The AK-47 (or Avtomat Kalashnikova) was designed and developed by Mikhail Kalashnikov in the Soviet Union and is the world’s most popular assault rifle. The gas operated 7.62mm assault rifle was first developed in the early 1940s and AK-47 stands for Kalashnikov automatic rifle, model of 1947.

Mikhail Kalashnikov began his career as an arms designer while in a hospital after he was shot in the shoulder during the Battle of Bryansk. After experimenting with a sub-machine gun design, he entered a competition for a new weapon that would chamber the 7.62×41mm round developed in 1943 (the 7.62×41mm round predated the current 7.62×39mm). A particular requirement of the competition was reliability of the firearm in muddy, wet, and frozen conditions of the Soviet frontline. Kalashnikov designed a carbine. At the same time, the Soviet Army was keen in developing a true assault rifle employing a shortened M1943 round. The first such weapon was presented by Aleksey Sudayev in 1944 but in trials was found to be just too heavy. A new design competition was held two years later where Kalashnikov and his design team submitted an entry. It was a gas-operated rifle which had a breech-block mechanism similar to his 1944 carbine with a curved 30-round magazine.

An earlier development of the original design was the AKS-47 (S—Skladnoy or ‘folding’). This was fitted with an underfolding metal shoulder stock, as can be seen here in the first picture below. This was deemed to be very useful in confined spaces.

The AK-47 is very well known for its reliability and, being gas operated, uses the gas from the barrel to push the piston attached to the bolt carrier to operate the action. The gas tube is quite large and can be seen in the first picture below just above the barrel, the rear of it being encased in wood. If you look closely the vents in the gas tube are there to allow the excess gas to escape without affecting the action. The AK47 is built with generous clearances, allowing it to function easily in dirty environments needing virtually no maintenance. It is very simple to disassemble and clean, and very easy to keep in working order.

The whole weapon needed stripping, degreasing and polishing. This took many hours to be able to achieve the finish that we required – including the 5 hours of polishing that was essential before the electroplating process could even be started.

As can be seen in the picture below, the end product is an absolutely stunning 24 carat gold, high gloss finish, AK47 Assault Rifle and will make a superb display and/or collector’s piece.

The video below is an excellent informative example explaining the workings of the AK-47 with an excellent comparison between the AK-47 and the American M16 rifle.

The AK-47 was one of the first true assault rifles, it is in fact more of a machine gun than a rifle. Even after more than sixty years, due to its bomb-proof durability, ultra low production cost and remarkable ease of use in the field, it’s still the most widely used and popular assault rifle in the world today. It has seen action with armed forces as well as terrorist groups worldwide.

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If you are interested in purchasing this item then please see it in our store here AK-47 at Pure Gold Plating.

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.

The process of electroplating is mainly done using a liquid solution. This solution is referred to as electrolyte, hence the name of the process. When you electroplate, you basically wash the base material over with your desired coating material. For this reason, there are two ways to accomplish electroplating. One is by using tanks where you immerse the base material. Or two, you use a special brushing device to apply the coating onto the base material. In either case, electric current is always used. The plating solution functions as the medium for electrical conductivity. Even with the use of electric current, it must be emphasized that the whole process is safe because only a small voltage of electricity is used.

One important consideration in electroplating is attaining the right thickness of the coating applied. Well, it all depends on the amount of the coating material used and the time that the base metal has been subjected or exposed to the electrolyte. In other words, the longer you submerge the base metal onto the solution or the more brushes of electrolyte you apply on an object, the thicker the coating becomes. For instance, in gold plated objects, the thickness of the gold layer can be anywhere between .10 to 20 microns. Top of the line silverware can even go beyond 20 microns in silver thickness.

Indeed, for almost 200 years now, electroplating has been an important technique used in beautifying jewelry. But more than just the arts, the procedure is finding its place in industrial applications. Electroplating is now a standard procedure for enhancing the durability and stability of countless mechanical parts. Still, it must be emphasized that it is impractical to use this procedure to smoothen or beautify objects that have preexisting defects or tarnishes. In the end, this process is not only for surface aesthetics, but also for improved functionality of an object.