Electrolytic Plating

I was buying the steel today for the electrolytic process that I'm planning on using on some razors when I realized something else also. I could use the same setup I'm working on to do copper/silver/gold plating on razors as well - or other metals. I don't know if anyone has tried this before, restoring the plating on a razor. The only real difference between electrolysis to remove rust and electrolytic plating is the solution and anode used for the process. With plating I'd use the metal I'm going to plate with as the anode (positive terminal) with the object I'm going to plate - razor - as the cathode (negative terminal).

I found a place online that I can get some of the solutions from, the solution is basically just a salt of the metal that helps to speed the process, as it has ions of the metal that you're using to plate already be present in the solution. I suppose this way gets expensive with gold, as a piece of gold would need to be used for the anode and a 1/10th oz. gold coin runs about $100 on ebay, with the price of gold being up and all. Not to mention that the coin would gradually be eaten away - transferred to plating on the razor - during the process.

Well anyways, I'll probably play with it with copper, I saw some sheets of copper for like $10 at home depot when I was getting my sheet metal, was a little hard to find non-galvanized and non-zinc plated sheet metal but I found some with some 'plain steel' nuts and bolts. I'm two weeks out from getting the last component to put together the little box I was planning, it just shipped from the UK.

Just thought I'd see if anyone had tried re-plating a razor before or if this is how the manufacturers do it or do they use electroless plating ?? Duno, but I'm gonna tinker with it on some junkers when I get everything together. :D I have a Genco that had gold-wash on it that is pretty rusty that I'll probably try first, once cleaned up. It'll become copper-wash instead :)

I know that in the process tape or something else could be used on areas I don't want to be plated.

I have been nickle,and gold plating the blades for some time Caswell Plating has everthing you need.The set up for gold plating is around 80.00 for everthing.I nickle plate all the pivot holes on the razors I rework to keep them from rusting.Best Regards Gary

Any chance that you've tried this stuff from Caswell.

http://www.caswellplating.com/aids/evaporust.html

Sounds pretty easy and it's cheap, like $25 and you could just soak a pile of razors in it for like a day and have all the rust be gone.

Never tried that,I use Ospho.Best regards Gary

Thanks for the info, Gary.
Nice of you.