Daguerreotype: Electroplating Silver onto Copper Plates - [Republished]

This video was originally published on my old channel and was moved during the channel migration to keep this content available.
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From the original video description:
Accompanying guide with links to all materials and equipment: www.francescof...
Update: If you are interested in measuring the amount of silver deposited on your plates, I've created a calculator to help: www.francescof...
Upon setting out to explore the daguerreotype process, I was unable to acquire professionally made electroplated or clad plates and decided to set out to learn how to electroplate my own plates in my home studio. I have since been asked about my electroplating process by a number of new and seasoned daguerreotypists so I have decided to make this process video and the accompanying guide to show others how I do it.
I can recommend this method for anyone starting out with the process who is in need of plates and unable to find them commercially. The plates can be produced to a quality allowing adequate final surfacing and polishing to be used as a starting point and the method will deposit a layer of silver thick enough to allow for multiple reuses of the plate after wiping/ re-polishing which you will be doing a lot of as you get started. I cannot guarantee that your results will be as perfect as professionally electroplated plates or clad plates, but with dedicated attention to the process and practice, I believe it can come quite close. With that said, it is still worth getting professionally electroplated plates and clad plates when they are available to compare and find what works best for you.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
02:21 Cutting Copper Plates
06:58 Drilling Plate Hanging Holes
08:05 Plate Polishing
10:21 Cleaning the Plate
11:59 Explanation of the Electroplating Process
19:43 Demonstration of Electroplating Process
21:47 Final Result and Closing Remarks
Video by Francesco Fragomeni
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Instagram: francescofragomeni