Is it possible to plate (pen or tank dipping) stones with precious
metals after coating with some other chemical to attract the metal.
It appears that it is possible to plate plastic (trophies, etc), why
not stone?
Any experiences or directions to books, etc. would be appreciated.
Jon
This process is called electroforming; check older issues of
lapidary journal for details.
The results that I have seen were a little too “baroque” for my own
style; yet there may be room for using this to reinforce bead
setting on the end of a fragile wire, although I have not tried this
myself.
Mark Zirinsky, Denver
’private cutter buying rough and collections’
An interesting combination found in nature is magnetite crystals in
black jade (from California). The crystals hardly show at all unless
you turn your slab at an angle, and then you can see that they have a
slightly different black cast than the rest of the stone. After the
stone is cut and cabbed, the magnitite will attract the gold for
plating and you will end up with a beautiful almost snowflake pattern
on the surface of the cab. Rose Alene McArthur