Help with C.A.P. (Cathode Arc Plating)

[GAHD]

One of my recent interests in plating of materials.

 

The Problem: Chemical Wash Electroplating isn't exactly something you can do in your backyard, or atleast something *I* don't want to play with quite yet (nasty, nasty chemicals...).

 

The Solution: Cathode Arc Plating. Does not involve nasty chemicals(which I don't like), and does use lots of High Voltage Electricity (which is fun! :))

 

The problem with the solution: I can't find any refrences or specks on designing a C.A.P. chamber. (I mean gees, the tech came around in 2001, why isn't it everywhere?)

 

 

The process itself seems straight-forward, very similar to Arc Welding infact, just with more cathodes...and bigger Arcs. I'm wondering if I can just rig-up a few tesla coils to act as the cathodes, or would this be a good time to disassemble a few 'spare' arc welders and pillage the electronics?

 

A little help? please? With Shugar? And a 'Cookie'?

[Turtle]

One of my recent interests in plating of materials.

 

A little help? please? With Shugar? And a 'Cookie'?

 

___I don't know about the arc plating, but I have done electroplating for fun in my house before. With only salt in the electrolyte & low voltage, I plated a silver spoon with copper. I always mix up the anode/cathode in my mind's eye, but simply use an electrode of the metal you want to deposit (as pure a metal as possible) on the appropriate pole & away you go. You only need a container large enough to hold the article you wish to plate, so for small jewelry for example, a cut off gallon jug is plenty big.

___What do you want to plate & with what metal? Sounds fun!:)

[GAHD]

A little more reserch later...CAP doen't necessiairly have more Cathodes, (the object to be plated) But it 'can' with a mechanical spinner...I finally found out that CAP really relies on is multiple Anodes(and thus multiple arcs) to enshure even coatings of the plating.

 

What do i want to plate? now there's a qustion. For starters I'd like to plate every stainless steel mug i've got with silver: the ultimate natural antibacterial. For that, I'd apparently need to use Cyanide as the bath to dissolve and migrate the Au.

 

I also want to plate a few S.M.T. chips(that'll have to be acid plated, High Wattage+SMT=pop) and run gold traces in a circuit board that's currently in prototyping and I'd like to try to do production on. For plating gold I've found I would need a solution like Aqua Regia empregnated with Ag, which releases quite a few poisonous gasses.

 

Next is Chromium and nickel, together they make the 'double(triple)chrome plating' That goes on crankshafts, Grills, Rims, and other such things. Mostly chrome plating is for show, but if it's built up correctly it's apparently also useful for decreasing wear&tear on mechanical parts (because it's smooth and holds oil well). To plate those I've been told i'd need Boric Acid and nickel Chloride (for the Ni layer(s), of course) and Sulphuric acid with chromic acid(for the chromium layer(s)).

 

That's not exactly the hardest to obtain in shopping lists, but it can be expensive and dangerous, plus it's not exactly eco-friendly(Hazmat wastes).

 

That's why i'm looking into Cap: The only pollution I need worry about is linked to the power consumption, and as an added bonus it's faster too!

 

But thanks on the copper tip! I didn't know you could plate with Salt Water, I thought you could only use Sodium Cyanide with Copper Sulphate!

 

I'll let you guys know if I find anything else on the subject, but I'm still holding out hope somebody else has some first-hand experience or is a better googler than I.

[Turtle]

What do i want to plate? now there's a qustion. For starters I'd like to plate every stainless steel mug i've got with silver: the ultimate natural antibacterial. For that, I'd apparently need to use Cyanide as the bath to dissolve and migrate the Au.

 

But thanks on the copper tip! I didn't know you could plate with Salt Water, I thought you could only use Sodium Cyanide with Copper Sulphate!

 

I'll let you guys know if I find anything else on the subject, but I'm still holding out hope somebody else has some first-hand experience or is a better googler than I.

 

___How's the plating coming? On the stainless steel cup, I don't know how well plating it with silver will work, but I once put a stainless steel spoon in as the anode & disolved it to a ragged clump of "stuff":hihi:

___In my experiments electroplating with low voltage, there is no arc drawn so I don't know any thing about that making an advantage. To plate with silver, you only need a siver anode & a conductive electrolyte, i.e. you do not need silver in solution in the electrolyte. The same is true of copper & gold plating; use the metal you want to deposit as the anode.

___:)