Electroplating 3D Prints | Helmets Tutorial 1

mine this is a Star Wars the Mandalorian helmet originally it was a plastic 3D print from a regular printer and then it got my special metal treatment finally it became a three pound metal prop and my longest and widest ride yet it's all a bit extreme I don't know if anyone recreates it but if you dare here are the steps let's go [Music] 3D printing I used an fdm printer for the helmet since my printer has too little space I had to quarter the helmet fdm Prince proves very visible layers so try to print as fine and precise as possible there are separate more complex Parts on this model like the earpieces or a back plate the resin printer is the First Choice here to minimize later sanding as well as all electriforming processes it should be noted that the resulting metal layers can become very thick therefore some rescating may be necessary [Music] when you are finished try to orient the 3D print and remove the entire support structure [Music] in general it is important to deburr and file as much as you can at this stage then glue the quarters together so that the transitions between the parts are as clean and precise as possible secure the whole thing with screw clamps and tape and let it dry well now it sticks together well but it's not really strong therefore I will now reinforce the glued areas with resin and fiberglass for this you need fiberglass mats and polyester resin okay cut the fireball glass so that it fits into the helmet the resin will be brushed on the mats later as with all things please take care of your health wear safety goggles gloves and a gas mask also make sure that the workplace is well ventilated this stuff smells awful and hardens in five minutes after mixing with the hardener therefore work quickly shortly thereafter however it is already final solid and the helmet extremely sturdy the next part is unfortunately not much fun I try to sand the surface of the helmet extremely even and smooth I have a large selection of sandpaper available for this I start with 180 Grit take care of the glute joints and the areas with many visible layers at the end you can start filling cracks you will notice where you should do it and if you think the worst is over here comes 240 Grit still from now on it gets more pleasant from here you can work with car filler unlike primer you spray relatively thick layers of material onto the helmet this is followed by a repetitive sequence of sanding and spraying on filler and so on use increasingly fine sandpaper and keep an eye on the critical areas [Music] finally you will have a very smooth helmet in your hands [Music] the resin Parts can be sanded quite nicely then give them a quick coat of primer now we mix up an electrically conductive paint that will serve as the base for our copper layer normally this copper conductive paint is much too thick so we need an acetone based thinner the whole thing is then sprayed on with an airbrush take one part conductive paint and two parts thinner now stir the whole thing well a clue the paint should have the consistency of milk now I'll spray the print with 200 kPa then it should dry for 20 minutes [Music] I'd like to briefly explain what exactly happens now and how you can build an electroplating bath first you need an electrolyte I use acidic bright copper sulfate in this past couple will be deposited on your 3D print you need a regulated power source copper anodes crocodile Clips copper wire gloves goggles and also a degreaser now clean the anodes mostly they are oxidized or scribbled with stuff then dip the anodes into the bath and make sure they are as far away from the 3D object as possible now connect them to the positive pole of your power supply carefully wrap the print and copper wire and connect this to the negative pole of your power supply I use a small device that rotates the print this results in less anode shadows and artifacts means it becomes more evenly coated now control the current not the voltage as I usually told that the current to 0 amps the voltage all the way up and then adjust the current until you reach the calculated value I use 2 amps per square decimeter of surface area if you don't know how to calculate it set the voltage to 0.8 volts that works more or less after 4 hours you can take the object out of the bath it is covered with 0.15 millimeter copper [Music] that'll work quite well now the helmet is next when I calculate the required current of the helmet I get to just over 30 amps my small power supply only provides 5 amps however I have one with 30 mm Max in addition you need cables with larger cross section and More contact area these are quickly built foreign since I would like to use the rotary jig I also need a larger adapter this is also easily constructed okay let's start build a copper wire construction around the helmet something that lets you hang the helmet inside the electro forming bath use a lot to create a sufficient contact area I then sprayed the conductive copper paint on the helmet starting from the edges foreign hang it into the empty Basin to make sure everything works as planned now fill in the electrolyte at this point at the latest the project becomes expensive however the electrolyte can be reused many times but the video here is somehow meant to document a feasibility study so why not now put in the anodes make sure these are matching your print surface area and connect them to the power supply try to submerge the helmet find out that it actually floats and find a solution to keep it inside the bath for plating took around 10 hours I adjusted the current to 31 amps after 1 hour [Music] and this is what came out in the end it Is Well Done beautifully shiny and with an incredible weight of 1.3 kilograms now covered with a layer of 0.5 to 0.6 millimeter copper so that it really reflects without disturbing impurities it must now be sanded I'm working through various sandpaper until I finally have a mirror surface [Music] the final step is a Polish now it looks really nice and is ready for the next layers I use a power supply and a galvanic pen again as electrolyte I try Palladium and nickel let's see what fits better working with the galvanic pen can be tricky the large surface area made it difficult for me to apply the nickel evenly everywhere at the same time I then added the Palladium layer which worked much better my tip always use Palladium instead of nickel when working with the galvanic pen when you're done collect the electrolyte residue and take it to the recycling center do not flush it down the drain this already looks quite good I work on narrower areas and grooves with a smaller galvanic pen [Music] now let's build a cheap visor from an old face shield and some calf oil and somehow install it inside the helmet the final step is mounting the earpieces and the back plate [Music] and that's it folks the whole project has kept me busy for over four weeks now and faced me with many challenges nevertheless it was fun and I was able to learn a lot from it there are other videos of props that I have electriformed on this channel maybe you take a look or even subscribe to this channel I would be happy in any case see you soon [Music] thank you

Channel: HEN3DRIK - Electroplating 3D Prints

Views: 535,546

Keywords: how to, 3d printer, 3d print, copper plating, metal plating, 3dprinting, 3dprint, diy, electroforming, electroplating, nickel plating, electro plating, galvanizing process, galvanize 3d, galvanized 3d print, 3d printed, mandalorian, 3d printing, 3d printing ideas, star wars, tutorial, 3d printed helmet

Id: vsrlrH3omZc

Length: 10min 3sec (603 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 31 2022