The Ultimate Guide to Copper Electroforming

Welcome to the Ultimate Guide to Copper Electroforming. A beginners guides to electroforming with copper and getting the best results.

What is electroforming?
Electroforming is the covering of a non-conductive item with metal through the use on an electrolysis cell.

This is the sciencey bit – don’t worry if it’s too complicated, you will learn all about it during the course.
The scientific principle behind electroforming is the same as electroplating, the deposition of a metal layer on a base material, referred to as the work, using direct current through a solution called an electrolyte. Copper is the most commonly electroformed metal for enthusiasts and jewellery makers. This is due to the cost effectiveness of copper and the ease of electrodeposition. Copper has a high plating efficiency and a high throwing power, meaning small pits and scratches will be filled easily and levelled well. Copper metal is also inert in other plating solutions, making it ideal for the first electroformed layer. Copper also has a very high conductivity, both thermal and electrical. These properties coupled with its mechanical properties make it an excellent metal for a base layer.

What is the Ultimate Guide to Copper Electroforming?
This guide is a learn-anywhere video course where you learn how to electroform your own items to create unique art pieces or jewellery. This course is hand crafted to deliver all of the basic concepts of electroforming, the safety aspects, setting up an electroforming system, conductive paints, troublshooting and the whole process in an easy to follow format. It is designed with the complete beginner in mind, however, there are a huge number of tips and tricks for those who have already been electroforming for some time.   

Clear, Easy to Understand Lessons
Crystal clear in fact. Learning electroforming and how to complete the process effectively means having information presented in a logical and coherent way. The course is modular by design, easy to grasp, and allows you to learn in a well paced, structured way. Engage in the course chronologically, then revise each module at your leisure.

What You’ll Learn

• Safety and the importance of being safe

• The basic electroforming system and the items you will need

• How to create your own electroforming system

• The need for sealing objects before painting

• The different types of conductive paint and when/how to use them

• Current density, how it affects your items and how to orientate them in the tank

• The important operating conditions of copper electrolyte

• How to check items during electroforming

• How to recognise, fix and prevent problems

• Further processes that can be applied to electroformed items

Are there any course requirements or prerequisites?
To start with, the only thing you would need is a pen/pencil and paper (or the digital equivalent). I would recommend watching the course through once to absorb as much information as possible, then, buy some supplies and follow the course again. This time, follow each section step-by-step.

I can’t wait to share electroforming with you!

Who this course is for:

• People who are interested in learning how to electroform at home, and how to do it safely and effectively by achieving repeatable results.
• This course if for beginners to electroforming. Some of the content will be useful for intermediate to advanced electroformers but the bulk of the content is presented in a way that makes it easier for complete beginners.