Electroplate masking material

What is an effective, that is, easily applied and removed
masking material for gold plating on silver, silver plating on
gold??

Jim

What is an effective, that is, easily applied and removed
masking material for gold plating on silver, silver plating on
gold??

Nail polish

Jim, I use a number of things. A good one is a paint pen
available at art supply stores. They come with different
size tips that you pump to fill with paint. The nice
thing is that it dries right away, can instantly be
removed with liquid paint stripper, they cost a couple of
bucks. Another thing is fingernail polish. A third thing
is a stop off pen from gesswein, that takes longer to dry
but is more fluid and you can kind of flow it into tight
spaces. If your plating solution is hot then fingernail
polish is probably the best bet. Mark P.

Hi Jim

For masking work, we use fingernail polish. And aceatone to
remove it. It is fast and cheap. Im faily new at plating, but
it has worked for us.

Rick in KC

How bout more of the ‘Painting Pen’ . . brand name …how big…
tip material. . . so I can buy one at the local ART STORE (???..
right place?).

New about the Finger nail polish…seems its messy and not to
accurate . . need a very, very fine pen to mask what abmounts to
engraving …like built buckles… Thanks,

Jim

   How bout more of the 'Painting Pen'  . .  brand name ..how
big.. tip material. . . so I can buy one at the local ART STORE
(???.. right place?) 

I’ll get back to you with a brand name, its in the shop and I’m
not. Mark P.

  How bout more of the 'Painting Pen'  . .  brand name ..how
big.. tip material. . . so I can buy one at the local ART STORE
(???.. right place?) 

Sorry about that. The item is a UNI PAINT MARKER by
FaberCastell. Its a fairly fine line, oil base, opaque, pump tip
marker. I get it at a local art supply store. It dries as your
are applying it. The tip is not super fine and you can’t really
get it into tiny cracks. What I like is it dries fast and comes
off instantly in liquid paint stripper (from the hardware store,
the same thing as Attack but cheaper). To get in tiny areas I use
fresh fingernail polish and a saw blade. Hope that makes more
sense. Mark P.

Okay - I’m going to throw in 2 cents worth here. I’ve done a
little electroforming, which I think is probably similar. One
product I’ve used successfully as a mask is called Electro Mask
Protective Coating, made by EFS Company in Ocala, FLA.
904-873-0089. It can be thinned and the best part is that it
peels right off afterwards. I bought mine a couple of years
ago, so I have no idea how expensive it is.

You could also try asphaltum. It can be thinned and can be
applied with a brush. It cleans up with mineral spirits.

Laura

Hi

Aswell as being a jewellery designer, I am a time served
electro-plater at my Uncles firm (W.H. Saynor & Son Ltd) in
Sheffield UK. The main product is Silver plated cutlery. For
some years the use of plastic tape from “High Tech Masking
Products Ltd” in the UK. Until we tried Latex in a Toulene
thinner. After designing the method of application (dipping) and
drying (warm kiln). The productivity was increased by about 25%
and the need for finishing was greatly reduced. CAUTION: good
air extraction is essential. I even used this Latex product as a
feature on a Decanter I designed and made for my Degree show. I
was after a brightly coloured contrast, to the properties of the
silver. As the Latex has a warm soft touch to the smoot h cool
feel of the scratch finished silver.

BrianS

Do u have a brand name and a location that I can purchase the
item??

Jim