Re: Silver plating

[Austin R. Baer]

A friend of mine here in Ridgway, Colorado may be able to help. His name is John Billings; he is a master mold maker who manufactures the Grammy music awards that we see handed out on television. He has plating equipment that deposits silver via a silver nitrate deposition process (as opposed to electroplating). Obviously, he is expert in buffing a variety of materials to a very high polish, and he uses this process frequently to simulate polished metal on large scale stage props and the like. I just spoke with him on the phone, and he indicates that for the very best work, electroplating may be preferable, but where the original headlamp reflector is badly dinged, or even needs filling in places with Bondo or a similar material, silver nitrate deposition can cover virtually any material equally well, and he is willing to provide this service to members of the group. It occurs to me that a plastic or metal parabolic liner could also be devised (that would avoid risking shipping damage or loss to the original headlamps) that could become a low-cost replacement after oxidation and sulphur fumes do their work on the plating. John is highly experienced in metal spinning as well (the horn of the Grammy award is spun in his shop), and may have some other tricks up his sleeve. If there is any interest, please contact John directly. He can tell you more about film thickness comparisons (to electroplating), protective lacquer coatings that may be in order, and costs. His e-mail address is grammydude@independence.net Austin.