Electroforming an Iris Seed Pod

Step 1: Equipment and Materials

18-amp Digital Rectifier
1000mL Pyrex Beaker
Lacquer
Conductive Paint
2-Part Epoxy
1 quart Bright Copper Electroforming Solution
Copper Anode
22ga Copper Wire
Paint Brush
Tweezers
Copper Rod/Tubing
Latex Gloves
Baking Soda
Scotch-Brite Pad
Water
Liver of Sulfur
Brass Brush

Comments

[skuntze]

This looks like a wonderful project, but where do you find all of those needed items? Digital rectifiers, conductive paints, electroforming solutions and liver of sulphur, some of these sound like scary contraptions! Hehehe! Thanks you for you help.

[static]

"digitsl rectifier" threw me for a while untill I seen it's nothing but s DC power supply with digital read out for voltage and ampres. Then again digital mighr mean micro precessor control The most readily available inexpensive power supplt would be a garage sale battery charger. The their credit http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/rect.htmhas this to say;

Most of our customers manage to plate using a 6 or 12 volt battery, or charger, and bulbs as a current control. The Caswell Plating Manual explains a variety of low cost ways to obtain and control your plating power requirements. You do have to but their $22 plating manual to get their tips, but most likely you will be buying that anyway, if you get seriously into electroplating. Looks to be an istructable that has gotten the creative juices of several flowing, in many, good job.

[richardsan]

yes! i have used the 'reverse' of this process...de-rusting steel of hand planes/tools using a trickle charger.... one can search the process online. there is a sodium silicate/ bi-silicate(?) solution required for the process.

[MaggieJs]

Rio Grande is where I bought all of my supplies, however, you can find them from many other retailers. A few other suppliers of copper conductive paint have also been listed, including
http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/cupwdr.htm

[EmilyT]

This is a great instructable! I buy the silver coated leaves for use in my jewelry making, but I'd love to make my own. Do you know what changes I would have to make to these instructions to end up with silver plated pieces? I've been trying to work it out but I'm not very scientifically minded! Thanks...

[padawanspider]

You could also use a nickel plating solution if your work permits it. You have to watch out for skin allergies with nickel, but it doesn't tarnish the way that silver does and would be less expensive.

[MaggieJs]

This is something I am wanting to do, too! I have all the necessary materials, just haven't played around with it yet. But my understanding, is you would do all of the electroforming in copper the same, but once it is done in the copper bath, you would rinse it, and then electroplate it in a silver plating solution, with a fine silver anode. The amps/volts would be much higher, and it would only be in the solution for 30 seconds or so, though I am not sure on the specific settings/timings. I think you COULD do all of the electroforming in silver, however, that would be much more expensive to get as thick of a layer as needed. So it is best/most economical to do the base in copper, get it to the right thickness, then just plate over it with silver.

[EmilyT]

I was reading on the Rio Grande website and they say the silver plating solution is for use with a silver or stainless steel anode. I have to admit I am not clear as to what role the anode plays in this case... Does the plating or forming process take metal from both the anode and the metal in the solution? So if you use a stainless steel anode and silver plating solution, is your end product a mix of the two metals? Is that a stupid question?! Thanks for your help with this... I'm really keen to give it a go...

[MaggieJs]

not a stupid question at all. I didn't fully understand it either, at first. The anode is a positively charged electrode. Without this electrical charge, no electroforming/plating would occur. When the silver is positively charged, it will gravitate towards the negatively charged object to be electroformed. If a stainless steel anode is used, it will create a positive charge on the microscopic silver particles in the electroforming bath, and those will gravitate towards the negatively charged object. No stainless steel will be transferred. So while you do not necessarily need a silver anode (or copper, or gold, etc) you would deplete the electroforming bath of its silver (copper, gold...) rather quickly without one. And then the solution would be useless.

[meatball]

you can try a silver nitrate solution i used that at school to silver-plate the copper parts of PCBs you just put the part that should be silver-plated in the solution, wait a bit, take it out, rinse it. no electric power needed :-)

[photokrush]

could you use a 10-amp rectifier? i have an older machine that is not digital, but still works pretty well. would i have to adjust the amp & voltage or would it just take longer? this is what my machine looks like...

[solidification]

yes, you could use just about any DC power supply. You could use a couple AA batteries or a 9V. You just need a source with a minimum of about 1.3v and any current. The more voltage/current however, the faster the metal will plate out of solution. (very low current might take days to see changes, where as with ideal conditions at 100 Amperes only takes seconds to see metal plate out of the solution). There is a huge dependence on the position of the anode/cathode and the electrolyte solution ( composition, pH, temperature, pressure, presence of catalytic configurations and/or wetting agents)... For hobby use, a small 3 Ampere DC power supply is fantastic. Inexpensive units may only have a dial to control a preset ratio. To take advantage of larger current draws, one would need to use strong acids/bases for the electrolyte, heat the pool, pre-wet etc. also a side note, fast is not always best. The higher the voltage used, the more rough and disturbed the surface looks.

[Sandisk1duo]

trying to sell it on Ebay?

[MaggieJs]

Yes, a 10-amp rectifier would work! Really, you could use any rectifier that can get as low as 1 amp/1volt. It does not need to be digital, however, it could be more difficult to adjust the amps/volts... I've had the luxury of only using digital, but I can't imagine it would be that much different or difficult... it should not take any longer just because it is a 10 amp, as you would set it to the same, at or around 1 amp/1volt.

[photokrush]

thanks maggiejs & solidification for the tips! i will definitely be giving this a go. i got the machine from a friend of mine & never really put it to use, so this will make them very pleased to know it's gonna get back in the game. and no alex i am not selling anything on ebay at the moment. i just found a pic that looked very similar to the one i have.

[aglaranna]

I've done electroforming in the huge bath we had at my school, but we were never taught how to do it on a small scale, so I'm definitely saving this for later! I may have to try this myself at home!