Today we will show you one of the most complex types of post-processing, if not the most complex of them all. We will give you a glimpse into the world of electroplating. What it means is you can add a real metal layer onto a 3D print to make it not only look like metal but give it an authentic metal feeling, too. But first, a quick warning. If you decide to try this method, you will be working with dangerous chemicals, so you will need some basic protective gear, such as gloves, protective eyewear, and a lab coat. But you should also wear an advanced half-face respirator with proper filtration. Definitely not just a simple disposable respirator from the COVID-19 times. And one more thing. Never throw anything used in this process into the general waste or pour it into the sink. Treat the waste as any other dangerous chemical. Alright, you've been warned. Now it's shopping time. You can find a detailed shopping list in our blog article as well as the full guide, but here's a quick recap. You will need a 3D printer, preferably an SLA machine. Then you will need a power supply, wires and clamps, a plastic or glass tank, and we also recommend a rotating device. This one was 3D printed and built from simple electronic components. The link to the model is in the blog article. Also, a galvanic brush or a galvanic pen comes in handy for finer details and expensive metals. The base coat of the printed object needs to be covered in conductive paint, best applied with an airbrush. As for the electrodes and electrolytes, in general, the best practice is to add a thick base layer of copper, which is a cheap material, then continue with nickel and finish with rare metals such as gold, palladium, or silver. We chose our SL1S speed 3D printer for producing the parts that would be later covered in a thin layer of metal. Resin prints are heavy, they are beautifully smooth, and their solid body prevents the electrolyte from seeping into the model. Despite all that, once the models are ready, it's still necessary to sand them with a fine sandpaper to make sure the surface is as smooth as possible. Then apply the conductive paint. The best results are generally achieved with copper conductive paint diluted in acetone and sprayed with an airbrush. We tested silver and graphite paint too, and these may work as well, but only when applied with a regular brush. OK, now let's prepare the gear. First, clean the anodes with steel wool or a piece of fine sandpaper Then carefully place the anodes inside the tank. We recommend putting them inside textile mittens or pouches to prevent any particles from falling off the anodes. Connect the anodes to the positive pole of your power supply. If you can, prepare a rotating device that enables a nice and even distribution of the metal particles across the model surface. It's good to prepare a simple wire cage for the model. Fill the tank with a copper electrolyte, rinse the model in a degreaser and connect it to the negative pole of your power supply. The real challenge of this process is finding the correct voltage and current. We recommend setting the power supply to 0.5 volts and starting with that. Wait one hour and increase the voltage to 0.7 volts. Wait another hour, then increase it to somewhere between 1 and 1.2 volts and wait for four hours. Now the model should be coated in a thick layer of copper. Don't forget to move the model from time to time to prevent it from being welded to the wire. When finished, rinse the model in distilled water. If the surface is rough, you may try to carefully polish it with fine-grit sandpaper and polishing paste. But be careful. Sanding it too hard may damage the layer. When this is done, degrease it again and continue with other metal layers. That could be, for example, a thin layer of nickel. Switch the anodes from copper to nickel and use a free nickel electrolyte. Again, test the values yourselves, but we recommend starting at two volts and increasing the voltage until you see the bubbles. The surface should be metallic silverish. If it gets dark, you set the values too high. This process takes around 5 to 10 minutes. Again, Rinse the object with distilled water and polish it if necessary. Finally, it's time to apply a thin layer of gold with a galvanic brush. Soak the fabric in electrolyte, connect the model to the negative pole and the galvanic brush to the positive pole. Then set the voltage to between 7 and 10 volts and apply the brush until you get the desired finish. And it's done! A nice gold-plated model. Now this might look rather easy, right? Well, not really. If you decide to follow our tutorial, keep in mind that you will be spending a tremendous amount of time on tweaking and tuning the entire process. We went through extensive experimenting with the times, materials and various other elements because we wanted to have really nice models. In the end, only a couple of them looked great, while the others not so much. We also tried to make something larger and more complex, like this lightsaber. No matter what we did, we always got a very rough copper layer with no gloss. We managed to polish it a little bit and give it a nickel finish, but it ended up with this rusty and weathered appearance. It's not quite what we were going for, but in the end, it does look pretty cool. So that's it. It's worth emphasizing that the whole process is quite complex, and it's not easy to summarise everything in a single video. So check out the article link below to learn more about electroplating and 3D prints. And if you like our video, leave us a comment. So good luck and happy printing.
