Don Foreman wrote:
On Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:45:54 -0800, "SteveB"
toquerville,utah@zionvistas wrote:

Today, a friend called me who was doing a project. They had a copper coated
steel rod about 5/8" dia. that was to be used as a ground rod for
electrical. They had no means of bending it, as it had to make a couple of
three doglegs to get around concrete. I told him that heating it would melt
the copper, and did not know if the inspector would pass it with the copper
gone. He said that was what the inspector told him to do. We'll see. If
it works, okay, if it doesn't, I'll set up a jig and bend it cold.

Now to the point. As I heated the copper, I noticed a beautiful color
change. Like peacock colors. Would it be possible to dissolve copper into
a solution, possibly using acid or electrolysis, then have the copper be
deposited on metal sheeting so that it could be heated again to get the
iridescent hues?

I've read a lot about electrolytic removal of rust, and it seems pretty
straightforward. This would be (?) a two step process. I'm going to Google
up on it. Anyone ever try it?

Steve

Copper plating is very easy to do. Plated copper will respond to
heat as any copper does.
The solution is copper sulphate (as strong as it will go), with a drop
of acid added. Anode can be any clean scrap copper (I used bits of
pipe). If plating on iron/steel, watch out, as copper will naturally
displace iron, without applying any current. Unfortunately, the
resulting copper coating is usually weak. If you can survive that, use a
low, steady current (trial & error, or there are tables), to put on the
copper.
I once rebuilt a worn brass shaft this way, having nothing else. Plated
it up with copper, then trued in the lathe.

In your case, could you heat/bend the rod as needed, then re-plate it?