The authoritative public forum
  for Metal Finishing since 1989
-----

Plating brass with palladium

I am interested in plating brass earrings/pendents with palladium (supposedly hypoallergenic). Can anyone help with a fairly simple process as I know very little of electroplating? Thanks in advance.

Paul Kuon
- Lafayette, Louisiana
1999

---

Hi, Paul.

Electroplating can turn out to be a poor hobby or microbusiness: you have to learn a lot of tedious, boring details about hazards, proper disposal, licensing, testing, and standards before you can safely and effectively start working with these chemicals. The basic chemistry of palladium plating is covered in the Metal Finishing Guidebook, but it will leave you short of where you should be before you start buying chemicals and assuming responsibility for them forever, no matter how much you pay to dispose of them.

Plating is an industry which is very jobshop oriented though. You'll find that there are shops out there who know how to plate your earrings with palladium and will be pleased to offer you their services. But if you really want to be in the plating business, maybe a summer job in the industry would let you know whether you really want to invest the time and effort into it? Good luck!

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