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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
- Pine Beach, NJ
a public forum for
Metal Finishing Q&As
since 1989
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Cyanide Gold plating Q&A
Q. I have gold cyanide bath, I have some questions about it --
1- the pH 8 , and the result is bad from inside like tiny black pores, so I raised the pH to higher level 10.5. The problem is almost gone and the color became good from inside and outside, yet I heard this kind of pH is wrong for gold cyanide bath ... so why this is happening and how high pH like mine could cause to the bath in long run and what is the best way?
2- is there a way to know how to get 1 micron without any tools, like for example put the jewelry inside bath for 4 min on 2.7 volt for example ?
3- my most important question , i heard there is organic Additives and Brighteners for Gold Plating Baths, what is it and do I need to use it inside gold bath or create second bath for it
- algeria, algiers
June 30, 2024
A. Hello Gray, the ph for a cyanide gold bath is fine where you adjusted it to. I don't know what your gold concentration is in the bath, so I can't say whether you can achieve a micron thickness or how it would look. Hard acid gold baths have brightening agents which also alloy the deposit. Color golds sometimes known as flash golds (cyanide based), rely on the under plate or substrate for brightness. I don't know of any brighteners for cyanide baths. You may want to look at installing acid gold formulations and ditch the cyanide. Hope this helps.
Mark Bakerretired from electroplating - Cazenovia, New York USA
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