I put some new photos in a "Brush Plating" folder at the 
MouthpieceWorks site.  They document my recent experiance with 
plating the bare brass spots on my reworked Runyon Quantum Bari Sax 
piece.  This is my current player and it has been leaving a brass 
taste after longer gigs.  The pictures were taken with a web cam, so 
they are not the greatest.  But the experiance was sure great!  

I purchased a Plug N Plate Copy Chrome Kit from 
http://www.caswellplating.com for $28.  With this kit, you can touch-
up a bunch of different kinds of plating.  You need to purchase 
different bottles of solutions for silver, gold, etc.  But the wand 
(brush) and power supply is reusable.  The "bandage" you wrap the 
wand with cleans up with soap and water and is also reusable.

They also have a forum to answer basic questions.  From their forum I 
learned that it is not neccessary to plate silver first before 
plating with gold.  However, this appears to be commonly done to 
obtain a brighter gold finish over brass.

You gotta try this!

I did some more plating on my Quantum piece and got some clearer 
photos.  I put them on the MP Work site under a new folder 
called "Brush Plating 2".  After a while, I'll toss the old photos.

I think the rails did not get much plating on them the first time 
around.  With the reed vibration, I may have worn off what little was 
on there after one 4 hour gig.  I replated the rails but I'm still 
not sure how long it will hold up.  We'll have to see over time.  I 
have another gig tonight.

The instruction with the kit says to try heating the solution and the 
piece to about 140F to accelerate the plating process.  I may try 
some heat next time to see if I get a thicker plating.

Still, even if the rails go bare, the inside of the piece is still 
plated where it use to have some bare brass spots from the work I did 
on it.  The brass taste problem is gone or so small that it is OK for 
me.  Stay tuned.

FYI, we have 99 members now.  Who is going to be number 100?

Brass, copper, etc. must be plated with silver or nickel prior to 
gold plating, or the gold will not bond.


--- In MouthpieceWork@y..., "Keith Bradbury" <kwbradbury@y...> wrote:
> I put some new photos in a "Brush Plating" folder at the 
> MouthpieceWorks site.  They document my recent experiance with 
> plating the bare brass spots on my reworked Runyon Quantum Bari Sax 
> piece.  This is my current player and it has been leaving a brass 
> taste after longer gigs.  The pictures were taken with a web cam, 
so 
> they are not the greatest.  But the experiance was sure great!  
> 
> I purchased a Plug N Plate Copy Chrome Kit from 
> http://www.caswellplating.com for $28.  With this kit, you can 
touch-
> up a bunch of different kinds of plating.  You need to purchase 
> different bottles of solutions for silver, gold, etc.  But the wand 
> (brush) and power supply is reusable.  The "bandage" you wrap the 
> wand with cleans up with soap and water and is also reusable.
> 
> They also have a forum to answer basic questions.  From their forum 
I 
> learned that it is not neccessary to plate silver first before 
> plating with gold.  However, this appears to be commonly done to 
> obtain a brighter gold finish over brass.
> 
> You gotta try this!