# how to make gold gel for electroplating



## Anonymous (Mar 11, 2009)

does anyone know how to do this?

I am looking for an easy to follow sort of "recipe" for a home brew 
solution that i can use with my electroplater. The gel I have used in the past is a gold solution with cyanide in it.......

cyanide content does not matter to me, I just want to be able to make a similar solution that I can use to plate car emblems,etc.

Thanks for any help you guys can give!!!


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## Anonymous (Mar 12, 2009)

anybody????


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## goldsilverpro (Mar 12, 2009)

The gel is the problem. I assume it's just a cyanide gold plating solution with a chemical added to make it gel. I have no idea what the chemical would be. Here's a patent. The only difference is that it's a gel electroless gold solution rather than a electroplating solution. The same gel should work for both. The patent has a lot of info about various gels.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6194032.html


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## Anonymous (Mar 19, 2009)

thank you for your reply......after time my bottle of gold gel started to turn into liquid.......

so they sent me some "thickening agent" it looked like salt or sugar in appearance.......i

i read on the net that it could possibly be fumed silica.......

i'm hoping this can be done at home the price of gold is insane.....

i simply want to make a gold liquid or gel which i think would be easier than extracting the gold and making a gold nugget or something......

i also read about a guy who melted a gold coin using 2 parts Muriadic acid and 1 part Nitric acid 

would that work for what i want to do?


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## goldsilverpro (Mar 19, 2009)

It takes some chemical experience and knowledge to formulate a plating solution that will produce acceptable plating. Simply dissolving some gold won't work. Most are formulated from cyanide but, if you don't know what you are doing, you could kill yourself or someone around you. Until you gain a lot more chemical knowledge, you should grit your teeth and pay their prices.


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## Anonymous (Mar 19, 2009)

the more i read about cyanide etc i have been realizing it i would not want to compromize safety or jeapordize my health

in your opionion how much should one pay for 4oz of cyanide 24kt gold gel?


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## Anonymous (Mar 19, 2009)

i also found this and it had me curious.........

Regarding making gold plating solution from aqua regia. Why can't you drop the fine gold out of your acidic solution {aqua regia}, with the addition of sodium bisulfite? The sulfur dioxide gas formed, reduces the gold chloride to pure gold, and the gold settles to the bottom of your beaker. This takes about 24 hours. Rinse the 24k several times and decant the rinse water [you can check for neutrality with litmus paper if you want to.] Gently, warm the gold to dryness, and you have pure gold particles that are extremely small. Only a micron or so in size. This gold can now be redissolved in a mild sodium cyanide solution. I don't know but you may have to also add an ounce or so of hydrogen peroxide to hasten the process. sodium bisulfite is cheap, I get it from a company that sells beer making supplies. Also, if you use a pure gold anode[the positive lead] the solution should last a lot longer before the solution is plated out. Solution should be diluted such that there is about 1.5 gr [1 dwt.] per liter of solution. 180 deg. temp. should be about right, that`s fahrenheit. 4 to 6 Volts is good . I quite often drop gold out of aqua regia this way. I then remelt it with the addition of various alloys to get the color and karat that I need. The plating solution part is just a suggestion. I think it will work. Then again, maybe it won't.


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## goldmankc (Feb 6, 2010)

caswells plating sells 4 oz of gold plating solution for cheap, they also sell the gel compound. don't throw away the liquid after it expires, gold self precipitates out of the solution. i dunno why.


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## Harold_V (Feb 7, 2010)

goldplater09 said:


> Why can't you drop the fine gold out of your acidic solution {aqua regia}, with the addition of sodium bisulfite?


There is no need to go that route. I have made (and still have) a cyanide gold plating solution. I'm not going to tell you that it is as good as those that are provided by the pro's, with buffers included, but mine worked to my satisfaction. 

Key to success is evaporating the gold chloride until all of the nitric has been expelled. The thick syrup is then taken up with a little water, which is then introduced to a solution of cyanide. The deep red solution is instantly dissolved by the cyanide, turning a very pale yellow color, nearly clear. I do not recall the details now, for my experience came back in the early 90's. 

I still have the (now) golden spike (a prototype railroad spike) I plated. The spike was bead blasted to remove all traces of scale, then nickel plated. Gold was then flashed on the spike. Because of the bead blasting, the spike does not have a high luster, but the gold plating is fine. I could be convinced to post a picture if anyone is interested. 

Chris (GSP) is our resident authority on plating, and speaks properly when he suggests that making your own solution might be a little difficult, but it can be done. After all, it's people that make the one you buy at the supply house. 

Harold


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## sweetride (Dec 1, 2012)

Its called CABOSIL. Its used to thicken resein and epoxy. Also used to gell liquid gold. You can buy it from any fiberglass supply shop. One pound will gell about one liter of liquid gold. Cost about $15.00 per lb in canada. Hope this helps you. 8)


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## bswartzwelder (Dec 1, 2012)

Harold,

I would really like to see a picture of your gold spike.

Bert


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