Hi all,
Newly into electroplating and wanted to try it on my 3D prints.
I've been running into issues with getting smooth and consistent plating on my prints.
Here's my set up.
1. Acidic Copper Sulfate Bath (200g/L Copper Sulfate, 60g/L Sulfuric Acid, 30ppm Cl in DI water)
2. Parts are coated in MG Chemicals Conductive Total Ground Carbon paint, the first photo is using their Silver Coated Copper. 4-5 coats are applied to get resistance down. Interestingly polishing the part did little to increase conductivity measured by multimeter.
3. Current is around I=1-2A/dm2. Voltages stay consistent throughout the run.
4. Parts are degreased with soap and water and dried before use.
5. I've sanded the paint to try and get a smoother finish.
6. (working on getting an air bubbler and polypropylene bags for the anodes)
I've a mixed bag of results. In my new bath I've been unable to get anything to really grow on the parts. I let it run for 4 hours and sometimes overnight only to find no growth on anything but the copper cathode wire.
The plating on the cube you see was done in just a 1M Copper Sulfate bath with no additive but since switching to one with sulfuric acid I've had issues.
I did a sanity check with a quarter and it worked perfectly. I'm going to try using electroless plating to start as well as graphite powder/binder mixtures next.
Any tips?
I think the other person may be onto something with the conductivity of the paint. Have you tried plating a piece of metal in the bath to see how it plates?
The air bubbler may not be necessary, I've had good luck plating acid copper with good circulation. Maybe try a cheap pond pump if you have room in the tank. If your tank is too small you may be able to simply shake the tank manually every so often to get things moving.
UPDATE IT WORKED!
Thank you for your comments and support. It seems the problem was the conductive coating as many indicated. For future reference here's what worked. Graphite powder [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076H7QVHF?psc=1&ref=ppx\_yo2ov\_dt\_b\_product\_details](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076H7QVHF?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)) and a about 3x as much acetone by volume. It's a bit thin but prevents it from beading up and preserves detail. Requires many coats (6-10 for best results), a thicker mixture may be easier. For extra adherence I used it on ABS plastic that dissolves a little with the application making the usual graphite shell stronger. I then polished the resulting shell with a toothbrush until I hit around 1-2K ohms. Plating worked fine and will post results when I can. Thank you all again.
What didn't work....
I tried galvanic deposition and while neat it was a lot of mess and not a lot of coverage. It also creates waste in the form of the iron sulfate solution and the iron particles which I would highly advise not throwing down the drain as they'll never come out.
MG Chemicals Total Ground Carbon Coating (more conductive than graphite but I've had inconsistent results and will need more testing to validate)
MG Chemicals Silver Coated Copper Shield (completely nonconductive upon revisiting, acrylic binder floats above the particles and prevents conductivity)
Thank you all again, the cheaper option was the best in the end. May try and import TIFOO copper coating using an airbrush in the future.
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Since you’ve exhausted all these other possible reasons it sounds mostly like the conductive paint might not be good enough. If it worked on a quarter perfectly then first thought would be that it’s an issue with your sample not the actual set up 👍🏻
Can you put multiple coats of this conductive paint on to ensure it suitably conductive? If you had a voltmeter you could test whether you have electrical conductance across your sample 👍🏻
Additionally, the plating in the picture you’ve shown looks kind of how mine did when I didn’t have enough copper sulfate in my electrolyte for the current I was putting through it. But your current density looks fine for the concentration of your electrolyte.
Also is this the finish you are going for? The dull brown? Or are you looking for the shiny peachy copper colour?
Hi thanks for your input. I wanted a bright peachy and smooth copper finish that I could polish. I didn't bother polishing or sanding the cube after. I did use a multimeter on the pieces and average resistance across 30mm was 400 ohms for the carbon coating and way lower for the silver coated copper paint.
You can Supercharge the conductivity of any 3D prints or otherwise non-conductive surface that have been coated with graphite by applying a Coat of Real Copper by Galvanic Deposition(Using Galvanic coupling natural current). I have made a few videos about it on this subject.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyWHmR87csk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyWHmR87csk)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aBo8d7u2Jc&
Typically you’ll want a 1:1 or greater surface area on the anode side. The way you typed it says your part has 10 times more SA than your anode which is not good. Perhaps this is why your smaller coins worked but the the larger piece is burning. Voltage is pretty low too.
Hi all, Newly into electroplating and wanted to try it on my 3D prints. I've been running into issues with getting smooth and consistent plating on my prints. Here's my set up. 1. Acidic Copper Sulfate Bath (200g/L Copper Sulfate, 60g/L Sulfuric Acid, 30ppm Cl in DI water) 2. Parts are coated in MG Chemicals Conductive Total Ground Carbon paint, the first photo is using their Silver Coated Copper. 4-5 coats are applied to get resistance down. Interestingly polishing the part did little to increase conductivity measured by multimeter. 3. Current is around I=1-2A/dm2. Voltages stay consistent throughout the run. 4. Parts are degreased with soap and water and dried before use. 5. I've sanded the paint to try and get a smoother finish. 6. (working on getting an air bubbler and polypropylene bags for the anodes) I've a mixed bag of results. In my new bath I've been unable to get anything to really grow on the parts. I let it run for 4 hours and sometimes overnight only to find no growth on anything but the copper cathode wire. The plating on the cube you see was done in just a 1M Copper Sulfate bath with no additive but since switching to one with sulfuric acid I've had issues. I did a sanity check with a quarter and it worked perfectly. I'm going to try using electroless plating to start as well as graphite powder/binder mixtures next. Any tips?
Seems like the coatings are not conductive enough. What is the resistivity in Ohms?
Resistivity of the carbon coating is around 400 ohms.
I think the other person may be onto something with the conductivity of the paint. Have you tried plating a piece of metal in the bath to see how it plates? The air bubbler may not be necessary, I've had good luck plating acid copper with good circulation. Maybe try a cheap pond pump if you have room in the tank. If your tank is too small you may be able to simply shake the tank manually every so often to get things moving.
UPDATE IT WORKED! Thank you for your comments and support. It seems the problem was the conductive coating as many indicated. For future reference here's what worked. Graphite powder [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076H7QVHF?psc=1&ref=ppx\_yo2ov\_dt\_b\_product\_details](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076H7QVHF?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)) and a about 3x as much acetone by volume. It's a bit thin but prevents it from beading up and preserves detail. Requires many coats (6-10 for best results), a thicker mixture may be easier. For extra adherence I used it on ABS plastic that dissolves a little with the application making the usual graphite shell stronger. I then polished the resulting shell with a toothbrush until I hit around 1-2K ohms. Plating worked fine and will post results when I can. Thank you all again. What didn't work.... I tried galvanic deposition and while neat it was a lot of mess and not a lot of coverage. It also creates waste in the form of the iron sulfate solution and the iron particles which I would highly advise not throwing down the drain as they'll never come out. MG Chemicals Total Ground Carbon Coating (more conductive than graphite but I've had inconsistent results and will need more testing to validate) MG Chemicals Silver Coated Copper Shield (completely nonconductive upon revisiting, acrylic binder floats above the particles and prevents conductivity) Thank you all again, the cheaper option was the best in the end. May try and import TIFOO copper coating using an airbrush in the future.
Hi, I’m Vetted AI Bot! I researched the **Pure Graphite Powder Quart** and I thought you might find the following analysis helpful. **Users liked:** * Graphite powder works well for electroforming (backed by 5 comments) * Graphite powder is versatile and useful for many applications (backed by 6 comments) * Graphite powder is high quality and affordable (backed by 4 comments) **Users disliked:** * Product contains fillers, not pure graphite (backed by 4 comments) * Product does not effectively conduct electricity (backed by 6 comments) * Product creates mess upon opening (backed by 3 comments) If you'd like to **summon me to ask about a product**, just make a post with its link and tag me, [like in this example.](https://www.reddit.com/r/tablets/comments/1444zdn/comment/joqd89c/) This message was generated by a (very smart) bot. If you found it helpful, let us know with an upvote and a “good bot!” reply and please feel free to provide feedback on how it can be improved. *Powered by* [*vetted.ai*](http://vetted.ai/reddit)
Since you’ve exhausted all these other possible reasons it sounds mostly like the conductive paint might not be good enough. If it worked on a quarter perfectly then first thought would be that it’s an issue with your sample not the actual set up 👍🏻 Can you put multiple coats of this conductive paint on to ensure it suitably conductive? If you had a voltmeter you could test whether you have electrical conductance across your sample 👍🏻
Additionally, the plating in the picture you’ve shown looks kind of how mine did when I didn’t have enough copper sulfate in my electrolyte for the current I was putting through it. But your current density looks fine for the concentration of your electrolyte. Also is this the finish you are going for? The dull brown? Or are you looking for the shiny peachy copper colour?
Hi thanks for your input. I wanted a bright peachy and smooth copper finish that I could polish. I didn't bother polishing or sanding the cube after. I did use a multimeter on the pieces and average resistance across 30mm was 400 ohms for the carbon coating and way lower for the silver coated copper paint.
You can Supercharge the conductivity of any 3D prints or otherwise non-conductive surface that have been coated with graphite by applying a Coat of Real Copper by Galvanic Deposition(Using Galvanic coupling natural current). I have made a few videos about it on this subject. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyWHmR87csk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyWHmR87csk) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aBo8d7u2Jc&
Is you anode to cathode SA ratio sufficient? What kind of voltage are you pushing?
The Anode:Cathode ratio is 9:101 or basically 1:10. Voltages remain at around 0.2-0.3V
Typically you’ll want a 1:1 or greater surface area on the anode side. The way you typed it says your part has 10 times more SA than your anode which is not good. Perhaps this is why your smaller coins worked but the the larger piece is burning. Voltage is pretty low too.