…that allows you to manipulate volts and amps with knobs?
you might try the electronics department or the jewelry department too depending on what you have in mind exactly supplies for electroplating/annodization could likely be borrowed or cobbled together from jewelry or the electronics lab equipment and then the solutions for each could at least be handled in the science lab. further depending on what you want to do i teach a chainmaille class and i would eventually like to learn about and then teach electroplating and annodization. also on an only loosely related note in the next month or three ill be teaching a CLASS on copper patina.
Do NOT go grab a power supply from Electronics without permission from that Committee.
Some of their equipment is quite expensive and unique.
AND electroplating is not what their power supplies were designed to do. Different power supplies for different projects.
good point i did not intend to imply anyone should just be going in and grabbing anything i just saw this while doing something else and wanted to help out with a few starting places to look. however, its a relatively simple device and if the makerspace doesnt have it it seems like something someone could make for us or themselves if they were sufficiently motivated
sounds like hes looking for something a bit more controlable than a battery though which makes me thing color annodization in which case this might not be much help
basic electroplating:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIU3lsZMx7A.
Electroplating is a science. Not being snobby.
Depends what metal is being plated onto what substrate what type power supply should be used. Low amperage and high voltage or high amperage and low voltage (gold uses this variant)
Chrome plating leaves a very toxic bath to be cleaned up. Not good for DMS.
Some power supplies are fixed ratings others are not. And on and on.
The variations have mostly been figured out. Very interesting reading, if a bit dry.
Reminder to everyone about plating and etching: If you do electroplating or etching, the solutions you bring in, you must take home and dispose of properly.
They can not be dumped down any of the drains or dumpster at DMS.
“Neutralizing” them does not cure the problem of the metals in the solution.
What you can do at home is not the same as what you can do at DMS.
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Someone needs to study up on what type plating you want to do along w/ sizes and other variables.
Figure out max voltage and max current for your range of projects.
With that info you can spec your pwr sply.
Sorry for flogging a dead topic, but I just wanted to confirm (or not) my feelings that these answers indicate that there are/will be no plans for DMS to have equipment on-site, specifically for electroplating/anodizing purposes? Not sure if things have changed in that respect versus 3 years ago, hence my query.
Regards,
McFly Dallas
I believe it is okay to have the power supply, and they may have it. But, due to environmental waste control laws and DMS being responsible for the disposal of anything generated here, I would stay likelihood of it being permitted is very low.
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I know that @Cairenn_Day was doing niobium anodizing in Jewelry at one point. Last I recall was that she couldn’t find her supplies, and felt that someone had probably thrown them away due to cluelessness. I think that we were doing niobium because it doesn’t produce toxicisity issues??? As opposed to aluminum, which does have toxicisity problems.
We did find the equipment Marion it seems that somebody had taken everything out of the bag I bought to see pit in and put it in a different bag. I have not double-check that I just haven’t had a chance to get out and hook it up and make sure I do have niobium blanks available it’s on my short list
It’s all still there
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I’ll have to take a look Sunday before/after the Dynatorch class. Thanks!
Surface preparation and cleaning are crucial to the quality of chemical finishing. So is maintaining the chemical balance of an uncontaminated plating solution - repeated use changes the balance of the complexing agent as the metal content diminishes in the bath. If you plan to do any chemical surface finishing I would strongly urge you to buy your own cleaning and plating solutions because in my experience the community resources are not pristine enough for a good finish. That’s just the nature of community resources. The nickel plating I have seen coming out of the science plating baths looked more like flocking than plating.
And of course you would also have to take every last bit of the chemicals with you and find the proper way to dispose of them. You shouldn’t even rinse your parts or your containers in the sink; the metal effluent is toxic.
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