Wifey has a small silverplate gravy bowl which has been discontinued by Oneida, and is/was in need of re-plating. A local shop claimed to have re- done it, but in fact _painted_ and buffed the inside, rather than actually stripping to copper (or filling) and re-plating.
She priced the work at a museum conservator's shop, and ducked back out the door upon hearing his $1500 price. She'd like it done, but figures the piece was only worth about $150 new, so it doesn't make sense to spend more than that having it re-done.
You might be able "brush plate" only the damaged area with one of the electroplating kits available for around 50 bucks. Do a google. Caswell is a major brand.
She priced the work at a museum conservator's shop, and ducked back out the door upon hearing his $1500 price. She'd like it done, but figures the piece was only worth about $150 new, so it doesn't make sense to spend more than that having it re-done.
------------------------------------- Lloyd E. Sp> Wifey has a small silverplate gravy bowl which has been discontinued by
$1500????? is this a gravy bowl for an entire city? a guy in my metal smithing class got the inside of a large vessel silver plated for 25 bucks and it only took a few days through a local guy in VA
with the way silver is going up (almost 20USD/ozt) depending how big it is it shouldnt be too much even from some one over charging.
i probably wouldnt try a brush plating hit because a) it is going to be less to get it re-plated and b) it probably wont come out very good
-matt
##-----------------------------------------------## Delivered via
formatting link
Forums Web and RSS access to your favorite newsgroup - rec.crafts.metalworking - 186109 messages and counting! ##-----------------------------------------------##
If you can't find a reasonable plater,have her go on the internet and find dealers who specialize in obsolete silver items. She can most likely find one at a reasonable cost.
It's not the size of the bowl, it's that anyone advertising as or in the business of being a museum conservator is going to work at a high price
- and/or she got the "not work I want to do, so quote an outrageous price and hope they go elsewhere" response - pretty standard. She might or might not have gotten a better price on similar work if the item in question was 15th century or whatever, as the conservator might find it interesting - or he might just be really expensive because he does whatever he does to a high standard and by seemingly bizarre methods that have to do with "conservation" than "replating".
The guy in your metalsmithing class got someone in the plating business that apparently is happy to do one-off work for individuals at a reasonable price. Perhaps you could send Lloyd the contact info for that plater.
One of these days I hope to find a reasonable price on getting a trombone plated, but haven't as yet - so far the only one I got was about the price of an entire plated trombone. But I haven't really looked too hard yet - it's not a high priority. Could be worth a drive to Virginia...
For a mass-produced item not in current production, one serious option is to see if there are 10 on *b*y, and if 5 of them are in good shape, and if one of those can be bought for less than you can get the replating done for - and then sell off the original there as well.
I had a couple of pewter clasps gold plated by a local jeweler - they turned out quite nice. He did it for free, BTW. The renaissance garb I was putting it on appealed to his sense of "weird", I guess.
Most silverplate made in the last 150 years have a substrate of either nickle silver or pewter or a combination of the two (cast pewter feet and trims on a nickle body)
The nickle does not need a copper subplate. If it has pewter on it, the pewter needs to be struck with a sulfate copper plate and some nickle to keep the copper from absorbing the silver.
Cyanide silver plating builds up well and (unlike chrome) does not need to have the old plate stripped. With moderate finishing a worn spot can be overplated thick enough to be polished to invisibility.
If your wear exposes pewter, it becomes a much bigger pita.
$1500 is a lot of bread though. We used to have 2 silverplaters here in Chicago. One was real expensive and did the most beautiful work you have ever seen. They closed up and the building is a toxic waste site.
The other does decent work at a decent price. They do most of the work for the hotel and restaurant trade.
formatting link
I normally do brush plating touch up for the antique dealers around here, but that is for looks, not longevity. When they need more extensive work I send them there.
I have never actually used them myself, but the work I've seen was never embarrassing.
Bad logic. A cousin of the sunk cost fallacy. It can't be bought new, therefore the only criterion is: what's it worth to have it usable. Could be rephrased as: what would I pay for a new one now, if they were available.
I'm not trying to justify $1500, which is absurd, just to point out that the $150 new cost, back when, is now irrelevant.
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.