Copper Conductive Coating

Easyplate Conductive Coating This electropaint is used to make non-metallic items conductive in electroforming. Sold per single 2 oz. jar. Shake and mix paint thoroughly before using, for industrial use only. Our copper electroforming solution must be used with this product. ----------------- INSTRUCTIONS FOR EASYPLATE CONDUCTIVE PAINT This is a ready to use, laquer-based conductive coating. It is of the latest technology, made with the highest quality at the most affordable price and easy and safe to use. Always shake well and stir this product before use. Keep the cap on the jar to avoid any unnecessary evaporation. You can clean your brush and hands with lacquer thinner. If necessary, you can thin the solution with lacquer thinner. Avoid over-thinning the solution. ELECTROFORMING (1) PREPARE THE WORKPIECE Prepare the surface. Most objects should be coated with Crylon, lacquer, or plastic spray before starting. If the item to be electroformed has a loose layer of dust or dirt, then all that is needed is to wipe it off before applying the coating. If the object is a seashell, sand dollar or sea horse, and you are going to leave part of it exposed in your design, spray a coating of clear plastic or lacquer on the piece to protect it. Keep in mind that the solutions we use are made with a mild acid. This acid will attack shells and items that are porous if a coating is not put on first. Minerals that dissolve in solutions. Minerals that are in the copper family also will dissolve in the solutions. These include malachite, chrysocolla, azurite, and untreated turquoise. Fortunately most turquoise today is stabilized with plastic. The plastic keeps the acid from attacking the turquoise. Apply a mask. To electroform these items what we do is to mask the area where we are not going to electroform, and remove it when we are finished. A mask can be any coating that is an insulator. Examples of a mask are plastic spray, nail polish, lacquer, and wax. On seashells and such, the plastic spray can be left on. A mask can also be used when plating is only a part of a metal item. (2) ATTACH THE FINDING: Glue on the finding. Any finding such as up-eyes, boils, buckle backs, bola backs, or pins that are used in the finished jewelry piece are attached at this time. They can be glued in place with a craft glue such as Bond 527. Any glue that is water proof will work. Allow the glue to dry before going on to the next step. (3) MAKING THE PIECE CONDUCTIVE: Conductive Paint. Paint the Easyplate Conductive Paint on just the part that you want to grow the metal on. Keep all of the parts or lines of your design connected so the electrical current will have a continuous path. If you want to make the whole piece conductive, then paint the whole piece. IMPORTANT: JUST REMEMBER WHEREVER YOU PAINT THE CONDUCTIVE COATING ON, OR MAKE THE PIECE CONDUCTIVE, THAT IS THE ONLY PLACE ON A NON-CONDUCTIVE PIECE WHERE THE METAL WILL GROW. (4) GROWING OR ELECTROFORMING THE PIECE: Special solutions. For practical purposes it is best to start the electroforming in copper solution. Regular copper plating solutions will not work very well for electroforming. The best solutions for use are designed just for electroforming and contain brighteners to eliminate buffing the piece when it is finished. Working on the piece. Fill the tank with copper solution. Bend the small end of the copper anode and hang the anode on one side of the tank. Connect the positive lead (red wire) from the rectifier to the copper anode and attach a 6" piece of bare copper wire to the work piece. Turn on the rectifier. Connect the negative lead (black wire) to the copper wire on the work piece. Hang it on the other side of the tank. Turn the control knob on the rectifier and adjust the amp meter to read 1/10 of an amp per square inch of metal surface. The average time in the copper solution will be from about 2 to 8 hours. The longer the piece is in the tank, the thicker it will grow. If for any reason more thickness is needed, be it cosmetic or for strength, just let it grow longer. Check the work piece. After the work piece had been growing for about 30 minutes, you can lift it out of the solution to check it. If the piece looks like a shiny new copper penny, you are using the proper setting. If the piece has a salmon color, but does not have a shine, your setting is too low. If the piece is rust color or dark brown and dull, your setting is too high. Too high of a power setting will usually cause bumps as well. If the setting is much too high, the copper will crystallize and not have any strength. In most of these cases you can rub it off with your fingers. After the first few minutes in the tank, the rectifier should need no further adjustments if you used the proper settings. (5) RINSE THE WORK PIECE: Rinse. When the object has grown to the proper thickness, remove it and rinse it in water. Dry the piece with a paper towel. Turn off rectifier. Be sure to remove the anode and rinse it also, then dry the anode with a paper towel and put it away. Removing the anode. Never leave an anode in the solution when you are not using it as it will continue to dissolve. If your work piece is only to be copper, then you are finished. If not, go on to the next step. Just remember it is pure copper and it will tarnish unless it is protected with lacquer or clear nail polish. If you are going to finish the piece in some other metal, you should continue right away to prevent tarnish.