Update: 12/2 First attempt ...fail
Update: 12/2 First attempt ...fail
:sad: I just wanted to report on my first attempt to copper plate spoons that were already silver plated using the method in the above video. The gentleman in the video was plating copper on to nickel, not quite what I was doing but I proceeded anyway once I accumulated all the stuff. Here are my pictures from two runs using vinegar and salt for the solution and a fish finder battery for the power source. The spoons were all different from each other and the results were less than satisfactory. First, the eight spoons I wanted to plate.
My setup with daisy chains of spoons and copper pipe electrode.
Setup in action. Bubbling away and looking good. Ten minutes with the juice on.
Finished product after cleaning it up.
At first, some of the spoons looked good but, when I tried to start buffing them, the copper just fell off. A couple of them seemed like the silver came off and they got very pitted and it showed the metal below it and some of the copper stuck to that. A couple of them seemed to have a bit of copper sticking on just enough to discolor the original silver.
Anyway, like I said before, all the spoons were different to start with and I think that may have something to do with the erratic results. I am not giving up but, I don't think this method is correct for doing what I wanted. I hope I saved someone else the hassle of going through this. I did buy Jed Davis' book. He talks about plating silver on to brass, I believe, and there are some specific chemicals needed for that, poisonous ones. I did get some ideas from his book though like putting a switch in the wiring and stirring the solution during the process.