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DIY Gold Plating


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Dan O'Donnell
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 2:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yesterday, Kanstul provided me with a verbal quote of $161.00 to Gold plate a MP...

I will however say that all MPs I had them Gold plate for me have lasted for several years (with a lot of usage) and still look great with no signs of wear or loss of Gold therefore I can only assume they apply a reasonably thick layer.

All of this makes me very happy knowing that several years ago I bought (3) used MPs that were Gold plated by Kanstul (in great condition) at a cost of only $25 each...
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abontrumpet
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 10:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

aspeyr1 wrote:
So I received the $25 gold plaiting kit and successfully gold plated a few things! I would love to post pics, but don't really know how.

I've also played on the one of the mouthpieces significantly for 3 days expecting the gold plating to wear off and it has not.

Again, I would love to post pics I just don't know how...[/img]


You can upload to imgur.com and then post the direct links. Really great image hosting site that is widely used for this purpose.
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aspeyr1
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 8:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote







The first is a flugel piece I did 3 days after I did the initial plating on my trumpet mouthpiece

Sorry the picture quality is not good, but I can say the gold looks pretty good and hasn't shown any signs of wear after a pretty good bit of playing for the past several days

Overall, DIY gold plating seems to be ridiculously easy, cheap, and reasonably effective!

Here is what I used to do the plating;

http://www.amazon.com/Medallion-Liquid-Gold-Plating-Kit/dp/B00770Z41Q

There are many negative reviews. But after reading them, you realize most of them didn't follow the directions (heating the solution to proper temp, really cleaning the piece to be plated, using metals that gold doesn't bond well to).

While I can't claim this looks as good as if done by a reputable business, I can say I have seen "professional" plate jobs that look similar in color and luster.

[edited to provide the link]
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Adam R. Getzen
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 8:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Greenleaf wrote:
Doesn't a quality gold plating job use nasty stuff like cyanide? IMHO, better left to those who know what they're doing. I know I'm not going there and I consider myself to be a DIY kind of guy.


No, it doesn't. The carrier chemical we used while we did our own gold plating was actually citric acid.

Plating baths like our silver use cyanide but our nickel baths use acid as the carrier.

Six of one, half dozen of another.

Plating, like anything worth while, is best left to a professional.
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aspeyr1
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 11:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Adam R. Getzen wrote:
Greenleaf wrote:
Doesn't a quality gold plating job use nasty stuff like cyanide? IMHO, better left to those who know what they're doing. I know I'm not going there and I consider myself to be a DIY kind of guy.



Plating, like anything worth while, is best left to a professional.


With all due respect, why?

I've demonstrated that it's a cheap solution that works well with repeatable success. Am I missing something here?

I know plenty of things that are worthwhile that aren't necessarily better when left to a "professional." I've definitely made a tastier sandwich than Subway....and those are "professional" "sandwich artists."

Kidding aside. Please don't take my point the wrong way, I'm not comparing the skill involved between a fast food employee an a professional plater. The point is, I can do a reasonable gold plate at my house for a fraction of the cost of sending my mouthpiece away to a professional. Takes literally seconds (probably an entire minute if you include heating up the gold plate solution for 45 seconds).

Also, I feel I have found a reasonable cost effective solution for gold plating (you can also buy a silver plating kit, chrome plating....) mouthpieces and other fairly small trumpet parts.

This does not mean it would be easy or a good idea to try to gold plate an entire trumpet! You can buy replacement solution by the liter for about $90. However, I'm assuming you would need at least 4 liters (could be very wrong) to completely submerge an average sized trumpet.
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trumpaholic
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 11:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dream on el-cheap0!
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aspeyr1
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 11:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

trumpaholic wrote:
Dream on el-cheap0!


The proof is in the pictures el-boz0
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snichols
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 11:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm curious... would it be possible to do more than one layer, in order to deepen the color and increase the lifespan of the plating? So instead of plating 2 or 3 pieces, maybe do one piece multiple times?
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Larry Smithee
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 11:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've used the Medallion product for plating mouthpieces in years past. It does work and will look very good…for a short time. The results show significant fading within a year or so. A better idea would be to have Mouthpiece Express do the work. The plating work they've done for me in the past has always been excellent and long lasting. The cost is also resonable.

Last edited by Larry Smithee on Thu Nov 12, 2015 8:00 pm; edited 1 time in total
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JonathanM
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 6:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can't speak for the future - and that will be interesting.

As for the present - looks fantastic!

Did you go over the area multiple times or just once? Whatever you've done - it looks very good to me.
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aspeyr1
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 10:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

JonathanM wrote:
I can't speak for the future - and that will be interesting.

As for the present - looks fantastic!

Did you go over the area multiple times or just once? Whatever you've done - it looks very good to me.


Thanks JonathanM! I only plated each mouthpiece once. If I noticed any kind of plating wear, I would just plate it again!

I would love to know the results of the cheap DIY plating kit. I will try to keep posting to let everyone know the results of cheap DIY gold plating. I honestly don't expect it to last. However, each day I wake with a gold plated mouthpiece, I'm amazed I was able to do it myself for $25...or less
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etc-etc
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 11:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looks very nice - congratulations on a job well done. You can try to add more plate in future if it fades (how well would this work is another question).

You do not have to immerse entire trumpet in the bath: the area to be plated has to be immersed.
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Crazy Finn
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 12:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

aspeyr1 wrote:
trumpaholic wrote:
Dream on el-cheap0!


The proof is in the pictures el-boz0

We'll see in a few months....

Even if it lasts a year, if you have to do it every year - a $100 gold plate job that lasts a decade or more will work out to be cheaper fairly quickly.

But whatever....
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gregplo
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 5:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I used the Medallion Gold Plate product to plate my Marcinkiewicz 5 mouthpiece about 8-10 years ago. I plated the entire mouthpiece. It still has a light layer of the gold plating on it except on the shank where it goes into the receiver. If I were to do this again (and I've though about it), I would do just the rim and the cup of the mouthpiece.
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aspeyr1
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 6:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

gregplo wrote:
I used the Medallion Gold Plate product to plate my Marcinkiewicz 5 mouthpiece about 8-10 years ago. I plated the entire mouthpiece. It still has a light layer of the gold plating on it except on the shank where it goes into the receiver. If I were to do this again (and I've though about it), I would do just the rim and the cup of the mouthpiece.


Thanks! This is what I was asking about. I must admit, I'm surprised it has lasted you this long. But, I've been using the trumpet piece I gold plated several hours a day since I plated it. Looks the same, without as much shine.

I plated just the rim of a skrew rim mouthpiece and that turned out the best!

Glad it worked for you and thanks for the reply
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superviking805
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 4:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[img[/img]

Got my Amazon kit for Christmas. Took about 15 minutes and my GR #2 came out excellent!
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info@thetaplate.com
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 12:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Brush plating doesn't yield thick enough plating to be worth the trouble on a mouthpiece or other high-wear item. It is hard to get the thickness over 7-20 microinches, and it is hard to get uniform thickness.

Regular bath plating can get you thick enough gold plating, and a competent plating shop can guarantee the thickness. I recommend at least a micron of gold plating (40 microinches).

It is important, as one poster noted, to start with a good layer of silver plating.
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trompette229
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 20, 2017 2:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Reviving this old thread...how did the DIY plating hold up since you last posted?
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TKSop
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 20, 2017 9:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It depends on the quality of your equipment...

I've had different solutions with varying concentrations of gold in and it makes a difference.... As does using different qualities of electrodes.

With my better kit, the covering is substantially thicker and does last very well (though I have no idea of the actual thickness), where with the cheapest kit it lasted several months before beginning to fade to the silver below.


That said, the more expensive kit would cost about ~150$ at a guess, so it's not a massive money saver at that point.
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dcjway
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 21, 2017 3:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Stork will gold plate for $55.
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