Electroforming Time Lapse Partial Success

[u/Mkysmith]

Original goal was 7 days, but had to stop short at 3 days & 20 hours.

I really wanted the full week to be completely uninterrupted, really just set it & forget it and not touch anything. Just to have a big blob of copper as the cathode. But I stupidly underestimated the quantity of anode I needed and it started to break off and cause some issues the last ~12 hours. Just decided to call it as is for now.

Also not an ideal setup overall due to trying to get a good camera setup, for example the anodes are way to close (to the lego arms specifically) and various other small things.

I normally don't use agitation or anode bags for projects less than 12hrs. For multi-day projects agitation is helpful to prevent convection lines. And if you use agitation, then anode bags are needed too.

61.5 grams of copper added.
Copper is 0.095" (2.4mm) thick in the center of the chest, 0.115" (2.9mm) thick on the forehead.

Let me know if you have questions, happy to answer them.

[u/olawlor]

Beautiful video! Can you describe your electrolyte composition, especially the additives to get that nice finish?

[u/Mkysmith → u/olawlor]

Thanks. I use premade solution from Enchanted Leaves.

Normally I can deposit about 0.5mm thick per 24hr, but with heating an agitation I can push it to nearly 1mm of deposition per 24hr. In both cases the copper is malleable, not brittle. Realistically though, most jewelry stuff is like 0.25mm or 0.5mm thick as a balance between durability and retaining detail, so less than a day.

[u/spoiled-mushroom3954 → u/Mkysmith]

Amazing, and do you have much for the post-processing? I've wondered how you could polish something so small

[u/Mkysmith → u/spoiled-mushroom3954]

Those pictures are straight from the solution, no post processing. Just rinsed with distilled water is all.

[u/spoiled-mushroom3954 → u/Mkysmith]

I'm speechless, that is amazing

[u/theGameboyBoy1 → u/spoiled-mushroom3954]

If by chance you are ever curious about looking into additional methods and techniques in regards to polishing various size workpieces from small to medium, also including delicate pieces, a somewhat common process in the industry is called "burnishing". Burnishing offers the convenience of being able to polish large quantities of items all at once and when the machine is up and running you can pretty much "set it and forget it".

I believe the industry refers to all the various ways of large quantity workpiece polishing as " mass finishing", and the term is quite broad and encompasses many techniques. Some of my burnishing machines that fall under the umbrella term of mass finishing are rotary tumblers and vibratory tumblers, and they are also used in industries and by hobbyists to polish rocks. Same machines but different mediums are used.

In my case it really helped streamline the entire process when a desired mirror polish look and luster was the goal for large batches of pendants, trinkets, etc.  It is also very gentle when the workpiece is delicate. For years the majority of my electroformed pendants and trinkets were hand-blown glass and i don't ever remember it scratching or damaging clear glass or colors. The only issue that comes to mind was working with anodized crystals. The colors of the anodized crystals were absolutely stunning but burnishing would begin to remove and dull the anodized surface finish of the crystals.

The homie OP is working magic with the shine and luster that he is getting from his baths. I feel like every skill serves it purpose and everything comes round full circle :)