[Jewelry making - Article 00936] - Re: [Orchid] Rhodium plating system

[Thackeray Taylor]

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>     Dear Dede, I having been wanting to set up small scale rhodium
>     plating over silver for a long time. Have never managed to find a
>     small-scale plater who does rhodium over silver---everyone I found
>     does rhodium only over gold, and everyone I've spoken to or
>     corresponded with says rhodium over silver on a small scale is
>     problematic. Perhaps Thackery can refer us to someone who uses the
>     Midas rh-over-gold system on silver with success? Janet in
>     Jerusalem 

    Dear Janet, Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Our rhodium
    solution is VERY acidic and any copper bearing metals will easily
    contaminate the solution as copper easily dissolves into this acid
    based solution. However, speaking from experience and with several
    people whom are even more experienced, pre plating with, nickel, gold
    or even silver, will prevent any contamination as these metals are
    not dissolved as easily into this acid base solution. Once this pre
    plating is done properly it's just like plating gold items. It's a
    little more work but well worth the results. Keep in mind binding
    wire is many times overlooked and will contaminate rhodium solutions
    just as readily as any component so you should be using stainless
    steel, 14k or higher, freshly nickel plated copper or fine silver.
    Also, probably the most common plating mistake we in tech support
    encounter is cleanliness or lack of. Buffing compound will
    contaminate solutions very easily so be diligent in your prep work
    and keeping your plating area clean! 

I hope this helps.
Warmest regards,
Thackeray
Rio Grande Technical Support


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