Gold plating of jewellery is common because it gives the look of gold, but does not have the associated cost of gold. In jewellery applications, gold plating is most commonly applied to silver. The jewellery then actually includes two precious metals, rather than just one.
While many people associate gold plating with jewellery, it is not the only application. Gold plating is also used in electronic applications. This allows better conductivity helping to make things resistant to abrasion and wear.

Gold plating can be accomplished in a number of different ways, including electroplating. This is done by putting the object being plated, the cathode, into a solution, called the electrolyte. It is then connected to the negative side of a charge, such as a power rectifier. Then, the donor for the plating, the anode, is also placed in the solution connected to the positive side of the charge. Ionization occurs and the anode slowly dissolves, with the positively charged ions in the metal going to the negatively charged product and bonding to form the plated finish.

However, gold plating, like most types of metal finishing, can be done in a number of other ways. The gold metal can be suspended in a solution. A swab wrapped around the end of the anode is then dipped into this solution which is then wiped over the object being plated. The goal is to maximize the effect but to minimize the amount of gold needed to do the job which in turn reduces waste and cuts costs. Another advantage of this is that the gold plating jobs can be done mobile, meaning the electroplating plant can be taken to the job rather than the job come to the electroplating plant. This is by no means a low-tech solution and the overall results equal that of conventional tank plating.

Due to the fact that gold is such a soft metal and the layer over jewellery products is so thin, there will likely be a time when the gold plating does become worn. Jewellery, especially pieces worn daily, tends to suffer more wear and abuse. Sending such items to Pure Gold Plating for repair is the best way to restore them to their original condition. Gold plating is usually very cost effective and we even guarantee our work.

If you would like a quote, please visit us at Pure Gold Plating or contact us through the forum username: PureGold.

The process of electroplating is also referred to as electro-deposition and is a fairly simple process. Firstly, a negative charge is placed on the object that will be electroplated, the object to be plated being referred to as the cathode. The positive charge is applied to a wand with swabbing on the end, referred to as the anode. The wand is then immersed in an electrolyte solution containing the dissolved metal that will be used to plate the object. Once the saturated swabbing comes into contact with the object to be plated it completes the circuit, the charged particles of dissolved metal bond to the cathode and you have your newly electroplated object.

With tank electroplating, controlling the thickness of the electroplated object is generally achieved by adjusting the time it spends in the tank. The longer it remains inside the tank, the thicker the electroplating layer becomes. To be able to control the thickness of the coating when brush plating a different technique is applied based on the volume of solution and surface area to be brush plated.

Before electroplating an object, it must be cleaned thoroughly. All scratches and other imperfections must be polished out of the object in order to obtain the desired result, often a smooth mirror finish surface. Recessed areas will be more difficult to polish and may plate less than other external surfaces, due to wand access, so a scratch may become more prominent, rather than being smoothed over by the plating process.

Brush plating is extremely Flexible and versatile. Due to the equipment needed, you can use this as a portable process in the workshop or out in the field. It is used on site to perform operations such as selectively plating nickel onto areas of the international space station, touching up defective cadmium on aircraft landing gear and repairing scores and pits in the valve stems at nuclear power plants.

Brush electroplating can be used to electroplate nickel, copper, silver, gold and even platinum. The process can be done on portions of an object or whole objects. The craftsman simply needs to dip the handheld device on the plating solution and then apply it on the base object, making sure that the solution is distributed evenly. Apart from its obvious portability, brush plating can be used to plate large objects that would otherwise not fit in conventional electroplating tanks. A good example would be in electroplating huge columns in structural or building restoration projects. It is just impossible and impractical to dip building columns in tanks, so brush plating is the only option.

Moreover, brush electroplating can also be performed either indoors or outdoors. The portability and versatility of this method of electroplating knows no bounds. Even astronauts use nickel brush plating to restore or repair parts of the international space station and other satellites. The valves found in nuclear power plants are also repaired via this plating method. The aircraft industry also makes use of this type of plating metal objects to restore defective airplane landing gears. You can also appreciate the usefulness of brush plating in your own car. You see, crankshaft bearing diameters are also taken care of using brush electroplating.

Most important, brush electroplating is cheaper than other methods that make use of tanks. For one, shipping costs can be significantly reduced when brush plating is used. For projects that are located in faraway places, only the plating device needed to be flown in, maybe along with the operator or craftsman, which can generally be cheaper compared to shipping large objects that require plating. And since anyone can learn brush plating, you do not need to wait in line for your objects to be plated with precious metals.