Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Repairing silver plated tea pot
October 22, 2012
Q. I am trying to repair a tea pot, which is silver plated, the substrate is brass, but knobs and handles are a different material.
Well silver plated brass part is a piece of cake! But I am not sure of knobs and handles; I would like to know the best procedure to plate it.
Silver plated ware manufacturer F.B. Rogers Silver co 18 - 83 there is a crown in the middle.
Could be zamac? I am not sure because is welded into brass.
Could be lead? Is not poisonous to be used with dinnerware?
Is not aluminum because of its weight.
Alpaca? how can I know if it is alpaca, and as far as I know it can be plated directly, am I wrong about it?
It melts easy with small amount of heat;
when immersed in pure sulfuric acid, it keeps dauntless! It does not seem to boil, just turns a little bit darker.
Could be tin?
Any help about the material and procedure to plate would be appreciated.
Thanks
- Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia
Q. Well I tried activating this material with 30% fluoboric acid and it worked well; it plated perfectly.
I know it's not Zamak because acid does not corrode it; it is some kind of lead alloy. But still do not know the composition or the best procedure to plate it -- I just did trial and error.
This tea pot is made of different materials all are plated with a thick layer of silver I think, so before proceeding I would like to know the best way to plate it.
Thanks
Daniel
- Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia
October 24, 2012
A. It's brittania metal, Cyanide copper is a great pretreatment for this metal.
Regards
Anders Sundman
4th Generation Surface Engineering
Consultant - Arvika,
Sweden
October 29, 2012
Thanks Mr, Anders, I will check for the best procedure for pewter material then using cyanide copper. That means problem solved.
Daniel Hernandez Guerra- Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia
November 7, 2012
Q. What exactly is alpaca silver?
elizabeth wheeler- bremerton, Washington usa
September 17, 2013
A. Hi Elizabeth. Alpaca or Alpacca is nickel silver (no actual silver content).
If you can explain your situation, what motivates you to ask, we can probably offer a more targeted answer.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
September 2013
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