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What exactly is the process of gold plating using a Gold Wash system?
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December 10, 2020 - 3:14 am
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To All on this forum;

I’m in the middle of what might end up to be a heated discussion as what is “Gold Wash” plating. I think that after reading about how the early Gold Plated Winchester, Colt, S&W and various other arms, both of American and Continental manufacture were plated back then, the term “Gold Washed” seemed to be used. My question to all is this. Was there a type of plating system named “Gold Wash” used back before Electroplating, and what was the process. I always thought the process was a mixture of Mercury and Gold in solution. the mix applied to the firearm, then the weapon was heated until the Mercury was burned off leaving a very thin plating of gold. A very dangerous plating system to use. Am I correct or not?

Apache (ya ta hey )ConfusedConfusedConfusedConfusedConfused

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December 10, 2020 - 3:37 am
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The use of mercury to apply gold wouldn’t work since you would have to get mercury up to about 700 degrees to get it to boil off which would affect the temper of the steel.

Gold wash is just a thin electroplated layer from what I understand.

Bob

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December 10, 2020 - 3:52 am
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1873man;

   If not a Gold Wash as described was used, then what process was used to Gold plate the early Henry, 1866’s, 1873’s and 1876’s. They were plated in Gold or Silver before the Electroplating system was invented as I understand. If you don’t know how the early Winchester firearms were plated before the use of Electroplating was invented, please let me know. I’ll research at what temperature (Minimum) Mercury will evaporate from a Gold/Mercury solution. Thank you 1873man.

Apache ( ya ta hey )ConfusedConfusedConfusedConfusedConfused

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December 10, 2020 - 4:05 am
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Electroplating was first discovered in 1805 and refined in 1840’s with several patents.

Bob

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December 10, 2020 - 4:46 am
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Bob;

    First question I woud like to ask you if you don’t mind. When did Winchester install electriciity in their factory? I thought but not sure that electroplating became commercialy available a number of years after the 1870’s. 2)  Mercury boils at 674.1 degrees f. ( 356.7 c ) while when case hardening iron or steel the temp. is 900 – 1150 degrees F. (482 – 621 degrees C. ) I think with an amalgam of Gold and Mercury, the Mercury should boil off long before effecting the temper of the iron or steel used. I have to research just when Electroplating became commercially available, and was used in plating firearms in Connecticut (Winchesters, Marlins, Colts, S&Ws and others.) Thank you for the quick comeback Bob.

apache (ya ta hey )Confused

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December 10, 2020 - 4:46 am
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My limited research into electroplating shows it was invented in 1805 widely in use by 1840. Which I know limited amounts of electricity were available using batteries or chemically made batteries. In old western movies you’ll see they always had two large glass jars of chemicals setting next the telegraph machine in the telegraph man’s office. 

I don’t know how effective using such type of batteries for using in the electroplating process would have been. But imagine it was feasible. One interesting piece of history I came across a while back was that the town of New Haven, Connecticut had a widespread electrical utility company by the year 1881. So who knows if the factory had widespread use of electricity before the town did. 

Also looking at the electroplating process your metal source to be applied was a Anode that attached itself to a Cathode through a electrolyte solution. So a gold bar or chunk of gold was put in a gold sulfate solution with the bronze/brass or iron or steel receiver acting as the cathode for the plating process.

So maybe the Winchester just used the term “Gold Wash” because everything was placed into a gold sulfate solution to perform the electroplating process. Winchester’s “Gold Wash” may have been proprietary in nature for achieving the look of finish they wanted. 

Even today it seems when buying a Gold Plating solution the Formulas are trade secrets.

24K Brush Gold Plating Solution is available as a liquid or gel.

Our 24K Brush Gold Plating Solution is a cobalt hardened, acid gold electroplating solution. The high gold content combined with our proprietary system of hardeners, brighteners and other make-up components produces a most beautiful plate on the market.

Just of few thoughts on the matter.

Sincerely,

Maverick

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December 10, 2020 - 4:59 am
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You can temper steel at a much lower temperature than its melting point. You temper metal by heating and getting the metal to a certain color. For instance Dark blue is 540 degrees which is probably what the loading gate of a 73 is.

Bob

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December 10, 2020 - 5:39 am
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To expand on what happens to steel when its heated even to low temps I will tell you how I would make a replacement spring for sights. I would start with spring that was close to the right thickness or shape and anneal it by heating it red hot and letting it cool. Now its soft and I can bend, file or drill it to get the shape I want. Then I heat it up red and quench it. Now its real hard and brittle, if I try to bend it, it will break so I temper it by heating it to the color temperature I want to get the right properties so it will bend and come back to the same shape which is below the temperature that Mercury boils.

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December 10, 2020 - 5:55 am
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apache said
I always thought the process was a mixture of Mercury and Gold in solution. the mix applied to the firearm, then the weapon was heated until the Mercury was burned off leaving a very thin plating of gold.

According to the History Channel, this process was discovered in the Bronze Age.  Jewelry assumed to be solid gold was found on analysis to be plated bronze . 

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December 10, 2020 - 2:29 pm
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Apache,  Bob has far more detailed and technical info than I do.  But I might help some here.  I have an early first model 1873 SRC that was engraved, then full nickel plated, then gold washed apparently soon after leaving the factory.  Judging by the spots where the nickel has left the scene, it was relatively thick in its deposition.  The receiver and buttplate were subsequently  “gold washed” on top of the nickel and it was very thin.  Much of the gold wash is gone as it did not wear well.  Not a metallurgist, but suspect the use of an amalgam and heat to boil off the mercury would not have done the nickel any favors. Naturally, without it having been documented as being done at Winchester, we have no idea the exact date nor the location of the work.  But it is considered “period”, for the broad sense that could mean.  Tim

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December 10, 2020 - 5:38 pm
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Bob, Tim T., clarence, Maverick, and all other interested parties;

What I’m about to relay to you all certainly will not win me any friends on this forum, but here’s the facts on pre and early gold plating used on arms, china, armor, and anything else that was to be plated. The term “Fire Guilding” (may have been known also as Gold Wash) was an early type of Gold Plating. It was first found to be used in the 1st century AD. Although I can give you the appox formula basically it’s an amalgam of Mercury and Gold. ( 1 part Gold to 8 parts Mercury ) applied to what is to be plated and then MERCURY IS BOILED OFF leaving a plating of Gold. Temper of metal isn’t affected. This system of plating Gold is rarely but still used in some cases to this day. Electroplating came into use in Europe, (Italy) around early 1800s (1815-1820s), but for the most part was unknown outside Italy. In 1840 the first patent for Electroplating was issued in England to Henry & George Kikington and in collaboration with John Wright the Pottasium Cyanide bath method of Electro Gold plating came into being. However it wasn’t until after the 1850s that Gold, Silver, Copper, and various other metals were plated commercially. It was available to the ultra wealthy of the time, with its various formulas a well guarded trade secret. It wasn’t until the rise of the British Empire and the Industrial Revolution that Electroplating tech became available around the world. 

  If you want the whole FACTUAL story on the history of Gold plating, it’s available to all willing to look for it. the book “The Beginnings of Electroplating” by the authors J.C. Garcia and T.D. Burliegh will give you the answers to questions you might have pertaining to early Gold Plating and Gold Electroplating which actually became readily commercially available in the United States around the turn of the 20th, and not in the early 19th century. 

This is why I tell any Collectors that care to listen. “If you want to know anything about anything, be it Winchesters or Gold Plating, or Little Green Men on the Moon, one must become their own Expert. It requires WORK, but in the end you’ll have the answers and not someone else’s ideas of what is or isn’t the real story”.

Thank you all for putting up with extra long reply.

Apache ( ya ta hey )Smile

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December 10, 2020 - 6:08 pm
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tim tomlinson said
The receiver and buttplate were subsequently  “gold washed” on top of the nickel and it was very thin.

That’s what “washed” commonly means–a very thin plating.  When the coating is thicker, then it’s “plated.”  An exceptionally heavy plating will be called “gold filled,” such as often applied to cases of pocket watches, & other items subject to a lot of wear.  All these terms are relative, of course.

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December 10, 2020 - 7:28 pm
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Very interesting subject.  I did a little research and found this video of how to gold wash.  He uses electricity but in prior days one would have to make their own batteries. 

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December 10, 2020 - 7:38 pm
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clarence;

I’m sorry to tell you this, but you’re both right and wrong in what you’ve put on this forum about what is Gold Washed, Gold Plated and what is Gold Filled. The thickness of the plating has nothing to do with the method of plating. Gold Wash is an early method of Gold Plating. Gold Electroplating is a different method that can be had in various thickness. When having an item, be it jewelry or firearms Gold electroplated one usually specifies how heavy the item is to be plated, this up to a certain point. Gold Filled items according to the FTC regulations for being stamped Gold Filled is as follows. For 12 Karat or higher the plated layer must equal 1/20 the total weight of the item. It is a FTC regulated law pertaining only to JEWELRY STAMPING. If Jewelry is not stamped, then Buyer be ware. If a, lets say a Winchester 1876 were to be “Gold Filled” using the FTC definition of a minimum of 20% of the weight of the item, imagine how much gold would be required. I, having been in the manufacturing end of the “Fine Jewelry” business for over 42 years prior to my retirement, and have some idea of what I am saying. So Clarence, I think we’re probably actually both right, we’re just describing it differently. However the term Gold Washed describes the method and not the thickness of the gold plating. I guess that I’m just arguing the fine points of Gold Plated and or Gold Filled. Gold Wash however as previously stated is a different animal. See what happens when one is retired!!

Apache (ya ta hey)SmileSmileSmile 

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December 10, 2020 - 8:27 pm
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Just a comment from a former chemist. Mercury has a very low vapor pressure, meaning it vaporizes at very low temperatures… Room temperature even. No need to use crazy high temps, a simple warming oven bird nicely. Toxic fumes are a major problem. As a former chemist I’ve had to permanently close entire laboratories and devise action plans for mercury removal from 1920s hardwood floors. 5 decades of sloppy handling left at least 2 people working in the 70s poisoned.

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December 10, 2020 - 8:33 pm
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  Chuck, Nice video. I’ve been told by a guy who does this on old guns that new gold is lighter in color than old antique gold. The old gold is darker with a orange cast. Did Roger do this or did he outsource? T/R

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December 10, 2020 - 9:01 pm
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W

TR said
  Chuck, Nice video. I’ve been told by a guy who does this on old guns that new gold is lighter in color than old antique gold. The old gold is darker with a orange cast. Did Roger do this or did he outsource? T/R  

When I was in Korea the gold looked orange but is was almost pure gold.  You could actually bend a ring flat then pull it back into shape.

I really don’t know what Roger did but I never saw any equipment in his shop that could do this.  He didn’t even do his own case coloring after awhile. 

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December 11, 2020 - 5:11 am
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A few points; in the early days I believe the Winchester machinery was powered by steam. I believe at some point they generated their own electricity until it was available from a utility. In the (19)80’s a chemical process was available for applying gold to automotive emblems while on the vehicle. No heat was involved. Also, gold is not a durable metal. It can also be applied in a VERY thin layer. A gunsmith once told me that gold plating was no more costly than other platings, just less durable. 

 

Mike

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December 11, 2020 - 4:13 pm
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 If I have a ding in my car and have it repaired, I can see the difference in color 15′ away. When I walk a gun show, I see the difference between new gold or nickel and old. New nickel looks like chrome and old nickel has a dull frosty look. New gold looks yellow and old gold looks orange-ish. Is the difference the purity of the metal, the process, or the age? I don’t know, I would like to know, that’s why I find this  thread so interesting.

 The human eye is amazing, the paint people use a computer to match colors and you with your eye can see a difference. You can train you eye by looking at real original guns hands on. The more real guns you look at the better. The more restored guns you look at that are represented as real,  the easier it is to accept them as real. If a new collector has a restored gun he thinks is real he usually doesn’t have just one. T/R

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December 11, 2020 - 5:52 pm
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TR said
 If I have a ding in my car and have it repaired, I can see the difference in color 15′ away. When I walk a gun show, I see the difference between new gold or nickel and old. New nickel looks like chrome and old nickel has a dull frosty look. New gold looks yellow and old gold looks orange-ish. Is the difference the purity of the metal, the process, or the age?

Purity of the metal is certainly a critical factor, as most contain trace amounts of other metals to improve harness, ductility, casting properties, etc.  Fancy pocket watch cases were often decorated in 3 colors of gold alloys (one of them faintly green).  Nickel, like pewter, definitely acquires a patina over time, surface oxidation perhaps.  Which is why the experts on Antiques Roadshow are always saying “don’t clean the metal.”

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