[AR] Re: Electroforming Experiment
- From: Ed LeBouthillier <codemonky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2019 07:16:35 -0700
On Sat, 2019-07-13 at 10:06 +0200, Uwe Klein wrote:
"Galvanoplasty"
Yes, there are several names for the process. Electroforming,
electroplating, galvanoplasty, electrotyping.
Current density is quite influential on deposition quality.
Too low a currents and the deposit doesn't "bake together" properly.
I'll be making stress-testing dog bones later to test the material
quality and establish chemical control over the plating bath. For now,
I'm just learning the basic process.
MPAe in Katlenburg-Lindau had a showcase full of fine samples.
Mostly complex gridded electrodes for particle experiments.
It's a good and useful process. A lot of interesting things can be
made. I think that developing the specialization creates business
opportunities for those who master it.
But, the chemicals can be caustic and mildly toxic. It can create
hazardous waste. One needs to be mindful of these risks.
Spikes and other irregularities tend to stem from contaminations
and uneven current distributions. ( once you have the beginnings of
a spike from some spec of dust currents in that point will increase )
Yes.
How are you going about creating buried pathways?
For combustion chambers of this scale, the cooling channels will be
quite small. It's still experimental right now. The current plan is to
use a rotating fourth axis (actually replace the Y axis on the 3D
printer with a rotating axis) holding the chamber under a plotting
head. Using this, the chamber can be coated with a non-conducting
material (resist ink) where you don't want additional material plated
(I'll try permananent markers and heated glue gun plastic). After the
resist is applied, the chamber will go back into the tank for
additional plating.
Once the cooling channels are plated, then the closeout material can be
added (if needed). The closeouts can then be filled with hot-glue
material, the material outer boundary machined in the same rotary axis
attachement I mentioned earlier and then coated with conductive ink.
Finally, back in to the tanks to form the closeout.
This process approach is considered over merely machining out channels
because machining likely requires 5 axes to do properly. The equipment
for 5 axis micromachining is (likely) more prohibitive to obtain or
develop.
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