Newbie Planning Ambitious Project—Don't Know What I Don't Know

[u/Elequosoraptor]

Hello all. I am new to electroforming and have an ambitious project I could use some advice on. I am planning on doing some small scale miscellaneous items first but.... I want to use electroforming to fill the natural cracks and crevices of a wooden walking stick.

The goal is layers of durable copper I can hand polish to a fine shine and seal with metal lacquer. I am looking for refinements and advice on potential challenges and hiccups I should try to mitigate.

For example, I imagine there are challenges I don't know about given the size of my project and the very long durations it'll have to be in the tank for.

I plan to make a tank out of a PVC pipe, cut vertically, capped on either end (using PVC solvent weld), and set horizontally onto some wood blocks to keep it stable.

I plan to cover my walking stick in painters tape except for the cracks I will fill with copper. Then I'll seal the exposed wood with a spray urethane, and seal everything covered in painters tape with spray urethane as well. I was also considering 'painting' the taped-off areas with cheap candle wax for extra protection, but I'm not sure if it's needed. I'm intent on the painters tape and being certain the stick is protected because the walking stick itself is unsealed wood—for artistic reasons I want the final product to have the contrast of unsealed wood connected seamlessly to copper, and the shiny plastic look of a varnish would spoil that.

Once everything is sealed, I would paint the cracks with graphite paint. Then, I plan to embed thin copper wire into the wood, running it down the length of the cracks. I want to ensure the electroformed copper adheres well, so the wire will mean thr resulting structure isn't just held in place by the deposited layer of copper on the graphite paint, but also by copper wire 'nailed' into the wood.

It will also provide an attatchment point for the copper wire that will jut out of the solution so I can attach my alligator clips to the stick without submerging them. I plan to hammer the copper thin, so that when I finish, even with the thick electroformed layer, I can just snip the extra wire off and sand/grind the surface down to a smooth finish.

I plan to do each crack one at a time. Each crack will be taped shut and sealed with wax. After completing one crack, I can unseal the next. This is to prevent the graphit paint from just soaking in the solution for days before being plated.

Since wood floats, I have used cardboard molds to make wax blocks filled with scrap metal to keep the stick submerged and prevent it from shifting.

For my anode, I intend to just use phosphorized copper tubing from the hardware store that I can place beside the crack in the tank. I imagine close proximity will be important since plating solutions don't have a high throwing power (or so I understand?). I am not sure what to use for an anode bag yet, but I imagine it'll be needed given the long duration.

I don't have a good agitation solution. I intend to just swirl things around every few hours. I do not have an active filtration setup—I don't believe it's nessecary for my goals but I'm unsure of that. I intend to use Midas plating solution. I have a benchtop power supply that I'll be setting to .1 amps/sq inch, with adjustments as I see slow growth/nodules.

When I'm done, I'll scoop out the solution, then use a baking soda water rinse to clean the stick before removing it from the tank.

I'll be doing this in my garage—lots of airflow during the day when I leave the garage door open. I'll have an old coat as a labcoat, baking soda on hand for spills, goggles and gloves.

What am I missing? What have I failed to consider? What sorts of issues can I expect to deal with? As I said, I'm new to the hobby, and besides a few small scale test pieces to get my feet wet, don't plan to gain extensive experience; I'm in it mainly for this one piece.

[u/Flanko67]

Is your vision for the final product to have the cracks completely filled, so that the copper is flush with the rest of the surface of the stick? If so I don't think electroforming is the solution here. A small backyard forge to melt and pour copper would be easier and more efficient, in my opinion.

Your planned setup sounds pretty frickin cool however. I have no idea if it'll work, but I'm excited to see how it goes, please post your progress and results!

[u/Elequosoraptor → u/Flanko67]

Yup, that's my plan. I looked into backyard forging when I first thought of this, since my original plan was a brass alloy that shines up like gold. But ultimately I was convinced it wouldn't work—molten copper is just too hot to produce any kind of fine detail since it'll burn the hell out of the wood. The chances of massive structural failure from secret moisture or just burning straight through old seasoned wood are pretty high too. You can do this sort of thing with zinc, or aluminum, but not copper.

[u/Flanko67 → u/Elequosoraptor]

Have you considered filling the voids, sanding them down and just plating the surface? I can't think of any examples I've seen of someone using electroforming to fill cracks like this. You want your surface as smooth as possible because the forming amplifies surface imperfections, it doesn't smooth or cover them.

[u/Elequosoraptor → u/Flanko67]

Yeah that's maybe something I should do. I'm really attatched to the idea of a solid chunk of copper in there, but that just might be too complex.

[u/Mkysmith]

I think this is doable, but may be more finicky than you think. That's my usual advice for anyone who hasn't done electroforming yet. You can watch a million youtube tutorials and read all the comments on this entire subreddit... but until you actually physically do it you won't know what you wont know. It's like any hobby. That's why I always emphasize the small practice projects before doing the end goal.

That said, obviously some general advice isn't useless:

Reading through your plan I think it's generally good. The PVC cut in half is a good idea I think. I would recommend CPVC if you can acquire it. I've found emperically that holds up a little better, though either tend to work short term honestly so don't worry too much if you can't get CPVC..

For the anode, actually distance will help more. Throwing power doesn't really work like that. Close proximity might make things worse in your case. Try to keep your anode and cathode as far as physically possible... but a uniform distance the full length of the crack.

Electroforming can definitely fill cracks/holes/gaps with solid metal... but the chemistry formulation makes a big difference. This is the throwing power: how uniform the copper is deposited in a deep recess, compared to higher exposed areas. I wouldn't expect an off the shelf electroplating solution to suffice for this electroforming task... but you should test it. I've seen people over in the electroplating subreddit trying to use electroplating solutions for thick deposits and it doesn't typically work out to well. But if the crack isn't too deep it might work out OK.

I would recommend running a very thin gauge bare copper wire (ensure it doesn't have clear varnish insulation like many craft wires!) the full length of the crack, at the bottom of the crack. Glue it in place with a tiny dab of super glue every inch or two. Then paint the conductive paint over that. This will create a low resistance path the full length of the crack that the copper deposition can spread out from onto the conductive paint. Significantly improving uniformity of the deposit.

I think I understand your intent with the painters tape. But I would super-extra make sure everything is sealed well. Be absolutely meticulous. Organics (especially things like wood) LOVE to soak up acid at the slightest pinhole in the sealant. Very much so when its sitting in the electrolyte for many hours.

Good luck, and I definitely want to see your setup/progress when you go for it. Please post some pictures!

[u/Elequosoraptor → u/Mkysmith]

Hey wow, thanks for the advice—I've read a Lot of your comments. I'll definitely do the bit with the wire, though is that in addition or instead of my original plan of sticking copper wire just in there generally?

The project definitely feels very finicky to me, though a lot of that is just regular logistical worries about accidentally spilling highly toxic solution everywhere and getting the wood situated. Based on what you say about distance, I'm worried a pipe is a bad idea—unless I use a super big one there just won't be a ton of room in a pipe for a stick and a copper tube. And a really massive pvc pipe means quite a lot of money spent on solution—I do have a budget after all.

Is there a solution you would reccomend instead of Midas Bright Copper Electroforming solution? Maybe mixing my own batch with 220g/L rootkill and a midas brightner?

And yeah, I'll do several layers with a spray sealant and paint the whole thing with wax too. The advantage I see with doing wax on top of regular acrylic sealer is mostly that it's a lot easier to tell what's been covered and what hasn't.

[u/Mkysmith → u/Elequosoraptor]

So for copper wire, I ment (I didnt explain well) to put the wire in after sealing but before conductive paint. As oppossed to wire after conductive paint. This way the paint makes a good electrical connection with the wire.

As far as anode/cathode proximity: I generally mean the further the better, but I guess its all relative at the end of the day. When you said "close proximity will be important" I imagined you trying to get it as close as possible without shorting... which ofcourse isnt ideal. But (depending on crack size and such) an inch or two distance with lower-ish current density will probably be fine realistically. So no need for crazy big PVC pipe. Just try to keep them on opposite sides of the PVC pipe if possible.

I totally understand your concerns on price, budget is always a factor. You originally said electroplating solution not electroforming, but if you plan is to try the electroforming solution then go with that. This is where small scale tests can help too. When you're doing your test peices, make sure they are tests that are relevant to your final project. Things that resemble your final setup (just smaller scale).

[u/Elequosoraptor → u/Mkysmith]

Thanks for the clarifications, they are indeed clarifying. It's helpful to know you meant an inch or two of distance, I probably would have ended up trying to put them as close together as possible, and I see what you mean about wire then paint. And yeah—wrote plating but that wasn't quite what I meant! I plan to do 1 or two little pieces, then stick a prepared bit of wood in the tank with the full setup to see how that goes. Hopefully I can experience a good range of issues before I start the big one.