Electroplate Stainless Steel With Copper

This video shows how an accidental discovery has produced a method to electroplate copper onto stainless steel. I then add a layer of zinc over the copper and produce a brass finish which has a golden color.

[nicamarvin]

here is the science of the process: Good grade stainless steel should have about 75% iron, 15% Chrome and 10% Nickel, stainless steel when exposed to air will form a thin(invisible) layer of Chromium oxide that will prevent any oxidation from taking place and it also prevents any type of electro coating taking place, when you dipped the piece in hot Copper Chloride solution the chloride ions attack the chrome oxide surface and the piece becomes active now(as opposed to being passivated) and since iron is less noble than Copper(Cu2Cl + Fe = Fe2Cl and Cu) Copper is plated directly to the now activated piece, but since this is a form of displacement plating(no electroplating involved) the coat is not adherent at all, but now that the piece has been activated is ready for Copper electroplating

[donaldjohnson]

Thankyou for sharing your hard work with me. I'm a collector of copper bottom pots. This looks very interesting to me.

[zk-dmiv]

I like that u show the times u went wrong and what happened and dont cut it out as most times people only show the successful times of experiments

[mikeholmes]

I stumbled upon something needed to clean the glass insets of a lamp I was restoring for a home I was working on for a customer, someone mentioned the toilet bowl cleaner "The Works" to clean it and it did work very well getting all the old rust stains off the glass, it also managed to change my stainless steel sink into more of a gunmetal black color, it didn't rust as I recall, wondering if that could be substituted for the hot copper chloride step?

[LewisBX]

I did something similar to this by an electroplating prosses that I used to cover a trowel. It was a spring steel that I wanted to protect from rusting. But to copper plate ferrous metal, first thing is to zinc plate + then copper will cover. I didn't leave it long enough in t copper solution but I liked the finish and stopped. It helped to do what I wanted until being worn down over time with use in plastering work. I'll have todo it over but, no problem.

[lord_alchemist]

This is actually a nice informative video; as someone who wants to try electroplating for the first time, it is very comprehensive. However, may I ask what is the concentrated copper chloride solution used for? Is it for the copper to stick better to the surface of the knife? Thanks, and I look forward to your response.

[gautamjain]

Can you use Aluminum Potassium Sulfate, AlKSO4? I cannot find potassium bisulfate near me.

[farhadjabbri]

possible if you do etching before have a better result. if you etch before the copper won't wipe out.

[bitacorachile]

Dear Perry,
Thanks a lot for your video, so good. A big hug from Chile.

[MadScientist]

I'd assume a dip in hcl probably accomplish something similar. But useful to know. I'm looking at plating the outside of a stainless beaker with copper to use inductive heating with it... this is useful information indeed.

[TheIncredibleSpic]

Great video! Do you think if you were to use a small torch it would have changed the color drastically like titanium and aluminum anodizing colors are?

[d-not-u]

Pretty amazing experiments and results 👏

[EWOK]

Thanks heaps for sharing all aspects. Great work

[gouthamkumar]

Use diluted HCl dip to degrees and to remove oxides before plating

[graememorris]

Thank you for sharing.
I want to copper plate stainless bolts that secure a boats portholes. I would like them to have a similar appearance to the bronze of the portholes, and I'm wondering if the plating might even help reduce galvanic action between the two dissimilar metals.
I will try your etching method. Many thanks.

[dmprdctns]

Hello... Thanks... Very informative... Well done.
Say, can steel be plated onto steel? No word on that, anywhere...
Thanks...

[dieterkrause]

excellent description - well made video

[MrAppie]

Lol 6 minutes in: I haven't actually been able to successfully do it. 😂 You said that, but it's still pretty funny imagining someone go missing that and going "wtf!". Anyway I found that the way to hie is and when plating, I use a nickel layer in between the stainless and copper, it grabs the stainless perfectly and holds the copper very well. IF you go 1 volt 100 milliamps. Also keeping the solution in motion helps against pitting and domes and multiple anodes is the way to go. I use 2 when plating a knife. One on each side and the slow method is bearable. Otherwise you'd be there all night rotating the object for a uniform coating. This what I found to work the best. Could be wrong ofcourse

[BobbyBurgess-kdrl]

I learned something new today.I was seeing that the church of scientology are making L.P. records out of stainless steel (for keeping future historical records) which have an incredible lifespan, but in order for them to be cut (recording grooves). They are nickel plating them first I thought my leg was being pulled....but Wow...

[Yhrim]

Thanks for sharing this video! Very Interesting, I think I will do some testing myself, as I need to copper plate a steel part.