Tuesday, July 31, 2012

more electroforming

Still having some issues with electroforming. It is still cracking. If I can find a way to clean the parts that is not too aggressive I can fill them with enamel. So far the best way to clean them has been with the bead-blaster. Even at a low PSI it makes the cracks bigger and weaker. For the most part they are in the deeper grooves and this batch have had the least amount of cracks out of all of them. These were in the bath for around 36 hours at .7 volts. I started to see some nodules so I turned it down to .5 volts for the last 8 hours. When I turned it down I also rotated them so they would be facing 180 degrees from where they started. They should probably have been in there for longer? OR maybe lower? Or higher? This doesn't seem like an exact science to me. These results are infuriating. It could also be that there is something in the bottom of the bath screwing things up. Students tend to drop all kinds of things in the bath.....screwdrivers, screws, hose clamps, anodes, their pieces, wax, sandwiches. I found an whole anode in the bottom of the bath. It must have been in the bath for at least six months screwing everything up.
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