Medallion "wipe on" silver

[Eflatdoubler]

Looks good! How thick was it applied, and how much area will the bottle treat? Does the horn still play the same?

[saxophyte]

Wow
looks like andersen plating will soon be out of business
When I silverplate my solution has to be at the right temp, stirred constantly, and with the right amperage and left to plate for 8 to 10 hours .
I find it hard to believe there is any appreciable amount of silver on your crooks.

[Dan Schultz]

I'm usually a skeptic when if comes to things like this. However... what you've done looks pretty darned good!... at least as good as the brush plating apparatus I use for touch-up.

[k001k47]

Cool! I want some for the old forged irons I golf with.

[Rick F]

Mark,

This looks promising. I found a video of how-to apply this stuff. Is this the way you did it?
Medallion Care Liquid Silver Plating Solution (how to)

[Tubajug]

Now that I'm buffing off the silver plate on my project horn, maybe I should replate it with this! That would probably be a lot of bottles....

[Uncle Buck]

I expect to start seeing fewer eBay horns being sold with intermittent worn patches of silver.

[toobagrowl]

I've had Medallion silver polish for at least a couple years now. It is good for touch ups and polishing, but don't expect it to be true silver plating. I have applied it liberally to some areas and after several months it looks raw brass again. You could use a whole bottle of the stuff on one slide and it still wouldn't even come close to a real plating job.

[Tubajug]

One year later...

Holy cow...I remember when you first started posting about this! Has it really been a year? Jeez...time flies!

[bort]

Hey Mark... okay, almost 2.5 years in, what's the long-term verdict? Worth it or not? And if you've done multiple applications, what would you estimate in $/year for upkeep?

Thanks!

[bort]

Cool, thanks Mark.

And Joe... well...

[PaulMaybery]

Tried it last year on some custom work on a silver tuba. Wiped it on the raw brass braces etc and it looked fine. (There is also a comparable gold plate product) It made things look great. The problem is that the plating is very thin and will eventually wear through rather quickly. I do like it for exactly what I used it for as you really do not need to send the parts off to a plating house. It is quick at easy to do. But it is no where near as durable as a true electro plate. If it is on a spot that gets little hand contact, I think you may have a winner. And I suppose you can always keep touching it up. On major work, I really do not think you are saving much money. The product is not exactly cheap. On a mp it will wear through in a month or so of serious playing.

[michael_glenn]

I've gotta try this...

[michael_glenn]

Overall, I'm not that impressed... This is after several coats, and it still looks pretty dingy.

[bort]

Why is it black?

[bort]

I missed the third photo in the series. Still gross though, it looks like a disease. Is it actually bubbled up?

Regardless, even if it went right, I don't think that product is intended for high-contact areas like that. If it were me, I'd clean that stuff off of that gorgeous instrument and make/buy some sort of cover to protect the instrument underneath.

Interested to hear what happened with this. I was considering trying this on my tuba, to cover up a few small spots, but maybe not now...

[michael_glenn]

The photos are before, during, and after. It was clean bare brass. Now it's ugly silver. Click on the picture to go to photo bucket, and you'll see it better.

[michael_glenn]

Also, this isn't a contact point for me. The way I position my hand, I almost never touch that spot. The previous owner? Not so much.

[Donn]

Not that I know anything about this stuff, but that looks like a failure - can't be the way it's supposed to work, the question is why. The original plating loss looks like a failure, too - at the bottom of the area, where it runs into the ferrule or whatever, it looks more like peeling than wear. If you knew why that happened, it might be a clue to the problem you had with this product.

[PaulMaybery]

Hi Mark.

Interesting and handy product. Tried it a couple of years back. It does work as it says, and as you have found out.
It is however, and here is the 'bubble buster' ... the application is extremely thin and does suffice for cosmetic purposes, and is relatively economical. However, it is not substantial enough for any place that has constant wear or contact with the hands )or lips for that matter.) Dollar for dollar I honestly believe I would have been better off with mouthpieces at least with getting a bonafide electro silver plate from a reputable company. But, it does work nicely for touch up ... just be prepared to reapply the solution in the not to distant future ... say a year or so. If you can deal with that, you should be happy. I still use it now and then.

There is also a "gold plate" kit out there, but that lasted even a shorter amount of time and easiy wiped off with a polishing rag.

There is a good reason why Anderson and other companies are in business in that they are able to lay on a substantially thick coat of silver or gold or other base metals as a substrate prior to the final coat. Plus the color buffing and chem cleaning are not small issue either.

Just sayin' ....

Paul (who is always looking for a quick fix ... but is pretty sceptical anymore .. .for good reason)