Turn steel into copper! Simple DIY Copperplating
21 feb. 2021
49 332 Weergaven
i researched a technique to copperplate metal without using electricity. it´s pretty awesome and super easy to do yourself! just watch out when working with acid!!
here is Robert´s video:
nlworld.info/key/video/22VippetnYOHgXw
If you like what i do you can support me at:
www.patreon.com/laurakampf
For more Infos visit
www.laurakampf.com
instagram.com/laura_kampf
facebook.com/laurakampfkoeln
Festool
www.festool.de und www.festool.co.uk
www.festool.de/produkte/arbeitsplatz-organisieren/vakuum-spanntechnik/580062---vac-sys-se-2#Übersicht
Shaper Origin
www.shapertools.com/de-de/?
Ballistol
www.ballistol.de
Leatherman
www.leatherman.com/de_DE/home
Pferd
pferd.com
Hi Laura, I loved this video. Your excitement is so contagious in it, it makes me just want to see you do more just so I can get more of that energy second hand! I too wonder if there is a difference in durability between the approaches. I know you said you're in it for the looks, but you also don't want the plating to wear off the chair after 1 hour of use, right. On the other hand, I could see you getting into wearing some of it down and going for a distressed look, so there's that...
Awsome !
Interesting, Pinterest just started pushing electroplating onto me (probably because I looked for conductive paint recipes) This does look way easier as long as your object is already made from metal.
Yes, it needs to be steel...which is conductive eitherway. This technique is more for visual effects
That's incredible! Wow! (For a moment there near the beginning, I thought you were going to copper coat the Coleman gas stove.)
Very cool! Big fan of copper as well. Is that 85% formic acid or 8.5%?
It’s 85%
Love your boiling bowl the front of a front loader washing machine being recycled :) 🙌🏽
1 semi-related trick I picked up in blacksmithing class is you can hit hot steel with a cheap brass wire brush on an angle grinder or dremel to bond the brass onto the steel.
It would be great if you could ask your friend chemist for recipe of steel blackening solution
Yes please 100%
Wonder if it would work with copper sulphate (easy to get and cheap where I live...) And also does anyone know if this method is food safe and may be used in stainless steel ? or the stainless will prevent it ?
This type of chemical deposition was once commonly used to deposit silver onto glass for making all kinds of silver mirrors. This is rarely used now because vapor deposition of aluminum is preferred for nearly all purposes. (Aluminum mirrors are more chemically resistant and have a higher reflectivity than silver.) The effect works because the dissolved metal is oxidized in solution, but deposits when it gets reduced. To do it on glass a reducing agent (conventionally, sugar is used with silver) needs to be in the solution. For metal on metal, it would depend on the chemistry of the metals. Some metals will reduce other metals and get oxidized themselves. (This is probably why the steel corrodes fast in contact with the solution.) Incidentally, don't make it the way Laura did. She put the flask she made her solution in on the bottom of the water bath. As the purpose of the water bath is to prevent the flask the solution is being made in getting hotter than boiling water, putting it on the bottom of the water bath allows heat to go into the flask from the container the bath is in without going through the water first, so the temperature isn't limited. It probably won't do anything too bad in this case, but in general, you don't want to defeat your double boiler when a double boiler is called for. There needs to be a platform to allow water to freely circulate between the flask and the container the bath is in.
Your excitement is infectious! :D Looks super cool.
I watch Robert's videos too. :)
I wonder if you could get away with adding a little surfactant to the water/acid/copper solution? It seems to be bubbling up under surface tension. With the result of getting a more even distribution when you brush it on.
meh that countr where you can get balistol in grocery stores xD
So definitely want to try this but where do you buy the ingredient??
I love this. I especially love the zinc/copper chair!!
XT 500 - yeah baby!
very nice !! thx Laura !!!
If I didn't misundersand, the acid makes the oxide to go on and on. For wiping after you have the desired effect, maybe you could try with a solution of water and bicarbonate (baking powder), this basic solution just "kills" the acid. I'm Spanish, so I'm not sure if I understood everything, so, if I'm talking bullcheese, just ignore it. Thanks Laura for your videos
You have just entered the dark art of Patination. :) You can get any color from white to black and yellows, reds, greens and blues. I've even seen a Patina done in a mottled silver. Robert Murray smith is a brilliant teacher, and very much into making things out of re-used parts. He's been working on Vertical Wind Turbines most of the last year. But he is a Chemist by training.
If you are using a diy copper sulfate and sulfuric acid solution for copper electroplating, it will do the same as the solution in this video when you paint it on a steel surface. A a very similar solution was used by machinists for layout before Dykem Layout Fluid existed.
Dear Laura, today I liked all your videos. I mean all the videos which I hadn't liked before, to support your channel! 😍
good~
Now, we have Laura Khimestry, a dangerous Kamp.
Perfect ! Does il work on inox too ?!
I'm curious how well it prevents the formation of rust on the steel. Only time will tell!
There's one more reason to copper plate your gas tank - ideally months inside too, but that might be more difficult. Copper never generates sparks.
You could neutralize the acid with baking soda and water to stop the reaction.
Dxn طبيعية 100 ٪ تساعد الجسم على التشافي الذاتي بإذن الله من جميع الأمراض حتى الذي عجز عنها الطب لا تجعل كلام الطبيب يدخل اليأس إليك الله الشافي قادر أن يشفيك كما ابتلاك
Wow that chair looks amazing! Looks a bit like a map from the Aegean Sea/Islands in the Mediterranean!
😆😚😅 can the solution be spray gunned? Instead of brushing on?😉😉😉
Robert is amazing
Пока смотрел, пришла идея. Если на ровную пластину положить мокрую мятую тряпку, может получиться красивый рисунок....
Cool,vielen Dank für den Tip !!!
Awesome, thanks for sharing!
Is there also a way for a similar brass plating technique? That’s what I am looking for (also for motorcycle parts 😉) and brass is not too far from copper 🤔.
I love that you love finding stuff out, experimenting and sharing with is all. Thank you
Instead of Camouflages we now have Copperflages!!!
It is funny how these OLD techniques keep popping up as This new amazing thing. LOL! Keep in mind that you have the internet now and can usually find out how to accomplish many things in different ways by doing a search for it. So if you have an idea and do not know how to do it search it and see if it has already been done! This on is seriously OLD and is some industrial processing books from the early 1900s. One thing to keep in mind is that the layer of Copper is VERY thin doing it chemically with an ion transfer like that and will not be nearly as thick as is possible using electroplating! That being said any surface that will receive abrasion will ware through very easily.
LET COPPER PLATE
Thank you very much
I wonder if it would react to leather that was dyed with vinegroon; steel wool dissolved in vinegar? Probably not, but it would be interesting to see.
There's a NLworld channel called Great Idea, where a Russian motorcycle was restored. The restorer copper plated an object, like you did, and then neutralized the plated object in a solution of baking soda.
Like too see how it holds up under a clear coat. And if clear sticks to it
Cool process
As a stained glass artist, I use this all the time for getting my lead solder to go 'copper' and then I just add a copper frame.
this is one of the most interesting videos i've seen in awhile. That chair is gorgeous.
Thank you!
This could work nicely as some sort of dipping solution so it would look more uniform 🤔
Fantastic video! Any idea yet on durability? Would the electroplating method be better for some applications verses the chemical solution?
Yes it will be! Unless you clear coat it the chemical method will not be anywhere as thick as can be made with electroplating many layers.
Just inspiring 😉👍🏻
That stencil was incredible!
You can do the same thing with electroplating as well.
Could it plate over graphite?
@Laura Kampf I'll have to add that to the pile of future projects 🙂. The real reason I asked was another channel I follow was experimenting with plating 3D printed lattice structures based on work done in a research paper. One of the biggest stumbling blocks he ran into was lack of access to an equivalent chemical plating solution. I thought this might help.
Try it
Priiiiima ist es😍 thanks for sharing it thoroughly
I recently discovered that you can laminate stainless steel by immersing it in copper sulfate with salt and ordinary water (copper sulfate and salt in the same proportions), adding some bronze (coins, pipes, etc), after immersing the stainless steel you should rub it with some bronze and it creates a reaction that laminates the steel little by little. No acid, so is less toxic. I use copper sulfate, salt and water to engrave, you can engrave on copper, aluminum, zinc and steel (although it takes longer), it is called mordant, taught by Nik Semenoff and Cedric Green, great artists.
WOW!!! One day and 3.3K likes! Is that some kind of record?
Am I the only one whose ears almost fell off by the different volume levels in the beginning of the video? Okay, but luckily that's my only complaint here. 😉 The video and the process were awesome! That's really a cool *solution* (pun intended). 🧪 So thanks for staying curious, finding that cool trick and sharing it 👍
could you do it on a hand plane , i guess it would be awesome , i know im gonna do it isa :))
Love your excitement and enthusiasm! It’s infectious!
Cool stuff, will it stop bare steel from forming its own oxide layer?
I'm so glad you showed using a mask. The moment I saw you brushing stuff on I started thinking how AWESOME stuff would look with a mask and BOOM THERE IT IS.
Oh, I'm loving this. Totally doing this!!!!
I guess if copper work, we could platted brass adding a layer of zinc and heated it...?
@Abbé Bumfight As long as you are not using something so abrasive that it CAN actually scratch the surface you have nothing to worry about on that subject! With the chemical application when the coating is sufficient to prevent the chemicals from coming in contact with the steel, it will not longer lay down any more copper. With Electroplating, as long as you have current you can apply more and more copper. So long as your applicator is not hard enough to scratch copper you will not leave any scratches, and the only ones you will see are those that are already present in the steel so start with a polished surface if you desire no scratches. You can also electroplate over the chemical application to thicken the copper layer after using it to get a head start as long as you clean the surface well. The application of electroplate by rubbing is slow, it would be faster in an immersion plating tank as the plating goes on continuously as long as the item is submerged in the solution and current is applied. This is not something a hobbyist is likely to do as the expense of the initial set up is prohibitive.
@Mike's Micro Shop yes i saw, but it seems not as thick and satisfying as it could be by electro plating And i’m afraid of the traces (scratches) that it could leave on the object
You can plate Brass by heating the metal and rubbing a brass brush on it. Needs to be very hot so be careful. It is called brassing. nlworld.info/key/video/pXx3k5zIe6Z8aow
Does it work with Aluminium too? Funktioniert diese Technik auch mit Aluminium?
Next Sunday Laura will show us baking machine … you put bras chips in and gold nuggets fall out 😂😍
And that's how Laura started producing Meth. 😁😁😁. Break Bad ehhh 🧐 Great video as always my friend!
Nice! Bekommt man das Rezept irgendwo her?
Ist alles im video
Very exciting stuff! I'm curious if there is any way to allow the copper to develop that great blue/green patina over time with this process or if it's too thin of a layer to reach that state. May be worth exploring! As always, absolutely incredible video and can't wait to see what comes next!
nlworld.info/key/video/u4N1dLG8b5Cmip4
There are two copper oxides: copper(I) oxide (or cuprous oxide, Cu₂O), and copper(II) oxide (or cupric oxide, CuO). Based solely on its appearance, I'm guessing it's CuO. It's probably really important which one you use.
So Cool!
I think i would be interesting if it could also work with others metals such as aluminum, bronze or brass maybe. Or if it shows simular results as with zinc
Do the brush strokes blend and disappear after the application?
If your plating goes brown from tarnish, you might try restoring it with a dilute solution of oxalic acid. I used this about 35 years ago to restore the copper doors on my vintage 50's oven. Wipe it on and copper oxide almost instantly gets reduced back to elemental copper. I love your prototyping and builds. Keep on doing what you've been doing.
Spraying it on would probably give you some really cool effects
🇨🇦. WOW!!!!!!! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 ❤️
Can you polish it up to get a good shine?
Is this copper (i) oxide or copper (ii) oxide?
MAGIC!
if it's flat object, why not just dip it? (submerge it)
Very cool! Alchemy
Hast Du auch ein "Rezept" für Messing anstatt Kupfer?
This is so cool. I was excited to watch the tampon electroplating of the motorcycle tank and this is even more exciting. Are the two methods equally durable? Great video!
Does this process rust proof the steel as well?
Very cool! This reminds me of when I dropped a slightly rusted pen nib into some vinegar that was on my bench, forgetting that it had some copper and stuff dissolved in it. It cold-blued the nib a really nice even black colour, and I've never been able to replicate it since!
Very Very Cool! It looks so amazing!
My (simplistic) understanding is that iron (and steel) are higher in the reactivity series for metals than copper. So if you dissolve copper in acid it will stay dissolved unless the acid finds an "easier" more reactive metal to "reduce". When you paint the dissolved copper solution onto the steel, the acid releases the copper from solution as it reacts more strongly to the iron. I don't know what happens next, I assume the copper ions diffuse into the steel surface. If you don't wipe off the solution, the acid will continue to eat away at that surface and effectively oxidise or rust it. Best way to stop that is to neutralise it with something like bicarb of soda. Err, I think... Looks very pretty though.
That's quite cool. Would it be possible to spray the solution on?
Oh this is amazing! I love it when an "aha" moment happens, so many possibilities! Thanks Laura!
Looks like a very basic for of copper etching
What about the copper layer thickness? Does the "chemical" version crate the same thickness compared to the electro-plating? Would be too bad if parts that get touched regulary soon look like steel again...
No! You can build up layers electroplating, not so with the chemical method as it covers the surface of the steel and will not allow the solution to react with it again.
Hi Laura, could the solution be applied from a spray bottle to get a more even coat? And what about hosing off the solution when you have the desired effect rather than wiping it off. Would that work?
electrolyt-redox-plating. genius.
Awesome. Now, to find a chemist who can figure out the same sort of thing to "paint" copper plating on plastics. Once you have a conductive layer of copper, you can plate whatever else you want on top. Well, maybe I should say "an easy and affordable way" I am aware there are ways to do it. But it either involves coating the object with a conductive primer, or very expensive rare metal catalysts.
You should also try if you can get the copper plating to oxidize/corrode, and if that could be used as a finish. Copper oxide (tenorite) is black (like can be seen in this video), but that reacts further, and turns into that green patina (verdigris) that everyone knows. Could take a long time for that to form though, maybe you could accelerate it somehow?
This solution will do a great job for all the visiual things. I guess the only downside is, it won't be as thick as with electroplating. When you hit steel with the solution it will form one nice layer of copper. But the next application won't cause another layer to form. With electroplating you can form multiple layers and thus make the plating more resistant, especially if you want to polish it up afterwards.
Pleas make the music quieter, it’s SUBSTANTIALLY louder than your voice 😵🙉
does it works in aluminum?
Laura: if you're keeping your extra solution in a jar, could you follow up and let us know how long it stays shelf-stable? I'm wondering if the copper will precipitate out of the solution over time.
I’m definitely giving this a go!
Like it! A safty tip if you boil a solution like this. Always put a glas stick or some glas beads into the beaker. This prevents a blowout from deferred boiling which could spray the acid a few meters around. The glas gives a "seed" for gas bubbles to form unlike the smooth surface of the beaker so the liquid can not overheat without boiling.
Could you do this with silk screening?
Silk screen will not likely work as the mask needs to adhere to the surface to prevent the solution from running under the edges of the mask.