The polishing and plating of metals; a manual for the electroplater, giving modern methods of polishing, plating, buffing, oxydizing and lacquering metals, for the progressive workman

Chapter I. Various Kinds Ov Electroplate K S

There are all sorts and conditions of men among electroplaters. Some few among them are unusually well-informed and intelligent men, masters of their art and of many things not immediately connected with it ; but the majority of the rank and file, as in most other businesses, either from force of circumstances or from choice, have confined themselves to one line or class of plating, until they have become specialists. This course is, we think, rarely adopted deliberately, but goes on gradually and unconsciously, from the fact that they have had the most experience, and consequently the best success in particular lines ; and so we have nickel platers who know little of gold or silver work, jewelry platers who cannot successfully use nickel and copper on large work, platers of iron and steel who are lost on silver ware and musical instruments, etc.

When such a man is driven from his particular line by the temporary loss of a situation, he is apt to feel keenly his deficiencies in the general knowledge of his profession and to make spasmodic attempts to remedy them. Under these conditions, reference to his ability in nickel plating in a jewelrv town, or compliments on his skill with gold in a copper plating plant, are apt to strike him as a bitter mockery and make him regret the fact thai he allowed himself to become a specialist — even a skilled one.

This is a wrong condition of things, to say the least.

\n\ person following the plating business as a means of

earning a livelihood should have the whole category of solutions, classes of work and the different methods of handling them well within his grasp, so that if one line of work is overcrowded and underpaid, he may seek employment in another line; or if one position is unsatisfactory, he may seek another with a reasonable hope of finding something to his liking. The old adage that a rolling stone gathers no moss may be true, but a plater does not need moss, and the rolling stone surely gathers polish, which, in the case of the plater, is equivalent to experience and knowledge. No plater can hope to become an all-round workman, capable of handling successfully any position which may be offered him, except by actually doing commercially the various classes of work he is desirous of being capable in. The only way to practically and completely obtain this knowledge heretofore has been to change about from shop to shop, getting positions on different classes of work. The best places to gain this knowledge are the large job shops in Providence, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and other large cities. Some of these shops handle everything that comes their way in plating, polishing or coloring, from a pants button to a Pullman palace car, or eight and ten foot panels for the main entrance of a "sky-scraper." The work in such shops is handled quickly, cheaply and usually in large, quantities, so that the wideawake plater, seeking knowledge, may have his wish gratified by obtaining a few months' employment in one after the other of such establishments. He should get on friendly terms with the head plater, not only for what he can learn, but also in order to make the acquaintance of other platers. He should always have a notebook and pencil handy, but learn to use them without attracting too much attention, make the best use of his opportunities and absorb as much knowledge as is possible in the various shops in which he chances to be employed. As a general rule, platers are very liberal with their knowledge and are willing to set right their brother workmen with limited experience. There are some exceptions to this rule, however ; some platers who have actually become so hidebound as to refuse to give out any knowledge, if they possess it. An investigation will usually show, however, that platers of this class generally have a very limited knowledge themselves and are afraid that they may lose what little advantages they do possess.

If a practical man in the plating business knows a certain thing, it is folly for him to guard it as a secret because its value does not lie in the knowing, but in his ability to apply that knowledge ; thus, I might tell a dozen platers the formula for a certain shade to finish in French gray, or rose gold, yet they would not be able to get just the same results that I would: in fact, they would all, very likely, get a little different shade of finish upon the work. It is not the formula that gets the results, but the individuality of the operator, and his experience and skill are what count.

A general knowledge of chemistry pertaining to plating should be very beneficial to the practical plater, although I have known practical chemists to make very ordinary platers. A thorough knowledge of dynamos and electricity should also be of value. Both of these are obtainable at small cost in this age of night schools and correspondence schools.

But what shall we say of the man who, from circumstances beyond his control, is unable to move about from citv to city and from shop to shop, standing the sometimes heavy loss in idle time and expense, for the sake of buying experience? Is there a night school for him. as well a- for the chemist and electrician? T am sorry to say that there is not. Chemistry and electricity he should certainly study at the night schools; they will unlock for him a world of mvsterv in his daily work and give him advantages, th< tent of which he cannot appreciate until he has acquired them. But the science of electroplating is so new. and is

O THE POLISHING AND PLATING OF METALS.

changing so rapidly, that the writers on the subject are comparatively few and those we have are generally students, rather than practical men. In a business compounded so intimately of mechanical, chemical and electrical processes, the student is apt to minimize or overlook altogether the importance of matters outside those in which he is interested. Thus, we have chemists experimenting on solutions, electricians improving the means of handling electricity, mechanics designing improved machinery, salesmen pushing the sale of all of them, but no one to whom the plater can go for an estimate of the relative importance of these improvements in the plating shops.

- There are books on plating, certainly but they are of two classes (i) treatises which require a knowledge of chemistry, and then have to be read with discrimination and allowance made for the difference between laboratory experiments and shop practice; and (2) compilations from the note books of practical platers through a long series of years. The latter class are the ones most frequently purchased by practical platers and afford considerable assistance to those who have sufficient knowledge of the business to reject at a glance the old formula? and discarded recipes with which they are cumbered and to select intelligently and use with skill the finishes and solutions which are necessary occasionally in the jobbing shop.

Nothing ever comes out of these books. -Edition after edition is sold and each subsequent edition contains all of the matter found in its predecessors and whatever may be added from its contemporary publications and the trade journals. Each new edition is proudly advertised as "revised and enlarged;" enlarged, certainlv, but not revised for nothing is ever thrown away. Many of them print page after page of formula, only to add at the bottom that so and so says they are useless. As historical collections they

THE POLISHING AND PLATING ol METALS. <;

are valuable, but to the young plater they are misleading and unsatisfactory.

Technical books are generally ten years behind the most

advanced practice in any line, for the reason that it takes about that time for the experimental practice to become standardized and accepted. This is particularly the case in the plating business, because, as a commercial pursuit it is less than fifty years old and has been constantly combining chemical, electrical and mechanical processes, all of which are advancing rapidly and unevenly, so that it has been obliged to keep pace with three separate and distinct sciences.

In such a case all that is left the plater to do is to buy the books as they are published, read them with discrimination and reject all that he finds will not work out in shop experience.

This may seem strange language from a man who is himself writing a book, but I have found it to be a sober statement of fact, and I am personally acquainted with so many platers who have bought everything that is published and then been disappointed, that I am sure most platers of experience will agree with the above statements. T know of but one book on plating that has been written from the standpoint of the electroplater and that is designed for the apprentice; but the demand for it lias been so large thai I am tempted to give the trade something from the same point of view only more complete, and I expect to get the same treatment from my readers that I have advocated in the preceding paragraphs.

Salesmen From the supply houses form a very important source of information for the plater. They are generally up-to-date and, if so inclined, can give the isolated plater much that he should know; and frequently the) are a very substantial help to him. They are on intimate terms with platers all over the country, and their opportunities to ob

IO THE POLISHING AND PLATING OF METALS.

serve the efforts of skilled men are unlimited. Cultivate the travelers, by all means ; you will be well repaid for your trouble.

What the isolated plater, or the inexperienced man most needs, I think, is to take a general survey of the work, in its relative importance to that which has preceded and will follow ; and in this manner he will find of supreme importance in his work many things that the student and the scientific man either ignore or take for granted. So I am tempted to emphasize these things, and if much that is set down here does not appear in other works on plating, the skilled men in the profession who may chance to see this must remember that I am not seeking to enlighten them, or air my own opinions, but to tell a few things that others have ignored and which the younger element of the trade have not yet learned.

Chapter II. Some Points On Hygiene For Platers

It is of the utmost importance to the professional plater that he should understand something' of the effects of the hydrocyanic acid fumes, and the fumes of other acids and chemicals used in the plating room. The writer can state positively, from a very dear experience, that it is important for any one who expects to follow electroplating for a livelihood to start in as he can hold out. Without wishing to discourage any one who may have a desire to follow this very interesting and instructive line of work, I deem it wise as an old-timer at the business to give some of my experiences with the different chemicals, and their escaping gases, which are in common use by platers. While stating their effects upon my general health I desire to say that the same conditions may effect other people differently, or not at all. I am acquainted with platers who have been at the business for twenty years or more without any outward sign of broken health. On the other hand, men at the trade for a few years only are often taken with sickness of some kind, caused by inhaling the noxious gases in the plating room, sometimes unavoidably and sometimes through carelessness.

Some platers arc disabled for a time and forced to rest on account of their systems being more susceptible to the actions of the solutions and Fumes. For instance, the hands of some men are much more easily poisoned by cyanide -"Iiiumus than others. The cyanide, getting in cuts, or under the nails, and in the pores of the skin, causes a burn-

ii ing, feverish sensation, which is very painful. The hands swell up and sometimes the arms swell also. Sores arise frequently, where there has been any scratch or cut on the skin. These maturate and form a round hole; they are very painful until the fever subsides and they begin to heal ; when the matter is removed, a hole or pit is left, which heals quickly, if kept clean and dry.

In case the hands or arms become swollen or poisoned, a rest from work should be taken until they are again well and in a natural condition. Washing the hands in very dilute carbolic acid water will alleviate the pain somewhat and hasten the healing by neutralizing the cyanide. When it is necessary for the plater to have his hands in cyanide solutions from time to time, or to handle work that is saturated with the solutions, it would be well to have a jar of acidulated water, composed of eight ounces of sulphuric acid to each gallon of water, close at hand so that the hands may be plunged into it from time to time, thus destroying the effects of the cyanide before it has had much time to penetrate the pores of the skin. A better plan is for the plater to wear rubber gloves, where this is practicable. The greatest drawback to the gloves is the fact that they are easily punctured and, if worn in a leaky condition, are worse than no gloves at all. The punctures, however, may be easily and quickly repaired by the use of a little rubber cement.

The system being poisoned from contact with cyanide, mercury dips, or copper solutions, often causes the breaking out of boils, or abscesses, upon the limbs or body, or both. The writer once had a finger badly lacerated upon an emery wheel ; while in the process of healing the dressing upon the wounded finger became saturated with cyanide of copper solution ; the arm and hand became badly swollen and were very painful ; finally a boil appeared upon the hand ; then two came upon the arm, with several others upon the back and other parts of the body. While undergoing treatment for this disability, my physician strongly advised me to give up the plating business, in order to regain

and retain my health. This I did for a few months, but soon returned to my old work. Plating seems to lie like sailing. "Once a sailor, always a sailor."

Caustic potash which is used so extensively for cleaning purposes by the plater, is also a poison to some constitutions, and in any event is a medium which materially aids cyanide, mercury or copper solutions to enter the system and produce all kinds of blood troubles. The other potassiums and oxalates are also more or less poisonous. Potassium poisoning varies greatly with the victim. In some instances only certain portions of the hands or fingers seem to effected, while in other cases the whole arm may be seriously poisoned and a case of blood poisoning ensue. In the majority of cases, the first symptoms are intense itching of the back of the fingers, followed in a few hours by minute water blisters. If treatment at his stage is resorted to and work suspended for a few days the hands readily assume their normal condition, but once the workman receives this warning and does not take precautions, a second, third, and fourth attack are sure to follow, each a little worse than the previous one. In the second attack the blisters are larger and the itching more intense; the blisters break, leaving raw patches which heal very slowly. In the third and fourth attacks, the skin begins to thicken and after the blisters have disappeared begins to crack open and peel away, leaving raw spots and incapacitating the workman from doing any work which involves the use of his hands. As soon as a plater finds these symptoms coming on he will do well to go to his druggist and have the following prescription put up :

Syr. Sarsaparilla . . . 2 oz.

Dose : A teaspoonful after each meal.

To allay the extreme itching, the hands may be held in a bowl of tepid water and C. P. carbolic acid. A teaspoonful of acid to the quart of water. This bath may be saved and the hands immersed in it from time to time. Care should be taken to stir the bowl with a spoon before plunging in the hands as the acid sometimes has the tendency to separate and sink to the bottom, and unless stirred will burn the fingers. Resinol is a prepared salve which can be had in almost any drug store, and which has a tendency to draw the poison from the fingers and keep back inflammation. This should be applied freely to the affected parts, and the fingers bound up for a few hours until all inflammation has disappeared. When the following ointment which is a skin grower and aids in producing a normal tissue should be applied :

Aristol y 2 dr.

Sterilized Olive Oil 2 dr.

Vaseline . 2 oz.

This skin food should be freely applied to the hands and fingers before retiring for the night and a pair of loose cotton gloves pulled over the hands. Where the skin is abnormally thick, this food softens it and penetrates the crevices, helping to form good healthy underlying tissue. Without a skin food, the skin is apt to remain so very thin that it breaks with the slightest pressure. During troubles of this kind, all soaps which contain alkali must be abandoned, and where necessary to use soap at all something of the nature of Cuticura soap, surgeons' green soap or pure Castile only should be used. It would be much better, however, to avoid the use of all soaps for the time being.

Cyanide fumes also affect the general health of platers, in time, where there are large quantities of strong cyanide used, with insufficient ventilation of the plating rooms. This, however, takes some time, and where the plater will use care in doing his work and refrain from handling cyanide in any form any more than is absolutely necessary, at the same time keeping the room well ventilated, so that he will inhale as little of the fumes as possible, observe the laws of nature concerning his everyday life, be temperate and of regular and proper habits, he will probably escape most of the evil effects common to most platers.

Some of the common effects of inhaling cyanide fumes are a loss of appetite, bitter taste in the mouth : dryness of the throat and nose; swelling of the passages in the head; soreness over the eyes, and a languid, tired feeling. This may go on for some time without appearing to grow any worse, if no rest is taken. Then the sufferer is liable to attacks of dizziness, being unable to stand at times ; then vertigo and vomiting may follow. These spells may come on every week, or oftener. When the plater gets into such a state of physical weakness that it is liable to have serious effects upon his future health, and also interferes with his work, he should by all means take a much needed rest.

Very strong cyanide fumes, when inhaled in large quantities, as, for instance, when a new solution is being made, or a large quantity of cyanide dissolved for any purp will often cause a fluttering of the heart, making it difficult to breathe. In this case the plater should go immediately into the outer air and inhale the fresh air by taking deep breaths, expanding the lungs and driving out the poisonous fumes. The digestion is also sometimes affected by the different gases parching the mouth and throat, thus drying up the saliva that should go into the stomach to help digest the food. The fumes from lacquer and lacquer thinner have a very drying effect upon the mouth, throat and lungs.

Where cyanide solutions are used in large quantities, hooks and tongs, long enough to reach to the bottoms of the vats, and suitable for removing any pieces of work that may drop to the bottom, should always be at hand. They should be used instead of the plater, or his assistant, thrusting his arm into the poisonous solution ; platers do this entirely too much. When a piece falls to the bottom of the vat, it is much quicker to reach the hand in and get it out than to fish for it with a hook or tongs. While no evil effects are noticeable at the time, still a continuation of this practice is bound to bring retribution sooner or later. It is only reasonable to suppose that, as the pores of the skin absorb the cyanide every time the arms come in contact with it, cyanide being very penetrating, it is only a question of time when evil results will follow, depending upon the frequency with which the poison is allowed to come in contact with the body and the amount absorbed. Much depends also upon the habits of the individual and his physical condition. All these things have a bearing upon the result, either for good or for evil, and so they are worth consideration.

Platers who are closely confined, or who work in poorly ventilated rooms, should take as much out of door exercise as possible, and make a practice of inhaling good, fresh air freely, always sleeping with a window open when the weather will permit it. Exercise that is calculated to stimulate a good circulation of the blood is of much value, as the action of the fumes common in the plating shop has a tendency to cause a sluggish circulation.

Plenty of good, wholesome and blood-producing food should be taken and the plater should drink freely of water and milk. Many platers are addicted to strong drink and nearly all of them to the use of tobacco, and almost without

THE POLISHING AND PITTING OF METALS. 1 7

exception, if asked for a reason for it, the answer will be that they think it is an aid in counteracting the acid or cyanide fumes, as the case may be. This is a mistake, but it is generally used as an excuse and I believe that some platers really think that they could not get along without their regular dram. The fact is that any alcoholic beverage not only does not counteract cyanide poisoning, but, if anything, aggravates it. Cold baths, followed by brisk rubbing with rough towels, will stimulate the circulation of the blood, thus aiding the system to throw off any foreign matter which may be in the blood.

For platers who are working over strong cyanide solutions continually, a Turkish bath, or vapor bath, once a week is valuable where the system has become saturated with cyanide when the bather begins to sweat freely in the hot room, a distinct odor of cyanide can be readily detected, thus proving beyond a doubt that the cyanide penetrates the system and that a good sweat bath will remove a part of it at least.

Care should be taken to avoid drinking from vessels of any kind that are used for dipping or handling solutions or acids. It is a dangerous practice. You may, perhaps, rinse the dish thoroughly before you drink, but some day you will be in a hurry and forget to do this. Then, others, not being acquainted with the nature of the dangers lurking about the plating room, and seeing you drink from this same dish, may, at another time, drink from it without first rinsing it. This has often caused very serious and sometimes fatal results. It is a good plan to have the drinking cup fastened by a chain to the drinking faucet, to have it always in place when wanted, thus preventing its use for anything else and also avoiding the necessity of drinking from any other vessel.

In using potash, lye, caustic soda, or any other strong alkaline solutions in removing grease or cleaning, avoid as much as possible having the hands come in contact with the solution, as it readily attacks the skin and dissolves it. It also affects the nails to a considerable extent. Where it is necessary for the hands to come in contact with these cleaning compounds, it is advisable to have near at hand a jar containing very dilute sulphuric acid ; or a little nickel solution will answer the same purpose. It is very difficult to handle work on wires when the hands have been in contact with any alkaline solution, such as cyanide or potash, so that it will be found advantageous to dip the hands into the acid water, or into a little nickel solution. This removes from the hands the slippery or slimy coating caused by the alkali dissolving the skin and allows the work on wires to be easily handled.

Cyanide taken internally, even in very small quantities, usually proves fatal at once. If the victim still retains life, peroxide of iron and potassium carbonates should be given at once and the coldest water, or ice, if available, should be applied to the back of the head and to the spine.

Sulphuric, nitric or muriatic acids, if taken internally by accident, should be treated by giving the patient carbonate of soda or magnesia, dissolved in water.

Potash or other alkalies accidentally swallowed, require a few drops of sulphuric acid in water, or a drink of vinegar or tartaric acid.

If poisoned by arsenic, the victim should be made to vomit immediately, by thrusting the finger down the throat. Then give freshly precipitated ferric hydrate and calcined magnesia mixed with fifteen times the quantity of water. Give a swallow of the mixture every few minutes until relief is experienced.

For lead or copper salts, give a few drops of sulphuric acid in a glass of water, or give him lemonade or bichromate of soda.

The best remedy for cyanide sores upon the hands, when it is not convenient for the plater to take a rest in order to allow the sores to heal, is to apply a piece of shoemaker's wax to the sore, first heating it until soft and then dropping it upon the sore and pressing it on smoothly, when il should be allowed to cool and harden. This will withstand the action of the cyanide and protect the sore, giving it a chance to heal.

If the plater will use ordinary care to keep his rooms well ventilated and watch himself closely and continuously, he will be likely to have little trouble ; but most platers do not learn this until they have had one or two severe frights and an occasional spell of sickness. In the plating room, as in railroading, a moment's carelessness may cost a life, and the beginner should know it in advance.

Chapter III. The Polishing Room Its Machinery And Management

One of the commonest mistakes made by inexperienced persons who are embarking in the plating business is in laying out the plating rooms as conveniently as possible with the space at hand, without taking into serious consideration the amount of space and light required in the polishing department. Such persons will usually give this very important branch of the business any space that may not be necessary for other work, while, as a matter of fact, the polishing and buffing room should be given the preference in the matter of space and light ; and this latter course is always followed by those who are experienced sufficiently to know the value of sufficient room for handling the required work and also the absolute necessity of a good light in order that polishing may be properly done rapidly and cheaply.

Of course the amount of floor space and the arrangement of the polishing machinery in the room will depend entirely upon the class of work to be handled. Large work, such as flush pipes, tubing and other plumbers' supplies, also railings, large panels and other bulky pieces, either of brass or iron, require sufficient room about the polishing lathes to handle the work freely and easily, without interfering with the workmen at the adjacent machines. The room space should also be large enough to permit of turning end for end any piece of work you may be called upon to do.

Smaller work, such as cutlery, bicycle trimmings, hardware and small brass goods, do not require as much floor

THE POLISHING AND PLATING OF METALS.

Fig. 1.

Heavy polishing lathe with 54-inch spindle, with tubular bracing along the spindle.

space for polishing, as there are no large pieces to turn about and move in several different positions while being polished; therefore the polishing latins may be set much closer together and also have much less room at their fronts and backs than could be permitted if there were a liability of frequently receiving long and large pieces to be polished.

It is a fatal mistake to fit up a plant for polishing and plating of any kind without considering the polishing as of the first importance, for unless the work comes to the plating room properly polished and highly finished, first-class work cannot be expected in the plating or the finishing of the work. Of course each plant will have to be laid out as best suits the amount of room and light available, considering the class of work to be done and leaving as much margin as possible for those occasional large jobs that may come to you because the other fellow cannot polish them properly at a profit.