Posted by js on August 19, 2001 at 12:18:38:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Gold Plating a MP Rim posted by Rick Denney on August 19, 2001 at 11:29:26:
My understanding is that most plating (nickel, silver, gold) will bond very well to copper, and copper bonds well to many base metals.
If surfaces are routinely (as Anderson silver plating does) copper struck prior to plating, my understanding is that the bond will be very good. I just sent off a mouthpiece to be re-gold plated by Anderson for the second time (total three - original and two redos) in 25 years (no particular mouthpiece-equipment geek, me). The gold was still intact on the rim face, but my carelessness had allowed some small amount of scratching on the face that I wanted to eliminate and then replate. I DID ask them to heavily gold plate it (maybe .0008", rather than .0004") but I didn't request any silver "undercoat". I know they copper strike the mouthpiece prior to gold plating it.
Did Anderson gold plate your mouthpiece that has a quickly failed bond? In spite of the fact that they use (very very soft) 24K gold, theirs seems to last by far the longest. If someone who does gold plating knows that their bond isn't particularly good, its probably a good idea to silver plating under it first.
Joe "who does some hillybilly plating, knows little about it, who has observed whose plating always seems to last the longest, and who knows who Vincent Bach Corporation went BACK to after trying it on their own for a few years" S.