Jewelry Brushing
Which base metal is best used when brush silver plating for jewelry?
I am considering beginning to make jewelry with Art Metal Clay, specifically copper, and use an silver plating kit to plate the copper pieces to ward off allergic reactions and skin discolorations.
My questions are:
Which metal is the best base metal to use when silver plating for jewelry? Is copper a better base metal than say steel or aluminum or white bronze? Which base metal would be best in preventing allergic reactions?
Can I brush plate over a piece several times to build up a nice layer of silver to prevent wear? Is there a way to tell how many microns thick the plating is? How thick can you brush plate an item? What is the best thickness to use when plating jewelry?
Copper is probably the best base metal in terms of adhesion and finish of the silver plating. Thus no base plating would be necessary.
In terms of hypoallergenic base metal Titanium is the best and jewelry made from titanium would need no protective coating. Also you can anodize titanium and give it colors of almost any hue.
To build up a decent coating it would probably be best to use a dip tank plating kit. And there is always the option of electro-less plating.
To measure the thickness of the plating you can use a micrometer. First measure the item prior to plating, then take a measurement after plating. Minus the first measurement from the second and divide by two if you are plating all the surfaces.
Caswell plating has a wide variety of kits and info about plating and active forum that would answer your questions in better detail.
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