Spot Silver or Gold Plating a Repair |
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Spot brush plating is a great way to repair common "wear-through" which most often occurs in the areas where the left hand grasps the cornet. It's also
essential when more extensive repairs are made which involve scaping, filing and buffing. This gold
plated C/Bb/A Connqueror
was in fairly decent shape, except for a large patch on the leadpipe. When removed, two large fractures were revealed. It was decided to replace the part with components taken from a similar vintage New Wonder parts horn.
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Here you can see what's left of the original leadpipe (in two pieces) with the patch just above it. The new leadpipe reused the trim ferrule
near the slide tube, and the trim ferrule at the receiver end. The other parts were modified from a parts New Wonder. |
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The new leadpipe has been soldered to the braces. Note that much of the silver has been buffed away to brass. Stray solder is carefully
scraped away, and the part is hand buffed a final time, then cleaned with solvent. |
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An AC to DC power converter is used instead of batteries. I like the variable voltage model from Radio Shack. You have to identify the negative
lead (with a volt meter) – this is attached to the object to be plated, by soldering an alligator clip to the wire. The positive lead goes to the plating brush. For silver, set the power to 3 volts. I
use a gel-type plating media, which doesn't drip. Make sure the brush is thoroughly soaked, then carefully apply to the metal. Keep the brush moving. Pressure isn't important, but keeping "fresh" media on
the metal is. |
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Continue to work each area for at least 30 seconds. When finished, wipe off the remaining media and rinse with water. A little Tarni-Shield polish
on a soft cloth will even the shine out. Go easy, you don't want to wear through to brass, or you'll be starting over. |
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On this cornet, the center section of the leadpipe was sandblasted finish, and burnished on the receiver and ferrule. These are masked off with
tape. Then take 000 steel wool and make a dense ball, with which you repeatedly hit or strike the surface to introduce light texture. The trick is to not rub the steel wool, but to strike it as directly as
possible with moderate pressure. |
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Gold plating media is always applied over silver, never to bare brass. Gold is much trickier to use. It doesn't go on as easily or as
thickly. Use the 4.5 volts setting, and work the same area for at least a minute, adding new media more often than you would with silver. |
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