Hello everyone,
I recently tried out 3d printing and produced this bangle :
I would like to find some way to put a silver coating on it (or any
other metal for that matter) to give it a metallic finish. The
material is nylon and it was printed by selective laser sintering
(SLS).
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what processes I might look
into?
thank you,
Jessica
You can have it plated with either wet chemistry or vapor deposition
processes. It will probably be easier to find someone to do the wet
plating. It needs to be made conductive either by painting it with
copper or silver paint or there are electro-less plating processes
where the surface is treated with a catalyst then copper is deposited
by chemical reaction with the catalyst. It is then electroplated to
build a heavier coating.
James Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts
You could look into an electroplater who specializes in plating on
nonconductive materials. They’ll coat your piece with a conductive
coating and then plate on top of that. It’s the method used to
“bronze” baby shoes.
Maybe someone like this?
Also, Physical Vapor Deposition is a common way to coat plastics
with metals, but I don’t know if you will find someone willing to do
a single item.
Good luck!
Harry
www.harryhamilldesigns.com
Wow, that’s lovely! Couldn’t you print it in wax and have it cast in
silver?
Helen
UK