electroplating

[Marlin Junky]

Has anyone ever tried electroplating the copper from a penny or perhaps a section of tubing onto a Pb boolit? I remember decades ago shooting commercial copper clad .38's in my S&W and they shot a lot better than their unclad (grooved/"lubed") counterparts; however, they had a few thou of copper plated onto them.

MJ

[MtGun44]

No, but be aware that pennies are no longer copper, just copper plate on zinc. Older ones
in circulation are copper. I have used copper plated boolits with indifferent results, not much
of a fan.

Bill

[geargnasher]

There have been three or four good threads here in the past couple of years, and a few videos of plating boolits on utube.

Gear

[Marlin Junky]

There have been three or four good threads here in the past couple of years, and a few videos of plating boolits on utube.

Gear

Hmmm, I did a search on electroplating before starting this thread and it came up with zip.

MJ

[daengmei]

Search copper plating lead....

[nhrifle]

I have played around a little with it with so-so results. Nothing that would compare to professionally plated boolits. I dissolved root killer crystals in warm water to get copper into solution and ran current through the boolit with a D battery. The copper deposited quickly, but was uneven and not very thick. I tried to leave them in the soultion for awhile to get a thicker plating, but I think the boolit needs to be rotated during plating because part of it ended up with a blackened, almost burned look to it. The plating is fairly tough though, as I ran the plated boolit through a Lee sizer die without lube and it did not scrape off the copper. I tried shooting a few, but they wound up leading the barrel, so if I did it again I would have to lube them, which means its a bunch of extra work for no real benefit, except for maybe some pretty projectiles.

[Marlin Junky]

Search copper plating lead....http://castboolits.gunloads.com/search.php?searchid=145901, there's one thread.

Your link takes me to:

Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.

MJ

[Marlin Junky]

What are root killer crystals? What is the acid they form when dissolved in water?

MJ

[btroj]

Root killer is copper sulfate. No acid at all.

[daengmei]

Not sure of your setup but mine goes to a page that has several plating topics when I use that link.
By the way, I used all three terms together.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?48653-Pure-curiosity-Copper-plating&highlight=copper+plating+lead

[Marlin Junky]

Not sure of your setup but mine goes to a page that has several plating topics when I use that link.
By the way, I used all three terms together.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?48653-Pure-curiosity-Copper-plating&highlight=copper+plating+lead

There ya go, that link works... thanks.

MJ

[Marlin Junky]

Root killer is copper sulfate. No acid at all.

Hmmm... acid and current is needed to move the electrons.

MJ

[Thompsoncustom]

I've done it. Unless you have to have copper plated bullets it's not worth all the work

[btroj]

MJ, I meant that the root killer is copper sulfate.

I am hardly an expert on electroplating but I believe it doesn't require an acid. It needs free ions in solution and a current. The electrolyte helps the current flow but doesn't need to be an acid to do so.

I have used copper sulfate to place a very thin film of copper on clean steel. Place steel in solution, leave for a bit, remove. Nothing else required. Plating is very, very thin.

[daengmei]

MarlinJunky, that link did just as you said for me just a few minutes ago, hence my edit. I'm not sure why, the first time I checked it went where I intended. Maybe the link expired because it was a search? Something I'm not understanding I'm sure.

[nhrifle]

I have heard of some folks using a vinegar solution to give a weak acid, but I have never tried it. Most tap water is ionic enough to carry current, but maybe a few sprinkles of salt would help the current flow.

[Silver Eagle]

I would really avoid adding table salt to any electrolyte solution. Once you start pushing any current through it is a very good way to start producing chlorine gas! Not to mention what the salt is going to do to the properties of the plating bath.
There is a lot of info out there about copper plating at home. Part preparation is usually the key to success. That along with ratios of the chemicals in the bath and the precise control of the voltage and current from the power supply. The amount of time in the bath is also important. I would not be surprised if the commercial manufacturers use a tumbling type agitation to ensure full coverage. They also might use an interim plating step before plating on the copper.
Getting the copper onto the part is not the problem. Getting it to stick and stay there is!

[DLCTEX]

Bullet manufacturers are jacketing bullets by plating now. They can control the thickness by the time in the process. The exact method is kept secret.