[WaxHaX0rS]

Hey, I'm just a young student, but I like chemistry.  (just telling you so you have an idea of where this is coming from).  I read about electroplating a while ago and I thought it would be a cool thing to try.  My ultimate goal would be to copper-plate an entire trumpet (I play trumpet, duh), but I don't want to get ahead of myself here.  First of all, I would like to know what would be involved.  If I were to do this, I would want to try plating a small piece of raw brass first.  What kind of materials would I need?  I read a little experiment and it seemed like it would be fairly simple, but it wasn't extremely specific and it wasn't using brass.  It also used a vinegar-copper solution, which required electricity because vinegar is too weak to dissolve copper itself.  Anyway, I'm wondering how some of you chemistry gurus would go about this.  Thanks.

[Donaldson Tan]

We don't deserve to be called chemistry gurus. Helping out at this forum is definitely a service to the online community.

Acid won't react with Cu normally. Examining the Reactivity Series, you would find Cu is ranked below Hydrogen. Perhaps u can purchase aq copper (II) solutions off Ebay instead of trying to dissolve Cu in acid. Unless you use a strong acid such as aqua regia (which oxidies Cu, thus dissolving it). Aqua regia is a control chemical. I strongly discourage you from accessing aqua regia. It is a a hazardous chemical.

[jdurg]

You don't need aqua regia to dissolve copper metal.  Nitric acid by itself will do a fine job, though the toxic fumes emitted aren't too good to ingest.  

[hmx9123]

If you're after copper ions, why not just go buy a big bag of azelia fertilizer?  It's just copper sulfate.  You can usually buy it as 'sulfate of copper' or some such thing.  It's about 99% pure, and if you want really pure stuff (like I'm guessing you would for electroplating), just dissolve it in water and filter it through a cotton T-shirt to remove the 1% clay that is in it.  I've used the stuff before and it works really well.

[WaxHaX0rS]

Thanks for the excellent replies so far, but there's more.  How should I go about doing this?  What procedure should I use?  Remember, the surface to be covered is brass, so take that into consideration.
Thanks

[WaxHaX0rS]

By the way, where could I get that copper sulfate stuff?  I have limited resources; I'm pretty much limited to say.. the local hardware store.

[budullewraagh]

sorry to use this thread for my own benefit, but i do have a question relating to this.

i would like to silver plate metallic objects.  first, how would i dissolve silver?  i know that silver chlorate is moderately soluble in H2O, silver fluoride, nitrate and especially perchlorate are very soluble in H2O.  of course, the nitrate and fluoride would be difficult to produce, and the perchlorate would probably end up killing me considering i'd have to produce Cl2 AND burn it, plus a great deal of it wouldn't oxidize to +7.  of course, another way is to dissolve Ag(s) in a conc acid.  i have some really conc HCl (it's been sitting in the basement for 25 years and the H2O seemed to have left considering when i open the container HCl(g) is released).  would that dissolve the Ag(s)?  would that even be practical considering i will have to place oter metals in the solution and thus would be dissolving the wires required for electroplating as well as the object i wish to plate?

[Donaldson Tan]

Silver nitrate?

[budullewraagh]

what about?