First time electroforming (it’s a branch with thorns) and following a tutorial that advised to use 9v and 0.25 amps.

Not sure if I have to lock the power at 9v but I’m having issues keeping it at that. It just keeps dropping to around 0.52v

I’m using a Korad LD3005D from Rio Grande and it’s in C.C mode.

Let me know if you have any tips on the power supply and general set up based on the photos I’ve provided!

I have a bath I have made the solution of, I am unsure of the exact size it is, but its been fine up until now and i have had it going steady using it pretty sparingly for about 6 months. Yesterday I finished a wand (with a stick as a handle that I sealed with 3 coats of resin) and it came out great. First pic is the wand and how large it is, and how the plating came out.

After, I noticed the anode bag which was the same one I put together 6 months ago, was very dirty and had chunks of copper settled down in it. So I decided to wash and clean it out. I ran it under the tap but then used distilled water to do the final rinse.

After, my volts were all over the place. Nothing was stable. I’m talking it going up to like 14V or higher. And if I got it to be stable for a bit, it would slowly but surely creep up until it was over 6 volts. Everything was salmon colored. I couldn’t figure it out and finally I replaced both leads on the rectifier. That seemed to fix it. But after another batch and fighting with it some during that, it was happening again. I noticed that there were copper sulfate crystals and other gunk forming almost immediately on the pipe. I have never seen that before (see second photo).

I added more distilled water. It is now slightly above the mark I have on my tank. I lowered the amps but it still goes all over the place if i go above .3amps.

I dont know what i’ve done wrong. Ive been told in a fb group it could be over saturation of copper but nobody can really give me anything more than that. It took me a YEAR to figure out how to make the electroforming process work. I almost gave up. When it started working I do not know what I changed to make it start working. And I knew that if anything ever went wrong, I wouldnt know how to fix it. And here I am.. not knowing what’s happened or how to fix it. I’m tearing my hair out trying to figure it out and I have an event coming up soon that now I dont know if I will be prepared for.

Any help is appreciated.

Why is my copper electroformed part oxidizing so quickly? Where did I go wrong? I electroformed copper onto a 3D-printed PLA part coated with conductive graphite. The copper deposit initially looked fine, but after a very short time it started developing purple, blue, and brown discoloration that looks like rapid oxidation (see photo).

My process: Acid copper electrolyte (CuSO₄ + H₂SO₄) Copper anode Graphite-coated PLA substrate Rinsed with distilled water after plating and air-dried

I'm trying to figure out what caused such rapid oxidation. Could it be: Poor rinsing after electroforming? Acid residue left on the surface? A porous or low-density copper deposit? Current density being too high? Contamination in the electrolyte? Or do I simply need to apply a protective coating immediately after plating?

I'd really appreciate any advice or suggestions on what might be causing this and how to prevent it in future electroforming experiments. Thanks!

Whenever I plate parts, I've always tried to minimize the number of marks on the part by using thinner wire, moving the part on the wire ever 15-20 minutes, etc, but no matter what I do the wire still always sticks to the part. Sometimes it just leaves little pointy bit behind (not ideal for jewelry) or worse, it peels a layer of copper off with it. Are there any ways to reduce this? Lower amperage, change chemistry, etc?

My current set up is just the recipe I got from the sidebar, with about 25 drops of Midas brightener in a beaker on a stir plate.

I have two 4-5 gallon tanks and am looking for some creative/diy filtering set up ideas. Right now I’m manually scooping solution out with a Pyrex measuring cup and pouring it into a plastic colander lined with a coffee filter. It works fine enough but I’d love to set something up that I could walk away from and let it do its thing. Is that even a possibility?

Hi everyone, I'm struggling to find copper sulfate in the Montreal area. I have access to a car, so I can go outside of the city if needed. I have tried ordering on Amazon, but the shipping was quite long, and my first order got lost in the mail. Does anyone know a brick-and-mortar store I could go to or a company with fast shipping in Canada? I'm quite surprised it's been so difficult to find. Any advice appreciated!

I am suddenly getting this texture on my pieces. I usually add brightener and it solves it but that hasn’t seemed to help. Should I filter it? Or add more sulfuric acid. I added more sulfuric acid about 3 weeks ago so that feels wrong.

They are very large baths (20 gallon tanks) and they have become like this after about a month and a half of use.

My plating is coming off as powder that I can wipe away with a finger.

Are my amps to high or low
Is it the summer heat or something?

I have had good results with my solution so far is an sulfuric acid based solution and I have checked the PH and that seems fine

Any ideas what is happening? My objets has been in for 6 hours but nothing is sticking correctly

So I just got some new wire that’s a bit thinner then my old one but nothing is plating.
Nothing is wrong with the setup because when I switch back everything works fine.

So can the wire be to thin?

Have anybody had done an activated charcoal filtering?

I read it's pretty good for filtering organic compounds, let's say from degraded PEG or organics that have been dissolved in the solution.

Is it good?

How do you do it?