In this tutorial I show you how to create big authentic metal props, like this master sword, by #electroplating your 3d prints. #3dprinting and metal plating combined will create convincing objects for you prop collection or the next comic con. #cosplay
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This is the stuff I used for electroforming/electroplating in this video.
Chemicals for the prints:
🛒 Copper Anode: amzn.to/42XdwZS *
🛒 Bright Copper Electrolyte: amzn.to/3zk2S1F *
🛒 Conductive Copper Paint amzn.to/47cpbpR *
🛒 Palladium Electrolyte amzn.to/3DDr8hD *
Optional:
🛒 Gold Electrolyte amzn.to/44NNwRp *
🛒 GRAPHIT Paint amzn.to/3YtPZhD *
🛒 Galvanic Degreaser amzn.to/3rV4v5r *
I used this printer:
🛒 ELEGOO Saturn 2 8K amzn.to/44Js3Ja *
▶ www.elegoo.com/products/elego...
(*) These links are affiliate links. From time to time, I recommend products I know well and use, and, as a result, I may receive a commision if you purchase them using the affiliate link. Puchasig from affiliate links is at no extra cost to you.
▶ Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:28 Creating and smoothing the 3D Print
02:45 Creating a plating tank from acrylic glass
05:33 Making 3D prints conductive
05:58 Preparation of an electroplating bath for 3D prints
07:05 Polishing 3D Prints
09:30 Nickel Plating + Gold Plating the 3D prints
11:14 Candy painting the handle and cross bar
11:43 DIY braided strap and assembly of the sword
▶ For the galvanic bath:
* a container
* Acidic copper electrolyte
* Nickel electrolyte
* one or two copper anodes
* banana plug & alligator clips
▶ You may need:
* Degreaser
* Distilled water
* galvanic brush + pen
* Palladium electrolyte
* Gold electrolyte
Have fun. Try it. 🧡
▶ Good Resources
@Darkwingdad : Smoothing +Sanding Channel with very nice tipps
▶ More Stuff from me
Helmets Tutorial #1: • Electroplating 3D Prin...
Swords Tutorial #1: • Electroplating 3D Prin...
That is next level! One of the best finishes I’ve seen. When science meets science!
Keep on the good work on your channel!
@@hen3drik been wowed since I seen that mando helmet you electroplated. Keep on pushing the envelope, the quality is top notch!
These videos are absolutely amazing and you continue to outdo yourself with each one. I'm really wanting to attempt this with a Magneto Helmet 😂
Uncle Jessy why dont you ??? even i have got into plating because of Hendrik,,, it seriously interesting
@unclejessy I watch your channel all the time! Would love to see you do an electro plated Magneto Helmet!
It's a small detail, but i am super appreciative for how much emphasis you put on PPE. There are so many other DIY / 3d printing / hobby / crafting / painting / airbrushing / whatever channels out there that at best, throw it a passing mention (along with a "but i'm not wearing it so you can hear and see me better, its fine dont worry i usually wear it), or at worst, completely neglect to mention or show any ppe whatsoever and just show themselves actively poisoning themselves over and over again. Huge props (heh) for being so insistent on that aspect. Too many kids will grow up thinking the funny headaches they get when they do all this stuff is just normal and nothing to worry about.
I had to remove so much „Darth vader“ breathing sounds from footage material, as I actually wear it all the time. 😅
@@hen3drik i wear my mask basically all day long if i'm doing any airbrushing and i'm concerned that neighbours are going to see me through the window and think i'm doing something walter white-ish ahaha
My neighbor saw me last week wearing a lab coat, a mask, and gloves outside at the trash cans at night. It will stay in her memory for a long time.
i did a thing makes it funny though
I have been waiting for this to catch on, electro-plating may seem like a high-tech future technique, as we have been seeing alot of 3d prints get plated recently. but it was actually invented in 1805! its been around for a long time so there's ALOT of terrific resources out there for getting the perfect color your want out of your plating. You can get fantastic results with a hobbyist setup. You can get garage organizer bins and make your own electrolyte for alot cheaper aswell, im so glad this is finally catching on! combine this technique with carbon fiber or dupont-kevlar and you have incredibly strong 3d printed parts.
Also although many archeologist dont agree with the theory, it is possible that the Baghdad battery was used for electroplating as far as 100B.C 😮🤯
This is next level. Would like to have heard more about the processes such as the cost of the materials and fluids as well as see a longer shot of the final result. Looks awesome. I found that with PLA prints, Wood filler and Leyland acrylic undercoat/primer that you paint on with a brush fairly thick, sands down easily to make it smooth and gets rid of layer lines. The wood filler is for imperfections such as bad extrusions or gaps in layers or top surface. Then I spray and sand. Spray and sand, until I lacquer with a final coat and sand with 5000 to 7000 grit lightly and polish with automotive car top compound to give it a shine.
Who else is blown away by how brilliant this guy is?
I used to hate it when I got recommendations to your videos. I just can't understand why, you're so great! Thanks for another banger of a video!
Awesome work! That transparent acrylic works better than I expected, and it seems you have settled upon a conductive paint that works for you.
Love the new rotary jig with brace, they looked a great design.
6:45 - Thanks for sharing your process. Amazing amount of detail and effort but the results are perfection!
I remember when 3-D printers were just coming to the market and now I’m amazed by what you can do with a 3-D printer and your imagination and knowledge
That's ABSOLUTELY *gorgeous!*
Just found this channel, and this is awesome, amazing work.
as always, stunning result
I am always amazed by what you come up with. Great job.
I think this will be my next new serious hobby! Love your work!🎉
This is such good information. Inspiring and very cool, thank you for sharing
Absolutely brilliant.
This is magical! Great job!!
Best one yet. I need to pull the trigger and get all the required things for this setup!
Yes, Darryl. Go for it!
Wow. I'm glad you posted this video it's exactly what I needed to get re encouraged to get back to printing. Love this keep posting!
Mission accomplished!
The 'Baghdad Battery', a primitive zinc/copper cell, was almost certainly the power supply used for such electro-plating. Many such cells were found, and all of them showed significant erosion consistent with heavy use. An acid battery that consumes one of its plates is essentially electro-plating in reverse! Metal going into solution produces electric current in the case of a battery; metal coming out of solution due to the work done by current. The Coulomb, a unit of electrical charge, was derived by 'dissolving' an amount of metal into an electrolyte solution. Translation: if 5 grams of metal are 'consumed' by the battery, the battery will produce enough current to plate-up about 4 grams of metal in the plating bath. Electrical resistance, heating, side reactions all prevent plating all 5 grams.
Another great video and beautiful piece Hendrik! I hope you survived the attack at the end! 😲😁 Always quality, but I can tell everything is getting better. Thank you.👏👍
Awesome
Bro this much work deserved 10 minutes of B roll
Cool display piece
Just WOW!! I want to do that now 👍
Do it. But start practicing small scale.
It looks SOOOO good! Awesome work! 🙌
Thank you so much!
Man! Your info its all i need to level up My 3d projects! I Will see all tour videos.
Such gorgeous work! I am trying to get the clear paints where I live, but it is proving to be difficult...
Absolutely amazing ツ
It looks really awesome! It would also be super interesting to see how much it had roughly costed.
Literally busted out gold
again amazing work
As always: Amazing work! You’ve actually achieved the master sword! I thought it was close to impossible when I joked about sending you mine to electroplate, but of course you could do it! Amazing! 🤩
Hehe, yeah. It was a tough job. I won’t do another one 😅
Congratulations!!! Such a big project
Oh yeah, thanks, it took so long. Conclusion is building custom tanks is a good idea. 😅
sick work !! You're awesome !
Electroplating 3D prints what an interesting idea. I bet you could print and plate circuits inside your prints. Arduino housings could be put in so you click it in and the prints wired directly to sensors LEDs batteries. You could print switches the whole 9 yards.
Just wow
Amazing work as always!
Thank you, Eric!
I love your tutorials, have been watching them for months! Trying to find a comparable conductive paint in the US has been the biggest barrier to replicate your results.
Yes, it‘s strange that there are not that many available products. Graphite paint is a good alternative (if you apply it right). I‘ll do a special on that topic
@@hen3drik that would be great! Thank you!
@Superfreak-hm4gv I have just recently got my whole setup running and am using a DIY graphite paint consisting of Speedball India Ink and graphite powder. 5 tbsp of ink, 6 tbsp of powder. It works amazingly well with an airbrush and cleans easily with water. After a quick polish with 0000 steel wool I can get 800 ohms over a couple of inches of separation between my meter leads! Just put a marble in the container you store this stuff in so you can mix it well before use!
@@xugans99 oh nice! I'm gonna try that! Thanks!
That's the hardest part for me as well. The "Tifoo" brand Electroforminmg stuff they sell in the EU is SO much cheaper than what's available elsewhere. Costs a fortune to get set up for electroplating here in Australia.
I just got the same files and scaled everything up 1.5X the resulting sword is 42.5 inches long. The perfect size in my opinion. Great video by the way!
Do you have a link to the files where I can buy them?
Beautiful! I was looking for someone who 3d pinted the pieces, i will use filament, but i'll probably just get different colors to print it as I really just want a sword and sheathe to hang on the wall for decoration... I don't have the material needed to electroplate, but it was really fun watching it be done.
I like to use resin as a filler for resin prints. The Elegoo kit came with a UV light wand. I'll just brush on resin in the gaps and light it up.
This is PHENOMENAL
Thank you!
10:42 Marvelous! Just marvelous! 11:10 It looks like real metal! Wow! I only have a small kit for electroplating. If I get enough money and find a proper facility to safely dispose of the electrolyte, I would do this in a heartbeat!
Very awesome but it still looks like its made out of plastic despite having a copper surface, this is mostly due to the colors used and the roundedness of the edges and points.
*Excellent video! THANK YOU!*
Es sieht einfach sooo gut aus. Richtig cooler Channel!
Dankeschön 😋
It looks amazing but the strap of the Master Sword is a darker green.
thats sick
Amazing. Really.
Thanks!!
Amazing!! I’m currently building my own setup. Could you make a tutorial for building the rotation setup?
dang! that's an effort. But it looks great. First time seeing electroplating process, that is something
I loved your video where I can get all the materials to make my sword
Depends where you live. When in the EU you can get most of the chemicals from tifoo as they send within most countries.
@@hen3drik Well I live in Ecuador but I plan to bring everything from the USA. The good thing is that I already have the printer
Absolutely amazing! I've been waiting for this upload so I was stoked to see the notification for it today! I intend to make this one day, though I'm gonna start with some of the simpler electroplating stuff :D. One note; if you do end up doing a keyblade down the track, please be wary that a lot of the models online are not accurate, especially the most popular STLs for some reason. I'm still trying to find the right one to 3D print, if I do I'll let ya know.
Please do!
could u pls give me a link to a pic of the accurate one?
@@hen3drik Most definitely! I just sent you an email with some details :)
Very COoL
"And with that, it's finally finished and ready for practical use." At this point, I wanted to see it used for cutting small plants to generate money.
I haven’t sharpened it. So it‘s just a bat I think 😅
I think it’s always surprising to see how short the Master Sword is when you have anything realistic for reference next to it. It’s shorter than people think it is! I can understand why you made it bigger, but I think if I made it, I’d want to stick with the canon length
Yep, it‘s a master „short“. 😅
That was crazy !!!! I wanted to ask you, if you want to try something new, since you´re already very experienced, and curious yourself: How about thicker electroplaating, up to 0,5mm, but without losing resolution of surface details??? That should be hard, since you have to account in advance of your 3D-prints-designing-step for the diminishing of surface-details, as electroplating advances further and further... For that 3D-design, there must be special considerations and laws, into which i´d be too afraid to dive, hence for now, I don´t even get my 3D-prints correct (lowest-level-correctness), and still have to learn a lot about 3D-printing itself, bevor I try answering such questions... The prints don´t have to be overly surface-detailed, but for example, how you one keep the edges of a 5x5x5cm-cube sharp (90°) after having electroplated 0,5mm of copper on it??? Do the edges have to be less than 90° (thus the edges protruding compared to the cube-sides, and the sides having a concave form), in order to arrive at 90° after plating several 100µm of copper ???
I'd like to see a video about how you made your rotary connector to spin the models in the solution.
I‘ll make a video special about it.
Amazing work and I want make it! How much cost all?machine , product etc? Not precisely but close price of ever I need
U should make a mold and make a battle ready one as well
Would be amazing to see the plans of your rotary contraption ❤
The small one he used intitially came from this video: kzhead.info/sun/dMuYfrVxgpSBlnA/bejne.html&ab_channel=xeno_arch (plans are in the description). Hopefully, Hen3drik shares the plans for his V2 version!
hello, very informative video; thanks for posting it. I was wondering how long it takes for the transparent paint to chip off. I've heard nickel plated parts need a midcoat, or a rougher surface for the paint to adhere properly, is this true, and how have your other results been?
Hi, transparent paint is still very strong here. I don’t think it will ever chip off. I don’t know what you mean by midcoat. As far as I can tell this paint adheres very well. 😅
you can use the same resin you used to print the sword with a UV light to fill the gaps
Fantastique video, this is crazy work! Do you think such electroplating could work on EVA foam (after it got surface treated with filler and PU basecoat) ? That would be a massive gain changer
I will try
triforce should be gold as well, quick fix looks great!
Okay!
Moin, das ist richtig episch. ❤😢
Inlike to buy one of that machines for electroplatung how much voltage and ampers or funtionality you recomend
Amazing video! It's really interesting, and the video is very well made :) I'm really curious, is there a way to make the electroplated pieces look like aged metal?? Also, will some technique like patina works on it? Thank you so much! Edit: I scrolled more on your channel and found the video I was searching for! Thank you
Thank you for your kind words. There actually is and I did it in an old video (Check min 5:15) kzhead.info/sun/frine5Wbq2qBnoE/bejne.htmlsi=XAGTh9uwqGTVQUFf
@@hen3drikyes, I just found it! Thank you so much!!
dam that sword is beautiful, just wish it was bluer like it is on paper
Hi, I have noticed that your go to conductive paint in your videos is the copper based paint. Is that because you can't get a shiny finish with graphite paint? Unfortunately, I only have access to graphite paints. Copper paints are either really expensive or they won't ship it to Australia. And with graphite I have trouble getting the same kind of finish. Could you possibly do a similar project using graphite paint with a little more detail on the prep and use of the paint?
I‘m working on an graphite solution. Stay tuned. :-)
I'm interested to know n buy the technology, please share details.
For a minute thought you were gonna ask for 3 words than free style
That acrylic looks very thin for that height of liquid. Did you check fish tank design guides to get the thickness. There a few around but usually deal with glass. On 4x14”x18” (lxwxh) tank you can do like 9mm glass on 24” its 12mm, if you go 3feet like 20mm. On acrylic it’s a little different but check it out. As you don’t want all that electrolyte splashing all over workshop as the tank explodes. If you want piece of mind put strapping in bottom third. As that’s where max load is.
You are a god!
Hi, First of all THANK YOU for all your video. it's a great source of inspiration for a lot of us. I just buy all the tifoo product i need (copper vernish and acidic copper electrolyte. my project is on jewelry work. I have dilluate the paint with aceton and use it with a brush. it worked great but could be better with an airbrush. i'am a little bit afraid of using acetone with with my old badger 150 (because of the joints) do you known any other dilluant that will not dissolve my aerograph's joints ? Thanks in advance for your answers Greetings from Belgium.
Hi, you can use butyl acetate. But I think it’s better to buy a cheap airbrush only for this purpose.
@@hen3drik Thanks for your answer. But the cheap aerographe will only work one time ? What's the brand of your airbrush ?
@@fabianlecomte6133 i use it over and over since 3 yrs now. The joints are worn down but it‘s still working. It’s a no name 0.5mm airbrush. Around 15-20€ on eBay 🤭
@@hen3drik Thanks a lot for your time and answers !
Hello, thank you for your content. I use the same copper electrolyte but my prints form big copper bubbles and the surface is totally rough at the beginning. Copper also collects to a large extent on the cathode hook. do you have any idea what this could be due to.
I‘ve never heard about that. What is the conductive material, what is the current, how big are the anodes? What voltage is regulated by the power supply? What’s the surface area and the corresponding current?
Hexagons are the bestagons!
Ho, excelent, work, i was womdering if this finiwg is hqrd enough to avoid pieces to brqke out, imagine a cup fdm printed, then electro plqted or electroformed, is it hard enough to resist delayering
Neat
hello I have some questions about the copper solution. 1. how do you monitor the PH level, what happens if it's too high/low, and how do you fix it? 2. how often do you need to add more brightener to it? thanks for your time!
I use ph strips and aim for 1. but it never was an issue. I add brightener as soon as I notice a lack of shine but this happens very seldom (can’t really say; it’s a commercial electrolyte and I lost track over the 50l I have in separate bottles; but it’s rarely happening)
cool thanks for the answer how much brightener are you supposed to use? I use Midas brightener from riogrande @@hen3drik
Man you're awesome. I've a doubt. I would be able to print in UV resin, sand, prime and paint with graphite paint for electroplating? Greetings from Brazil. The price of copper conductive paint is very expensive here
Help is on the way! Watch out for my next video where i will tell you how to mix your own graphite paint and use it properly 😃
@@hen3drik thanks man!!! I'l be waiting.
I was preparing to start building a mastersword, and I really wanted to suggest you take a crack at metal plating one.... aparently great minds think alike... I have another suggestion... a pirates of the Caribbean aztec coin... I have a great file if interested
could we get more info on that rotary jig? id love to get some specifics to make my own some day!
I‘ll do a rotary jig tool special in the future. Also, I‘ll polish and upload my custom design for the tower. I want to make a more generic design with a generic controlled servo.
Looks stunning! I'm trying to follow your process to plate some prints of my own right now and running into trouble with the paint delaminating from the print - could you share what brand of copper paint you're using?
I use tifoo conductive copper paint.
This is amazing! Is there a tutorial or specs for that rotatry jig?
I‘ll publish it on printables soon. Also there ist one here kzhead.info/sun/dMuYfrVxgpSBlnA/bejne.html
Now ganon is going to get it good.
cool
Excellent video, I’m just getting into electroforming because of your videos. Any links to the details of the type of spinning motor jig that you use. Also what size nozzle and airbrush to you use to get such a good copper finish. Thanks
Ic use a very cheap 0.5mm airbrush at 3bar. Use this jig: kzhead.info/sun/dMuYfrVxgpSBlnA/bejne.html
@@hen3drik great thanks for the info👍
Wouldn't 3D Gloop beat even superglue? Anyway, what I really need is a comprehensive list of materials and suggestions on where the heck to buy the stuff in Europe online. I'm not ambitious enough to start doing swords and helmets, but I'd love to do some smaller pieces. I have some speaker stands for some small speakers I made that would look spectacular when metal plated.
Two questions: 1) How many times can we reuse the copper sulphate solution? Is it dependent on the number of times used, or the area? 2) How do we polish the finished product? I have been using Brasso and a microfibre cloth, and all that seems to do is make even more scratches.
1) it can be reused many many times as it regenerates by the copper anodes saturating the bath. You have to maintain it somehow (filtering from time to time, adding brightener, checking pH) 2) I use sandpaper (600) and a polishing Maschine. You can also got up to 2000 grid and use a polishing compound + microfiber to buff it manually
@@hen3drik One last question: I am working on replacing oxidised parts on my figures (think Transformers and the works). Some of these parts need to fit together and lock in. How would I account for the tolerances? Is it usually a 0.1-0.2mm increase in thickness? In your other videos, that value changes within that range, so what should I aim for?
@@adrianli7559 0.5micrometers/minute at 2A/dm^2
You make this look amazing, but not easy haha. Every time I watch your latest video I add up the equipment, materials, time, effort, I'd need to put in just to make a small piece and I give up. I wish there was a 'quick and dirty' way to get 90% of the result for much less effort...
Can u out that awesome airbrush in comments below and the conductive paint pls also your awesome
would you mind performing a test? print a 3" cylinder single wall vase mode with 0.6mm width and 0.3mm layer height. No sanding no filling just plate it and see what it looks like? the surface should be perfect being vase mode just not "flat" would be interesting to see how that comes out!
What kind of adhesive did you use to glue everything together?
The blade parts: super glue. The rod and metal plating provide a good strength. For the handle on the rod I used epoxy glue.
Question, what type of glue do you use on these? Epoxy Resin?
Super glue
Thanks for that. Thought of something else. All of your videos you end with a metal that doesn't tarnish quickly. How would you protect a copper finish from tarnishing? Just a clear enamel coating? @@hen3drik
Great work. Makes my Leviathan Axe look pretty poor by comparison lol.
Viel besser geht's nicht! Amazing work! ⚔
Danke ✌