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Simply MARVELOUS. I Love how easy you make it look. The MOST important is to have good ventilation. Some day I’d like to try electroplating myself. I save your videos for future knowledge. Thank You 🙏
There's something inherently unsettling about seeing that particular lightsaber so pristine. It comes from the era of aged/weathered/lived-in. That's not to say yours isn't absolutely beautiful, it's just odd seeing it like that. That being said, you make the process seem so accessible. I'm subbing and gonna try this on one of my upcoming projects. Keep it up!
Thank you for your videos i an using a elegoo jupiter myself to print Thor Love of Thunder Hammer myself and i an going to electro plate it hopefully my print will come out like your finishes fingers crossed thank you again
thats very nice amazing job , i think will be amazing the tutorial when is done is a process i would like to try.... ,iam doing also tons of resin prints ,if you want my opinion about the sanding part ,dont use normal paper but sponge sanding pads because they dont collect so much dust on the actuall fibers so you can use them twice the time and are much much easier to sand ,since i discover those i never going back to normal paper ones !
Yes i agree i use the sanding pads myself on my prints and i use also a heat gun to slight warm my prints before sanding for smooth results and also to remove the supports for less dimples from the tips of the supports
@@hen3drik Your welcome i also mainly use elegoo resin 3d printers myself and a elegoo Neptune 3 plus and max for FDM and Metal prints try a resin called resione tough resin for the best prints more so for hollowed prints
Another amazing video - can't wait for that new guide, but I've loved that you always include a tutorial aspect in each video you do! Quick question - when electroplating copper, can you leave it as copper on it's own, or will it start to oxidize? If so how do you stop it if you wanted a print to just have a copper finish? Also, while the print is electroplating can you get an electric shock if you were to touch the anodes or the water?
thanks! copper will start oxidizing the moment it's in contact with air. There are clear coats that do this job (i.e. Zapon clear coat) but any regular clear coat does the job, as well. You won't get a shock it you touch it (voltage too low), but you shouldn't to it either (contaminate, acid(!) etc.). :-)
Honestly, the blackening is quite hard to obtain. If you dare, get browning/blackening solution, blackening oil and start experimenting. What I learned is that you should only dip the copper parts short into the blackening solution and then into water. Repeat this over and over. Then oil for 30 min. Then let it dry. Long.
Simply… wow! That looks just like the real thing. You would never know that was a 3D print. Do you know of any good companies that offer electroplating, or do you offer a service?
Thank you. I don’t offer this service and I don’t know if anybody does. There maybe are several professions electroforming companies but I don’t think these services are affordable.
Regarding the current : how do we decide how much to put and for how long exactly ? I assume there is a formula somewhere depending on how big the surface to plate is ? Also how do you decide on the increments when raising voltage ? do you just get the hang of it from practice, or are there existing rules to follow ?
Hi, I follow exact rules. It‘s 1A/dm^2 surface area constant current mode. You‘ll deposit around 0.4-0.5um/min Cu on your part. I cut half the amps the first 30mins, after that 100% for 3.5hrs. 😃
@@hen3drik Okay bonus question : I mixed the tifoo copper paint with acetone (well the nitro one you recommanded in another video) and I get a rather grainy texture from airbrushing this. Is my mix incorrect ? I went 50/50...
I love your videos and am Planning on starting to plate my 3d prints. 1 quick question. After you are done plating and everything is dry. Is it safe to handle the nickel-plated objects? It seems that I remember reading about nickel Poisoning, but that might just be for people who work in the nickel smelting industry where they are melting the nickel down.
Nickel is a contact allergen. The Elektrolyte is very poisonous and carcinogenic. The plated nickel itself is still allergenic. I don’t touch these often. If you plan to handle it a lot consider palladium on top.
That's very impressive. Say that I wanted to recreate this, but with thin walls for the tube, in order to install electronics in it and make it work... would that be possible to produce such thin walls off a 3d printer and still not shatter when hit?
Thanks. It was this: Tomodachi Filterbeutel... www.amazon.de/dp/B0089MYF20?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share … but you can use any other since the filtering is done by the coffee filter.
The anodes are dissolving after some time. This depends on how big your plated parts are. I usually use my copper sheets around 8x until they get very thin, but it’s hard to calculate. The electrolyte regenerates by the copper anodes. It needs filtering and brightner from time to time. You can check pH, too. Besides that it’s pretty easy. That’s still my first electrolyte(!).
No, it's a thick metal coating. It cannot be distinguished from solid metal externally. I.e. Gold can also be used as a decorative coating, but it would wear off after countless touches and exposure to sweat. However, that is not the case here.
@@hen3drik too bad I can't find in Amazon Brazil the conducive paint you used. What if I apply a mix of graphite powder and a water-based primer coating for plastic materials? Do you think this would work instead of the copper coating?
Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. Honestly, it must be said that in my opinion, these results are not achieved right away. It's more the result of a lot of practice; whether it's worth it is up to each individual to decide.😉
@@hen3drik I hope he is, I felt bad when he got unsatisfactory results. Honestly, even though this is a very labor intensive process, when the proper effort is given, all problems are figured out, and the stars align, it's worth it for such a good appearance.
This is awsome, I love designing and 3d Printing lightsaber, and the only thing I am missing is a real metallic effect! Is the plating really binding well to the print surface or does it wear of if handled a lot? (I mean handled as much as you would handle a lightsaber to play around with it)
Really amazing result! Have you tried wet sanding the prints? It eliminates the dust and clears the particles so that the sandpaper actually works better…especially on plastics.
@@hen3drik Thank you. I've tried to look around but seems like everyone wants to use graphite powder and acrylic paint or wood glue mixes. Frankly all of them look horrible to me. Lumpy finish. Nothing like the smooth finish I've seen in all your videos. I've thought about trying caswell copper paint. It's a water based paint. In the electroplating solution I worry that water gets through the paint and causes adhesion issues as the water evaporates.
That is a beautiful result, one of the problems I have seen with electroplated objects is they lose their magic when you handle them and realise there is no weight to them. I like the idea of printing the parts hollow, have you considered filling the parts with lead shot and epoxy to give a little heft to the finished product?
Wish we could get this Tifoo brand paints in the US. Spent nearly 3 hours looking around the internet and can't find anything similar, especially not at the same cost.
This video is full of dry stuff, especially the blackening of the copper plating. Sensation can be applied to the color separation of relief. For example, the first layer of copper plating, and then targeted on the relief surface of gold plating, and then black treatment, should get very good results🤔🤔🤔
Thank you for the quick response! I love your videos, and I am very excited/interested in getting into this hobby. Your videos have both inspired and taught me much!
Hi, love it! I’m trying to buy a power supply for plating helmets like that and even a bit bigger, I found one 0-15vdc 0-40A regulated power supply is this ok ?
