Easiest Copper Plating Method Revealed 

I decided to do some plating this morning, and watched the video on plating with muriatic (hydrochloric) acid. I live in the country, and didn't want to drive to town to buy muiratic, so I went to the pantry, and sure nuff, there was a container of Lysol brand toilet bowl cleaner, which has 9.5% hydrochloric acid, and 90.5% "other" ingredients. This stuff is thick and dark blue out of the container. I set up my plating bath, using the toilet bowl cleaner as it came out of the container (no further dilution), and a piece of scrap copper tubing used in house plumbing for the anode (+). I was plating some new cast iron pipe fittings, and some steel black iron pipe. I washed the cast fittings with Comet cleanser, and lightly sanded the black iron pipe with 220 grit sandpaper before starting the plating process. I used two fresh AA batteries for the electrical source. I started off with the plating solution on a cold hot plate, and it took a total of 20 minutes to get the desired level of plating on the first piece. As the solution heated up to about 200 degrees F, subsequent platings took less and less time. I am still plating the fittings as I peck this out, and each piece is now down to 7-8 minutes. The finish is bright, uniform, and durable. As each piece comes out of the plating process, I wash it under running water, and spray the piece with vammonia solution to "kill" any remaining acid. I'm very pleased with the results. It worked better than many other techniques that I have tried in the past. Cast iron and black iron pipe (actually steel) come from the manufacturer with a pickling oil on them (or black paint on the pipe) to keep them from rusting in the store. I did not have to do anything special to get rid of the oil, but I removed the paint with an electric wire whee before plating. This process seems to be very forgiving, not requiring any extraordinary prep work to make sure the parts to be plated are extra clean. The results are consistant from one piece to another. I'll do my plating with this technique from now on. Just to experiment a bit, I replaced the copper anode with a piece of brass. The next piece came out copper colored instead of brass. Not surprising, because there was a lot of copper in the solution left from previous plating. Brass might plate out if I start with fresh solution. That will be a nice next experinment. The copper tubing anode has noticably dissolved into the toilet bowl cleaner, so it puts a pretty thick layer of copper on the pipe.

With that voice of yours, sir, you should be working as a radio personality!

RIP gnat. We will remember you.

quick and to the point. if only all instructional videos could be the same.

"always add acid to water" instant thumbs up.

The nail is zinc plated and that’s why the copper is a durable finish. Raw cold rolled steel, normally won’t take a copper electroplating method as described.

Had to give a thumbs up ~just~ to give my proper respects to Mr. Gnat. Sir, you're a genuine saint for honoring this poor lost soul!

The previous poster is right, you have a real broadcast voice. Made the tutorial a pleasure to listen to!

Thanks for the very informative video, and thanks for keeping it snappy. So many videos are much longer than they should be and do not respect the viewer's time. I had a crazy idea many years ago to use a copper water pipe as the anode and put a thin copper plating onto cast lead bullets. They aren't the same as copper jacketed bullets (FMJ) and they shoot more like cast lead bullets, but they don't need messy bullet lube to prevent lead deposits in the bore of a firearm. I was thinking of an automated machine that would plate the bullets for me. It's one of those projects I never got around to doing. Your video has me thinking about that project again. RU-vid is a dangerous place for me. :-) RIP Mr. Gnat.

You also don’t add a base to acid because then it is the acid that separates and splashes back together to potentially splash out of the container. Great video my friend!

Came here for a quick curiousity and not only was it informative and easy to understand, the gnat heaven part gave me a chuckle!

that method would initial eat most metals before you even get the solution full of copper ions to increase the ph and start the plating. The best method for beginner plating would be to get root kill copper sulfate from a hard ware store. then add NH3 NaNO3 and Oxalic acid. Look up non cyanide alkaline copper bath composition.

Thanks for a GREAT VIDEO !!! Little Willie was a chemist, but he is no more. For what he thought was H2O, was H2SO4. Muriatic acid is not sulfuric acid, it is hydrochloric acid, I just liked the poem. Just one more thing, Varnado toilet bowl cleaner, and The Works toilet bowl cleaner are both hydrochloric acid (other additives might ruin the final product). Both are readily available in the grocery store or places like Target, K-mart, etc.

Love this! Cant wait to try this on different parts of my motorcycle. Love the durability of it compared to paint.

Mr. Gnat is with us in our hearts. Our thoughts go out to his family. That being said, this video is great and your other ones too! Very informative and valuable tips. Thanks!

Thank you. This may come in handy for re-plating a soldering iron tip.

This is so much more convenient than the other methods I've seen!! Question, should I use any conductive paint on non-metallic objects that I want to plate?

This is dope! I got a few questions... 1.Will the amount of copper used make a difference on the finish? 2.Would a solid copper piece be better or does it have to be hollow like the pipe? 3.Does polishing the copper make a difference on results?

Thanks for info, especially about using the muriatic acid and simple batteries. I'm interested in this for jewelry making, can't wait to start playing around with this. Question, can you reuse the water/acid solution?

Thanks a lot. I tried a lot of recipes and was always disappointed. I followed the instructions and it worked perfectly on bare steel. I think the trick is to begin with an electrolyte without copper to avoid any chemical reaction. Great tutorial.

Excellent! This will be so useful for projects. You mention that it is thin but also very durable, but I wonder how this would fair on an item with day-to-day wear. Is there a method for making this thicker? Do you just repeat it, or leave it in for much longer?

With such a battery it would be better and safer to put a 12volt 5watt auto side light bulb in series with the positive anode lead - this will limit the current to 0.5 amp and just light up if the two electrodes touch ! Otherwise your croc clip leads will burn up like fusewire !

I guess you could call it a Gnatural result of swimming in acid, thanks for the vid

Your commentary on Mr Gnat was just brilliant 😂

Is it possible to copper plate aluminium ?

Nice video! I tried it, and made a video using some spare change and it seemed to work out pretty well! I polished the coins using some vinegar, salt and flour and made a video. The coins turned out pretty neat looking!

Works great. You have a 5 Amp battery, and I started with a 12v power supply on 20 Amps but it was overheating. Went down to 10.

Worked great for our project. Great big thanks. Alternate power source: 12v trickle charger.

Thank you for this set of cool, informative videos. I see beautifully shiny copper objects around, like pans, coins or cpu heatsinks. As far as it is seen on these videos, (although still beautiful in one sense) most plating ends up with a rusty looking matte finish. How is the polished look been achieved?

thank you very much. This is great way to improvide hard to find part with longer time and thick plating. Bravo

cool. Thanks! do you have one this easy for gold plating?

"See the previous video" Previous video: Spider green screen stock footage.

very nice video!What is the concentration of the acid?

The poor gnat! Rest in pease little guy.

Excellent video! I think I'd rig some kind of stirring apparatus. Maybe an aquarium air pump would be enough. I know what Barkeeper's Friend is, but what is "cleanser"?

From memory the ideal voltage for plating is just above the differential voltage of the materials used, eg if you were plating carbon with zinc you would need just a little bit over 1.5V

Very cool I didn't know you could do that so simply. Thanks

I did this with a tuning fork. It worked out great thanks mate!

Hello there! I have a question... Do you think it would be ok to plate a gas tank? as the tank sealing chemicals are quite expensive, I was thinking to plate mine as i guess it will be way cheaper than the chemicals... Thanks in advance!

It is not voltage, it is low amperage (1 amp or less) which results in successful small granular plating particles. ref: 1:59. Thank you for your instructional video.

Very gnattily done... ;) -- Good sound, great detail, well done camera work, pacing and editing. Thank you!

Very interesting thank you.Wondering if i coat a knife made from an old circular saw blade with copper or even brass will the plating affect the heat treatment/hardness of the steel?For instance if i heat treated after plating then the plating may possibly burn off in the cherry red heat of the steel?Conversely is the electricity going to cause any change to hardness of the steel or will the copper just coat up without any other changes to the original steel if i plate up after hardening /tempering?

The gnat tribute really got me hahaha XD

Never before have I been so emotional toward a gnat :,(

Can this process be used as a basis for a thicker copper plate? Maybe the copper sulfate process after this one?

Really cool video. Just to be a sure, what is the concentration of the Muriatic from the hardware store? Best regards Svend

How does this compare to your Root Kill method and have you tried it on aluminum? Have read that reversing the poles for a bit on AL will etch off the oxidation, then switch back to normal polarity to plate.

WOW! That's exactly what I wanted to do that with a half dollar too! Either way, it was very informative :)

Thanks for the video ; So you only need to stir the nail at the beginning of the process ? ...

Nice video … let’s say if you would have nickel plated the copper pipe how would you reverse that effect?????

Very nice set of videos Stan, well done.

Great video, right to the point. Do you think a stir rod on a stir plate would be enough agitation?

What are the key differences between using Sulphuric, Hydrochloric or Muriatic Acid?

in the case of nail (Fe + CuSO4) one need not electrolysis. Cu is more active than Fe and replaces Fe. In othew cases the electic current is of course necessary, Thanks for thiw video!.

Very cool did not know it was so easy. I need to try this to solder some copper to steel to make an LED heat Sink.

Would you use this method or the previous method for the clip to a every day carried knife? I am worried about wear

So always the piece to be plated, is connected to the negative?

Can this method be used for making via holes on a double sided pcb???

Mr. Knat is not gone. He's in the Lord's house waiting for you...

You seem to have the cathode and the anode confused. The cathode is the electrode where oxygen gas is released in this instance, and the anode releases hydrogen. This can be validated because hydrogen is a negative ion and the anode (negative) liberates it. Oxidation occurs at the cathode, while reduction occurs at the anode. Just look at the the positive terminal of a battery as the cathode, and the negative as the anode.

I have extra strength vinegar. Can I use that as I have used soda bicarbonate and distilled water and brewed my batch. I did a kitchen spoon and came up like rose gold! Any reply appreciated cheers from Australia 🙂👍👍👍

Can you also achieve copper plate thickness of 1mm thick? Or is there a limit on the thickness

That was great and funny! Loved the video, going to use your set up to copper plate an old set of golf iron heads. Removing old chrome plating first using electrolysis.

You said this only applies a thin coat of copper, if I do this putting a thin coat on the part, could I put it in a copper acetate bath to put a heavy plate on over top the thin coat? Thank you for the video

I use to take Snowbowl toilet bowl cleaner. Fill a tall glass container with it and a heaping handful of dirty pennies. Add whatever you want to plate,and let sit overnight. It would apply a swirly copper coat similar to rolling clouds. No electricity needed.

Cool video and a cool voice man ! Thumbs up ! 👍👍

I don't have any kind of acid. Will the water from the pickled cucumbers do the same job?

Could I copper plate black iron closet flanges this way? I imagine for the copper to really show I would probably have to polish the pieces first. I'm building some open shelving in my kitchen and I'm going to hang it from the ceiling with 3/4" copper pipe and I'm planning to secure it to the ceiling with closet flanges. They would surely look better if plated to match the pipe.

Been doing this with root kill and d batteries ran in series (3 volt). The copper always comes out dull and milky looking. Any thoughts on that. I shine it up with mag and aluminum polish, so not a big deal. Also, can the acid plating method be used on aluminum? I know normally you have to nickel place first, but I would love to skip a step, haha.

So could you use this same process to plate something with beryllium copper?

What concentration of hydrochloric acid did you use to make the mixture (as 1 part of X % muriatic acid)

Hello sir.. I ve couldn't find Muriatic Acid and i bought a cleaning thing that it has 24 percent of HCL . I used this and 9 volts power source but it doesn't plate well.. To have a good plate i have to let it in for a longer time but then i have burned spots even though i move it around.. Is it cause i used 24 percent of Hcl ? i need to find some thing with more density ??

Great video. I'm wanting to get into nickel-plating and I mostly care about copper-plating as a base layer for the nickel. Is there any real benefit to making the copper layer thicker in that scenario? I'm thinking probably not, but it would nice to hear from someone who has tried both methods. Also getting hold of hydrochloric/muriatic acid instead of sulphuric acid is a heck of a lot easier where I live.

I am a refrigeration engineer, and at the risk of missing out on a patent. I get a lot of problems of refrigerant leaks due to corrosion of chrome plated copper pipes exposed to water in a plastic tray after a defrost. For some reason the mixture of copper galvanized steel chrome and aluminium within the fridge and water creates a battery effect. On the back of the fridge unit there is a 12v ac output transformer that powers the internal light . If i was to tap off this on one side with a diode and a resistor to give me a 0 to 3v half wave positive voltage to a copper electrode suspended in the water tray and ground the other side of the output of the 12v transformer clamped to the fridge pipe . Would this copper plate the chrome coated copper pipe that corrodes or at least prevent corrosion . The pipe normally leaks after 2 years. So i need a process that slowly prevents normal corrosion for many years.

great video. will it work on lead slugs.

Again I Thank You, I have been corking with copper plating from starting wit the Caswell "Plug and Brush " Group, up to having my own rectifier set up, again I do all my own anodizing, however on on of your other videos you show using 2 D cell Batteries, and believed that was the best way to go. Now i bee a larger battery and i would think it is some sort of hobby battery 12 is it 12 volts, and could you please let me know the amperage, P.S. although, most of my anodizing set up is from the Good Will and Yard sales,I did break down and purchase a power source from Caswell the small of the 2, Now sometimes I wish i would of purchased the larger as when I get into anodizing 3-4 larger model engine parts using the 720 rule i am unable to meet the voltage requirement, keeping the amps where i need it to stay using the 720 rule. Anyhow, getting back on track curious to the amperage of you battery and in fact s it 12V. Keep up the good Work, Respectfully, Jim P. P.s. I really do do get the ""Ungrateful Moronic Comments"", that I see people really trying to keep it simple for the new person, I think they are basically a bunch of RUDE, Nose Picking, Living in Mommy's Basement, and that Mommy bought for them a Laptop, and they are mad at the world, because they have to come to understand they are USELESS, TO THEMSELVES , AND SOCIETY, KEEP UP THE GREAT work. Respectfully, Jim P..

Congratulations! Very good work! Can the same be done with gold?

1 plastic bowl made in China, a bunch of copper wire as electrode, 0.8 mm iron plate, an old cellphone charger (draw some 150-200 mA at 4.something V), HCl (muriatic acid 16-18%) and tap water. It works very well, thank You for the tip. Also I have a question regarding to keeping the copper shiny. Have You tried to cover the plating with some kind of varnish or similar?

let us find the effect of potential difference on the plating deposition rate. Also factors on which uniformity of plating thickness depends.

Thank you for sharing this method , really informative.

A carbon rod can be plated in the same way. Then you can solder a wire to the copper plating for an electrical connection. I use copper sulphate instead of acid though.

Nice video Can u use distilled water and battry acid for this?

the solution is very light coloured,is that mean the concentration of copper dissolve less?

I'm having trouble getting the copper to stick to my item ,what am I doing wrong?

I have used salt water before and it seemed to work well

In your prior video, you say nickel is a good base for copper plate, but here you say this copper plate is a good strike plate for nickel - which is best for the other?

So, if I only want to plate a portion of the area; can I just use nail polish or electrical tape to avoid plating those areas?

Used to copper plate things as a kid using copper sulfate in water and couple batteries.

I have a project which involves copper plating over cast Iron. I've been experimenting with this technique, but I find that i'm getting a lot of black carbonization on my nail, as I practice. It does seem to be laying down a bit of copper.....but the nail turns black instantly when the power is applied, as if i had held it over a candle flame to soot it. I'm using the same 5:1 distilled water/acid ratio, and 3 volts of power from 2 AAA batteries. Any thoughts ??? I love the technique, if I can get it to take, it'll be a perfect method for this project.

Excellent video. Definitely a radio voice. Is there something similar for tin plating PCB etched circuit boards? Thanks a bunch!

does this work whit gold ?

3 Years later and I am still waiting to see the copper-plated Gnat? (perhaps it is till too soon).

Can you use vinegar in place of the acid?

This works so much better and faster than any of the vinegar methods.

You could say he's gone on to the _gnatherworld._

Would this hold up in a marine environment? It would just be for the trim on my steel boat. Steel is German ST-52, 7mm thick.

How long does the solution stay "good to use" for? Great explanation and simple. Cheers

I reversed the leads and stripped the crome from a zippo lighter thank you.

Awesome information! I found out that Zep Root Kill contains 99% copper sulfate penta H in the solution. It can be used to help copper plate pieces. I wonder can you copper plate zinc? Let say you have galvanized wire... can that be copper plated?

Which plating chemical works best for knives muriatic acid or the stuff in zep root killed? I’ve tried both methods and cleaned what I want to plate and had gloves on when touching the piece and still can’t get an even plating any tips?