Dip plating

        Hi Have any of you tried, or hea rd of,  gold plating a
metal object by dipping it in molten gold then b urnishing etc the
surface? 

There is an old non-electrolytic process of ‘dip plating’ that
involves some very poisonous chemicals. The bath u sed is made up of
1 pint distilled water, 50 grams s odium (or potassium)
pyrophosphate, 1 gram gold chloride a nd 1.5 grams potassium cyanide.
It is used at about 90 deg. C. The article is suspended from a
brass wi re, and is constantly agitated for the few seconds that it
is in the bath, then taken out, rinsed in fresh w ater, dried in warm
sawdust, and burnished if you like. A better ‘strike’ is got by first
passing the scrupulous ly clean item through a very dilute solution
of mercuric nitrate in distilled water. But, if you try this, please
look after your nervous s ystem. We don’t want you to end up either
dead or ‘mad as a hatter’.

David Kelsall

A question for Peter Rowe regarding your post of January 17, 2004 in
which you discuss “electroless plating” for gold plating.

You mention that specific solutions, different from regular plating
solutions, are used in this very simple process. Could you post
names and sources of these solutions?

Thanks,
Bill