Official Thread: Tink Electroforming Kits Q & A

[karrina]

Hi Tink, I'm so glad you posted that info~ I haven't used my electroforming set for over a year. it's all packed away safely but have a few questions:

*can you rinse the glass container in tap water and leave it air dry? I can't find cheese cloth?!
*what if my paint is too thick, can I add a few drops of distilled water? and how thin do you want the solution? sometimes i want a thin pretty coat, but usually I do a few coats of paint.
*where is the best place to get anodes, where do you get yours?

thanks so much. I'm so glad you're making vessels again. I look at the ones I bought from you and review my notes!
karen

[Laci]

Wow, I just read through this entire thread in one long marathon session. Whew. So much info! I've ordered my machine and solution and paint, it should all be here this week. I just have a few questions.

1. I didn't get the brightener. Do I need this? If so, is it something I may be able to get locally or make?

2. Wow, I'm so intrigued by the thought of Eforming over lines drawn with the TI Pen. Has anyone been successful with this? Is there a trick to it? I don't want to spend the money if it won't work.

I guess I'm off to buy Tink's tutorial! What a great thread!

[Kristynadine]

Hey everyone!!!!! I have a question, not sure if this exact thing has been covered. I leep having the salmony thing happened and ive done everything through reading threads and ive narrowed it down to contaminated solution. How to i replenish the solution for proper electroforming??? Ive run it through filters, added brightener and even run it through more filters with charcoal in the middle of two filters. What do i do now? How do i restore the solution after it has been contaminated if ive tried the other things and they arent working. Ive read that you should be able to use your solution as long as you need. Ive already looked at amps and all that stuff and im pretty sure its the solution that is contaminated with organic material or something else. Does anyone have any other suggestions besides brighteners, filters and charcoal? I have yet to add a little distilled water. Ill try that asap, but would that make a huge difference in the solution. Ive skimmed so many threads and people havent really talked about solution upkeep. Any advice is appreciated!!!

[ItsMeSB]

Hi,

Sad to see that the thread has kinda dried up over the last few years. I thoroughly enjoyed reading through the entire collection of posts and will be re-reading again to complete my list of necessary items. Thanks to all for sharing their expertise, ideas and comments.

If anyone knowledgeable still checks in occasionally, I have a question about conductive paint.

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with Bare Conductive's Electric Paint waterbased (UK)... priced at around $32-35 for 1.69 oz (50ml). Is this too much $$? They also sell a 10ml pen style unit at $10-15. Does it work for the electroforming application?

Another product I stumbled upon was MG Total Ground Conductive Coating in an aerosol spray around $30-35; not waterbased... Pricey??? Might be nice for detailed items that need to be fully coated/encased but yet with a very fine coat.

I don't want to spend the $$ only to find out that these won't work. Or maybe there are other less expensive products out there.

Thanks in advance for any comments/recommendations...
Sharon in Iowa

[houptdavid]

http://www.caswellplating.com/electr...paint-4oz.html

[Greenhammerstudio]

During my time in school I did quite a bit of electroforming and I fell in love with the textures it can create. I built my own set up and tried to use similar settings and I can't get anywhere near the same texture of color as my previous work.



These are examples of the the texture I want but my set up is giving me a very soft grainy texture.



This is an example of the current texture.

Any suggestions?

[Speedslug]

Freshness of your chemicals and purity of any distill water you are using is the first palce I would go.

I think the voltage and / or current level can be manipulated to get different crystal building characteristics.

[PennyLane]

greenhammerstudio, your previous work is outstanding. Do you care to share any of your findings/settings on the bath etc.?

[Greenhammerstudio]

Originally Posted by PennyLane

greenhammerstudio, your previous work is outstanding. Do you care to share any of your findings/settings on the bath etc.?

Thank you, Penny but that's what I'm trying to figure out. I lost any photographs I've taken on my old settings and its a completely different bath so I'm trying to figure out whats different so that I can duplicate the results.

Originally Posted by Speedslug

Freshness of your chemicals and purity of any distill water you are using is the first palce I would go.

I think the voltage and / or current level can be manipulated to get different crystal building characteristics.

I can only assume that the old bath I used for my first result was not so pure. It was a large bath in the school studio that may have been sitting there for quite some time. My current set up is brand new and fresh.

I've been playing with the settings to see how close I can get but it all looks pretty similar to the new picture.

[Greenhammerstudio]

I also forgot to mention that the results in my old photo took me DAYS while the new picture was over night.

[bronwyn]

Hey,

I've been electroforming since October and things have been going smoothly until now. My copper is coming out looking burnt and dry - even with a low current. Its bubbling a lot as well and sometimes doesn't even adhere to the graphited item but only to the copper that is wrapped around the stone I am electroforming.
I did order a different solution - Krohn Acid Copper Plating Solution but it was fine at the beginning of it's use. I'm wondering maybe the solution is contaminated (I filter it through charcoal but just realized this evening that I've had that charcoal since October... maybe I should buy a new filter?) And sometimes I don't use gloves so maybe my skin's oils are affecting the solution?

Any tips or guidance would be greatly appreciated as I'd love to get back to this magical art!

Cheers, Bronwyn

[Speedslug]

I don't electroform my self but everything I have learned is all wrapped around un-contamination, cleaning everything (with the correct cleaners) and freshness of the chemicals.

I know that break fluid will suck water out of the air so contamination of the chemicals can come from the air itself.


And then there is the "shelf life" of the chemicals. Just because you just bought it doesn't mean it isn't 6 years old.


Skin oils are going to just add to the possible source of problems.

Wish I had better answers for you.