Hi folks,

Does anyone know if it's possible to use an electroplating process together with some kind of mask to produce text and markings on a sheet of metal? Like etching a circuit board, but in reverse?

I'm thinking of data plates and clock dials, that kind of thing. Perhaps zinc or tin on copper. Anyone tried it?

I couldn't find any web pages about this, but it seems like it ought to be possible. It would be interesting to know if it works and what the contrast and durability are like.

Best wishes,

Chris

On Wed, 14 Feb 2018 06:07:30 -0800 (PST)
Christopher Tidy wrote:

Hi folks,

Does anyone know if it's possible to use an electroplating process together with some kind of mask to produce text and markings on a sheet of metal? Like etching a circuit board, but in reverse?

I'm thinking of data plates and clock dials, that kind of thing. Perhaps zinc or tin on copper. Anyone tried it?

I couldn't find any web pages about this, but it seems like it ought to be possible. It would be interesting to know if it works and what the contrast and durability are like.

Best wishes,

Chris

You might find these podcasts of general interest:

http://wttpodcast.libsyn.com/

Concerning your question, especially this one, towards the end:

http://wttpodcast.libsyn.com/welding...e-technologies

They claim you can mark metal using a template with their Surfox
equipment/process. I'm not sure how much info is on their website for
this but it was discussed some in the podcast...

http://www.surfox.com/us/

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

On Wed, 14 Feb 2018 06:07:30 -0800 (PST), Christopher Tidy
wrote:

Hi folks,

Does anyone know if it's possible to use an electroplating process together with some kind of mask to produce text and markings on a sheet of metal? Like etching a circuit board, but in reverse?

I'm thinking of data plates and clock dials, that kind of thing. Perhaps zinc or tin on copper. Anyone tried it?

I couldn't find any web pages about this, but it seems like it ought to be possible. It would be interesting to know if it works and what the contrast and durability are like.

Best wishes,

Chris

There are brush-type plating kits like the ones from Caswell:

http://www.caswellplating.com/#

....and the metal that's supposedly easy to plate (aside from copper,
which is easiest) is nickel.

There also are many homebrew plating setups that are easy to find with
a Google search for "home metal plating." They can be really cheap to
put together from common materials. Caswell used to be cheap but they
seem to have moved up-market. sigh

There must be an easy way to mask it. An old recipe for masking in
electrochemical etching and machining is some kind of asphalt
material, but lacquer is also used.

Good luck!

--
Ed Huntress

On Wed, 14 Feb 2018 06:07:30 -0800 (PST), Christopher Tidy
wrote:

Hi folks,

Does anyone know if it's possible to use an electroplating process together with some kind of mask to produce text and markings on a sheet of metal? Like etching a circuit board, but in reverse?

I'm thinking of data plates and clock dials, that kind of thing. Perhaps zinc or tin on copper. Anyone tried it?

I couldn't find any web pages about this, but it seems like it ought to be possible. It would be interesting to know if it works and what the contrast and durability are like.

You might look into vacuum deposition. I don't know how thick it can
be deposited, but if it's for visual purposes only, it probably
doesn't have to be thick. I have no idea what kind of tech it takes
to do this, but it came to mind reading your post. This may be
something you could have done cheaply rather than buying the tech.

The concept fascinated me the first time I saw a brightly chromed
=plastic= knob eons ago.

--
Stoop and you'll be stepped on;
stand tall and you'll be shot at.
-- Carlos A. Urbizo

On 14/02/18 14:07, Christopher Tidy wrote:
Hi folks,

Does anyone know if it's possible to use an electroplating process together with some kind of mask to produce text and markings on a sheet of metal? Like etching a circuit board, but in reverse?

I'm thinking of data plates and clock dials, that kind of thing. Perhaps zinc or tin on copper. Anyone tried it?

I couldn't find any web pages about this, but it seems like it ought to be possible. It would be interesting to know if it works and what the contrast and durability are like.

Best wishes,

Chris

I don't any reason why it wouldn't work. If i was going to do it I would
do it just like I do PCBs. You can buy spray photoresist from the likes
or RS, Maplin and others. I've used it in the past for etching letters
out of copper foil which were later encased in glass. Then chose your
electroplate or electroless process and give it a go.

On Wed, 14 Feb 2018 06:07:30 -0800 (PST), Christopher Tidy
wrote:

Hi folks,

Does anyone know if it's possible to use an electroplating process together with some kind of mask to produce text and markings on a sheet of metal? Like etching a circuit board, but in reverse?

I'm thinking of data plates and clock dials, that kind of thing. Perhaps zinc or tin on copper. Anyone tried it?

I couldn't find any web pages about this, but it seems like it ought to be possible. It would be interesting to know if it works and what the contrast and durability are like.

Best wishes,

Chris

I just remembered something that you may find useful. I've used
Chartpak dry-transfer letters in an inverse way to make a spray-paint
mask. Rub them down tightly enough to be sure the edges have a good
grip, spray your paint (lacquer or whatever you use for masking), and
then lift the letters up carefully with a razor blade. Then you can
plate where the letters used to be. As I recall, they don't leave
residue, but you may need to clean with a solvent -- one that won't
attack your masking paint.

I used it to make a science-fair poster years ago, when the only
computer printers we had were dot-matrix. It worked great. The letters
are available in some nice fonts, but you'd probably have to order
those online.

--
Ed Huntress

"Christopher Tidy" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,

Does anyone know if it's possible to use an electroplating process
together with some kind of mask to produce text and markings on a
sheet of metal? Like etching a circuit board, but in reverse?

I'm thinking of data plates and clock dials, that kind of thing.
Perhaps zinc or tin on copper. Anyone tried it?

I couldn't find any web pages about this, but it seems like it ought
to be possible. It would be interesting to know if it works and what
the contrast and durability are like.

Best wishes,

Chris

"Pattern Plating" or "Panel Plating":

http://pcbfab.com/etching-outer-layer

The seemingly redundant step of plating extra copper over the copper
foil also plates the walls of the drilled holes while they are all
still electrically connected.

Gold can be plated on the copper for edge connector fingers and
microwave circuits subject to skin effect. The process leaves a matte
finish, IIRC because brighteners would degrade the electrical
properties.

The circuit board manufacturers have standard procedures that minimize
cost and more expensive options for higher performance. Talk to them.
-jsw

On 14/02/18 14:07, Christopher Tidy wrote:
Hi folks,

Does anyone know if it's possible to use an electroplating process together with some kind of mask to produce text and markings on a sheet of metal? Like etching a circuit board, but in reverse?

I'm thinking of data plates and clock dials, that kind of thing. Perhaps zinc or tin on copper. Anyone tried it?

I couldn't find any web pages about this, but it seems like it ought to be possible. It would be interesting to know if it works and what the contrast and durability are like.

Best wishes,

Chris

Chris,

Did you actually search for selective electroplating, I just did and
found quite a bit mentioned and example of it used for both repair work
and decorative work.

On Wed, 14 Feb 2018 10:51:47 -0400, Leon Fisk
wrote:

On Wed, 14 Feb 2018 06:07:30 -0800 (PST)
Christopher Tidy wrote:

Hi folks,

Does anyone know if it's possible to use an electroplating process together with some kind of mask to produce text and markings on a sheet of metal? Like etching a circuit board, but in reverse?

I'm thinking of data plates and clock dials, that kind of thing. Perhaps zinc or tin on copper. Anyone tried it?

I couldn't find any web pages about this, but it seems like it ought to be possible. It would be interesting to know if it works and what the contrast and durability are like.

Best wishes,

Chris

You might find these podcasts of general interest:

http://wttpodcast.libsyn.com/

Concerning your question, especially this one, towards the end:

http://wttpodcast.libsyn.com/welding...e-technologies

They claim you can mark metal using a template with their Surfox
equipment/process. I'm not sure how much info is on their website for
this but it was discussed some in the podcast...

http://www.surfox.com/us/


https://www.megauk.com/metal_etching_kit.php

http://www.img-electromark.com/

This is the unit that I have and use:

https://www.markingmethods.com/store/pc/home.asp


---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On Wednesday, February 14, 2018 at 9:07:35 AM UTC-5, Christopher Tidy wrote:
Hi folks,

Does anyone know if it's possible to use an electroplating process together with some kind of mask to produce text and markings on a sheet of metal? Like etching a circuit board, but in reverse?

I'm thinking of data plates and clock dials, that kind of thing. Perhaps zinc or tin on copper. Anyone tried it?

I couldn't find any web pages about this, but it seems like it ought to be possible. It would be interesting to know if it works and what the contrast and durability are like.

Best wishes,

Chris


The easiest would be to buy a resist pen. And there are some sites on the internet about copper plating using vinegar. This would end up with most of the item plated with copper.

Dan

On Wed, 14 Feb 2018 06:07:30 -0800 (PST), Christopher Tidy
wrote:

Hi folks,

Does anyone know if it's possible to use an electroplating process together with some kind of mask to produce text and markings on a sheet of metal? Like etching a circuit board, but in reverse?

I'm thinking of data plates and clock dials, that kind of thing. Perhaps zinc or tin on copper. Anyone tried it?

I couldn't find any web pages about this, but it seems like it ought to be possible. It would be interesting to know if it works and what the contrast and durability are like.

Best wishes,

Chris
Yeah, you can mask off the areas with lacquer and if the parts are
steel or cast iron they can be easily plated with electroless nickel.
It adheres well, wears well, and looks great. I've done it with
solutions from Caswell.
Eric

Thanks for all the useful tips and links. It looks like it's a realistic thing to do. I wanted to electroplate text and markings for two purposes: to make clock dials and machine data plates. Anyone know if the contrast and durability are sufficient for this? Or maybe acid etching is more durable?

David: I did search for "selective electroplating", but didn't find anything much of use. The sites I found were talking about electroplating using a brush. Do you have a link to a good site you found?

Best wishes,

Chris

On Thu, 15 Feb 2018 06:07:50 -0800 (PST), Christopher Tidy
wrote:

Thanks for all the useful tips and links. It looks like it's a realistic thing to do. I wanted to electroplate text and markings for two purposes: to make clock dials and machine data plates. Anyone know if the contrast and durability are sufficient for this? Or maybe acid etching is more durable?

David: I did search for "selective electroplating", but didn't find anything much of use. The sites I found were talking about electroplating using a brush. Do you have a link to a good site you found?

Best wishes,

Chris
Electroless nickel is durable enough. For clock faces what does it
matter? They will be protected by glass. You can put EN on copper
alloys too, it just takes a tiny bit more work. Why not just visit the
Caswell website and get your answers there?
Eric

On 15/02/18 14:07, Christopher Tidy wrote:
Thanks for all the useful tips and links. It looks like it's a realistic thing to do. I wanted to electroplate text and markings for two purposes: to make clock dials and machine data plates. Anyone know if the contrast and durability are sufficient for this? Or maybe acid etching is more durable?

David: I did search for "selective electroplating", but didn't find anything much of use. The sites I found were talking about electroplating using a brush. Do you have a link to a good site you found?

Best wishes,

Chris

Chris,

I didn't spend much time looking but saw the brush plating stuff but
also in google images quite a few decorative selective plating examples.

Regarding machine data plates there is a product that allows you to
produce IIRC a black on aluminium plate like a PCB process and a company
I used to work for used it for machine data plates. I think it may have
been a Mega product like http://www.megauk.com/metal_etching_kit.php but
IIRC it didn't etch the metal but came pre coated with a black coat that
you exposed like a PCB and developed and processed to reveal the
underlying aluminium where required.

Christopher Tidy wrote:
for two purposes: to make clock dials and machine data plates.
Anyone know if the contrast and durability are sufficient for this?
Or maybe acid etching is more durable?


Contast is apt to be better with plating, unless the etch is quite deep,
since the plating needn't be the same color as the base metal.

Durability is apt to be better with etching, since base metal must be
removed to obscure it. A protected clock face seems a good candidate
for plating, data plates are likely better etched especially if tampering
(as for serial numbers) might be a concern. In that case at least there's
a sign something's been altered.

hth,

bob prohaska