A copper electroplating setup that deposits solid metal onto 3D printed plastic parts, turning PLA prints into pieces with genuine metal surfaces rather than metallic paint.

The interesting problem is that electroplating requires a conductive substrate and plastic is an insulator, so the process starts before any current flows. Prints are prepared with a primer layer to smooth the surface, since layer lines and porosity carry straight through to the finished plating, then coated in graphite to create a conductive skin the deposition can build on. That prep stage determines almost everything about the result. An uneven or poorly adhered conductive layer produces patchy plating no amount of time in the tank will correct.

The bath runs off a copper electrolyte solution with thin copper sheet as the sacrificial anode, dissolving into solution as it plates out onto the part. Deposition is deliberately slow. Driven hard, plating builds unevenly and roughly at edges and high-current areas, so the tradeoff is a long dwell time in exchange for an even, smooth deposit.

Because the process involves a copper salt bath, I built the setup with dedicated ventilation and handling procedures from the start, and returned the spent and surplus chemicals to a school laboratory for proper disposal rather than improvising it. Working with chemistry outside an institutional setting means the safety and waste side is your responsibility alone, and building that in from the beginning was part of the project rather than an afterthought.

The project came out of an interest in steampunk aesthetics and the appeal of parts that are actually metal rather than finished to look like it. The next step is scaling the setup to handle larger and more numerous pieces, working toward a full copper-plated robot from Invincible.