gold to silver

[poshman]

hi all, recently my lounge has had a complete change anyway enough of that as its cost me a fortune ok ive got 3 pictures in gold looking frames and as all the room is now silver orientated i want change the frames to silver is there any decent paint i can buy to paint over them or will it just look a bodge up cheers Poshman
P S please come up with a solution as i dont want to spend any more money on new frames

 

[WoodYouLike]

on new frames

Can't you swap them? Ask a framer if he's up for it, swap your golden for his silver?

 

[Zampa]

Gold plastic?...or gold paint?

 

[TexMex]

If they are gold plated, Chromium plating actually takes quite well to gold. You will need a good quality adjustable power supply. This will have to be configurable for constant current.

Before you start you will also have to prepare some lead annodes. Clean up some pieces of lead sheet (flashing does the job). These need to have a surface area of at least 50% of item being plated.

Place a pair of them in a solution of 5% sulphuric acid and then apply a current of 5A for 15 minutes. Reverse polarity and continue for another 15 minutes, reverse the polarity one more time and apply 5A for a further 15 minutes. The anode should then have a brown deposit of PbO2. Dry this and set it aside for use as your anodes in the plating process.

For the plating itself you need to make up a solution of Chromic Acid. (250g of the crystals per litre would be about right). You also need to add about 1.5ml of H2SO4 (or 7.5ml Battery Acid).

The temperature of the solution is also critical. You should make sure that you maintain a temperature between 45 to 50C during the plating process. If you have an old fish tank heater with built in thermostat, this is ideal.

Connect your item to be plated to the Cathode (-ve) terminal of your power supply, and use your previously prepared lead as the annode. Apply a current of about 0.75A per sq. inch of the item to be plated. This will give a bright chrome finish. If you use a higher current (of say 1.5A per sq.inch) you will have a harder chrome, but it will have a mat appearance. This type of finish is sometimes used as bearing surfaces.

Personally, I'd just buy some more frames, it's a lot less bother.

 

[gcol]

ROFLMFAO - TexMex you are a nutcase! Keep up the good work.
Going to bed with a smile on my face now.
Cheers,
Gcol

 

[Zampa]

Im sure theres a joke there somewhere