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I'm trying to electroplate ABS and am having some limited success but mostly not getting what I think I should. From what I read, it does take some experimentation and care but it's not brain surgery. I don't know enough about it to know when something is going correctly and likewise, I can't find the answers to the questions I have on the web. Anyone here experimenting with plating?
Haven't tried ABS, but there's a few different methods for plating non-conductive/organic materials.
-coat the object with a conductive paint (something that will stick to ABS) dry, then plate w/Cu
-coat the object with silver nitrate sol'n, gas with H2S until black & plate immediately w/Cu (dangerous, but finer detail)
-coat the object with lacquer/paint, dust with conductive metal powder while tacky, dry & plate w/Cu
Most plating starts with a copper (Cu) strike bath & then plate with "whatever" metal bath after
What is the benefits of electroplating? Is it so that paint sticks better? I'm sorry I'm a newbie when it comes to this stuff.
Check this picture...Quote:
Originally Posted by frederick78
Attachment 1075
electroplating plastic is awesome. The only problem is, plastic isnt conductive - so when you do the plating process it doesn't stick, but I read on reprap forums that the conductive ABS is enough to make the bond.