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Decorative Plating Problem

 

Gentlemen,

I have been in the decorative plating business for quite a few years, bumpers and jobbing. I do have considerable knowledge and experience polishing and plating. I was just recently hired to do bumpers at a shop that has been doing jobing. The tanks are more than adequate to handle bumpers. But the problem that I have here is that they are using a brass strike before going into the acid copper. I know that brass is a cyanide based solution. I have been so used to a cyanide copper strike. The problem we are having is blistering. The bumpers look great before buffing, but when I start buffing the blisters start jumping out at you. One or two blisters creates a bumper that has to be reworked again.

Question, is this because of the brass strike.

Thanks,

Donald V. Dacy
- Stockton, California, USA

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I've never heard of using a brass strike before acid copper plating and, personally, I'd suspect it as being the culprit until someone authoritatively tells you otherwise.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
 

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Just a thought - you are loading 'live'. (i.e., put the power to the approx. voltage and put a fly lead (we use car jump leads) to the job before it hits the solution).

Martin Trigg-Hogarth
surface treatment shop - Stroud, Glos, England