[Speedslug]

The meter is kind of straight forward.

When you set it to the resistance range pick 'R x 1'. That is the lowest range.

Hold the two tips together and if the battery in the meter is good the needle will swing over past the end of the scale.
There is a wheel or maybe a knob that you use to adjust the needle to line up over the 'zero' mark right at the far end of the scale.
This adjustment will be slightly different for each of the ranges of electrical resistance, R x 1, Rx10, Rx100, Rx1K and such.

Once you have it set to zero for the range you are using then you can touch the two tips to two different spots on the item or you can hold one tip on the wire you are going to use and the other to multiple places on the thing you are going to electroplate. How far the needle moves back toward zero shows how good the electrical connection is.

Do keep in mind that the points on the tips can be sharp and it is possible to poke a hole in the coating and wind up scratching the coating away from the tip and losing the contact of the conductive coating between the tips.


Getting a good coating of the conductive paint is going to depend on how the clean the item is before you paint it on and ensuring that the coating covers the surface consistently with out gaps unless you want those gaps there and that there are not any isolated areas that don't have some paint connecting to the other areas. And then not getting any finger oils on the surface. Tweezers are the best way to keep things clean during the whole thing.

It is possible to do individual patches that are not connected with the paint but each area will need a separate wire going to it connected to the other wires or you can do them one session at a time but that can take up a lot of time.

Mostly it will be a matter of getting an even coating of conductive paint or paint and graphite dust all over the parts you want to grow the copper on and into the crevices if there are any.