Hello JR,
The Florida Society of Goldsmiths latest issue of the quarterly
newsletter has an article by a member, Karen Tweedie, about setting
up a studio plating system, including pictures. You can read it for
free at our website.
FSG4U – JEWELRY THAT WILL MAKE YOU SHINE [PDF file]
Jean Marie DeSpiegler
FSG4U.com
Jean Marie, thanks for the interesting plating article reference. It
was informative.
Also thanks to Joe Lavato at Legor for the very helpful offline
response. I am looking forward to trying the Legor products, which
have been sitting unopened for almost 2 years.
I have had some good results as well as some poor ones. Like casting
there seem to be many variables that can lead to a less than
desirable outcome.
I guess there will be a lot of trial and error, just like everything
else.
What is the process if pieces don’t come out good enough? Back to
square one, manually removing the plating and starting over?
Another question which probably is hard to quantify is how long a
plating solution like Cyanide based 14K gold will last? I assume the
coverage and color degrades somehow.
Also what are the signs of contamination in the solutions? Haven’t
done any Rhodium plating yet, but they suggest a filter system for
specifically for Rhodium.
Lot of questions, lucky to have Orchid.
JR Newton