Scientific American Supplement, No. 586, March 26, 1887Various
Science
Scientific American Supplement, No. 586, March 26, 1887
Various
Science -- Periodicals
The salt used, and also the anodes, were originally introduced into this
country from America, and latterly from Germany. I am not aware of any
English manufacturer who makes a specialty in the way of anodes. This is a
matter on which we can hardly congratulate ourselves, as a well known
London firm some time ago supplied me with my first experimental anodes,
which were in every way very superior to the German or American
productions. Although the price paid per pound was greater, the plates
themselves were cheaper on account of their lesser thickness.
The texture of the inner portions of these foreign anodes would lead one to
infer that the metallurgy of nickel was very primitive. A good homogeneous
plate can be produced, still the spongy, rotten plates of foreign
manufacture were allowed the free run of our markets. The German plates
are, in my opinion, more compact than the American. A serious fault with
plates of earlier manufacture was their crumpled condition after a little
use. This involved a difficulty in cleaning them when necessary. The
English plates were not open to this objection; in fact, when the outer
surfaces were planed away, they remained perfectly smooth and compact.
Large plates have been known to disintegrate and fall to pieces after being
used for some time. A large anode surface, compared with that of the
article to be plated, is of paramount importance. The tank should be
sufficiently wide to take the largest article for plating, and to admit of
the anodes being moved nearer to or further from the article. In this way
the necessary electrical resistance can very conveniently be inserted
between the anode and cathode surfaces. The elimination of hydrogen from
the cathode must be avoided, or at any rate must not accumulate. Moving the
article being plated, while in the bath, taking care not to break the
electrical contacts, is a good security against a streaky or foggy
appearance in the deposit.
At one time a mechanical arrangement was made, by which the cathodes were
kept in motion. The addition of a little borax to the bath is a great
advantage in mitigating the appearance of gas. Its behavior is electrical
rather than chemical. If the anode surface is too great, a few plates
should be transferred to the cathode bars.
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