to be plated, and wait a bit. Switch the piece to the plating bath with a copper anode, and use standard current to plate.
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