Homebrew PCBs

On Wed, 12 Apr 2006 23:28:03 +0200, Alan Marconett <KM6VV@...> wrote:

> HI Stefan,
>
>
> I searched the archives, didn't find a recipe (no problem), but I did  
> read
>
> all the great posts on Cool-amp.  Probably where I first heard of it in  
> '02!
>
>
> The plumber's paste sounds useable as well.  I might try it, although I  
> have
>
> a few other uses for the pure silver plating as well.
>
>
> Alan  KM6VV


below a copy of the post with the recepie.

I asked my chemicals shop for prices and they told me

25g Silberchlorid \ufffd 128,33
25g Silbernitrat \ufffd 98,44

so that's quite steep prices.
Now if there was a way to somehow create these chemicals out of something  
like silver coins or flatware that might be cheaper. Should you find  
something let me know.

Silver plating might not be so great anyway, since it tarnishes too.

ST



Did some reading, and found a german page that lists several plating and  
electroless plating recepies.

The relevant ones are:

Versilbern von Kupfer/Messing

(silver plating of copper/brass)

Zutaten:

(ingredients:)

10 g Silberchlorid

(10g silver chloride)

65 g Kaliumhydrogentartrat (=Weinstein)

(65g cream of tartar)

30 g Natriumchlorid (=Kochsalz)

(30g NaCl / table salt)

Wasser

(water)

Ansatz: Die Zutaten werden mit Wasser zu einem Brei anger\ufffdhrt.

(make-up: The ingredients are mixed to a paste.)

Hinweis: Die zu versilbernden Gegenst\ufffdnde werden damit abgerieben oder man  
l\ufffdsst den Brei darauf antrocknen. Mit Kreide wird
nachgeputzt.

(Notice: Rub the items to be plated with it or let the paste dry on them.  
Polish with chalk.



second recepie:



Versilbern verschiedener Metalle

Zutaten:

(Silvering of various metals, ingredients:)

10 g Silbernitrat

(10g silver nitrate)

3,3 g Natriumchlorid

(3.3g NaCl/table salt)

10 g Kaliumhydrogentartrat (=Weinstein)

(10g cream of tartar)

20 g Schl\ufffdmmkreide

(20g precipitate chalk (calcium carbonate))

87 g Wasser

(87g water)

50 g Salmiakgeist

(50g spirits of ammonia / ammonia solution)



Ansatz: Das Silbernitrat wird in etwas Wasser gel\ufffdst. Getrennt davon wird  
das Kochsalz in etwas Wasser gel\ufffdst. Man vereinigt beide
L\ufffdsungen und vermischt damit die restlichen Zutaten in einem M\ufffdrser.

(make-up: The silver-nitrate is solved in some water. Separate of it the  
table salt is solved in some water. Unite both and mix
with the remaining ingredients in a mortar.)

Hinweis: Die Mischung darf keinem hellen Licht ausgesetzt werden.

(Notice: This mixture mustn't be exposed to bright light.)

Zum Versilbern wird der metallene Gegenstand mit Salmiakgeist gereinigt  
und mit einem wollenen Lappen, der mit der Mischung
getr\ufffdnkt ist, gut gerieben, bis sich eine Silberschicht niedergeschlagen  
hat.

(To silver plate the item is cleaned with ammonia solution, and rubbed  
with a woolen rag saturated with the plating mixture until
a silver layer is deposited.)

Eiserne Gegenst\ufffdnde m\ufffdssen vor dem Versilbern erst kurz in eine  
Kupfersulfatl\ufffdsung getaucht werden.

(Items made of iron must be dipped in a copper suplhate solution before  
silver plating.)

  German instructions for those (and more) can be found at  
<http://\ufffdtzradierung.de/radierung/radihtm65.html>, translation courtesy of
  myself, no liability if i made a mistake


Notice the _impressive_ similarity with cool-amp, the silver compound,  
table salt, calcium carbonate, that's more or less it. Also,
  these are quite likely ancient recepies so there should be no legal  
issues like there would be when trying to copy cool-amp
specifically.


I'm quite eager to try those, i'll be at my chemicals shop next week for  
sure! The first one seems easier to me.


While i'm OK satisfied with the solderpaste results i'd be more than happy  
to find a cold method for silver plating.

I'll let you know about what i find.



ST