Copper plate a piece of brass

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hello:

I am trying to copper plate a piece of brass. I have been told that
All I need to do is make a batch of pickle (with Sparex), heat, add
a number of scrap pieces of copper and a piece of steel to
contaminate. Then, I added the brass that I want to plate. I am
not having much success. Can you help?

Thank you.

2

It helps if the pickle is old and saturated with copper, i.e., a
blue color. The copper has to be in solution for this technique to
work. Can you heat the copper scrap to black and then throw it in the
pickle? Do this a few times for the copper to dissolve in the pickle.

Alana Clearlake

3 
    I am trying to copper plate a piece of brass.  I have been
told that All I need to do is make a batch of pickle (with Sparex),
heat, add a number of scrap pieces of copper and a piece of steel
to

Use Sparex that has turned blue from use. It might help to also have
the steel in contact with the brass. Needless to say, your brass is
clean, right?

marilyn smith

4

Hi, Kevin,

Most brass will copper plate itself simply as a reasult of heating
and pickling. Try heating your brass pretty high (well short of
melting, of course) and pickling. That usually does it-- though
Nugold tends to copper-plate less readily, in my experience.

–Noel