Electroplating fixture

This fixture holds 6 metallic strips, such as copper or nickel, to surround a part to be electroplated. The metallic strips are connected by a wire to form one electrode,  and are held in place by 6 set screws. A hole in the middle allows another wire to pass through and form a hook to suspend the part to be electroplated. The fixture is sized to fit in a 3 liter beaker.

To complete the setup you will need

• Up to 1.5 mm (16 awg) wire to go around the groove in the top of the fixture forming one electrode. I use aluminum wire because it won't react with the electroplating solution if any gets on it.
• 6 pieces 1 mm x 25 mm x 150 mm (0.04 in x 1 in x 6 in) metallic sheets, for example copper or nickel, depending on what you are electroplating, available from various suppliers. Together these will form the anode and will be connected to the positive (red) terminal of the power supply.
• 6 pieces 5 mm by 5 mm set screws to hold the metallic strips in place and to press them against the wire
• Another piece of wire to go through the middle and form a hook to suspend the part to be electroplated. I use aluminum wire for this also. This will form the cathode and will be connected to the negative (black) terminal of the power supply.
• Glass container at least 150 mm (6 in) inside diameter. I use a 3 liter beaker.
• Adjustable DC power supply, ideally with a constant-current capability. These are readily available from a number of suppliers.
• A magnetic stirrer will help with plating uniformity.
• Electroplating solution.
  • For copper plating I have had good luck with Midas Bright Electroforming solution from Rio Grande.
  • I have also made my own copper plating solution using the following recipe. You can buy materials and kits from Caswell plating.
    • 1 l distilled water
    • 215 g copper sulfate (pentahydrate)
    • 90 ml battery acid
  • For nickel plating I use Rio Grande Bright Nickel Plating solution. For nickel plating you first electroplate on a layer of copper, and then nickel over the copper.

I have had good results with a relatively low plating current of about 10 mA / cm² for about an hour. 

I have used this setup for copper or nickel plating a number of parts that I have made using water-soluble 3d printed molds for casting low-melting point alloy, such as the items in the photo below. You can find the models for the molds in this collection.