122 ELECTRO-PLATING. 



This at once entirely removed all those restrictions on taste and 

 design, .under which the plater was forced, by the nature of his pro- 

 cess, to labour. 



The following may be considered some of the principal differences 

 existing in the two processes of plating, the old method and the 

 electro-process : 



1. The electro-plater is not limited in the use of the metal upon 

 which he plates. There is generally used, as the bases of all electro- 

 plated goods, a hard white metal, which possesses the sound, and 

 approaches very nearly to the colour, of silver. Inferior goods are 

 sometimes made in brass. 



2. The electro-plater is not restricted to the use of soft solder, 

 which melts at a very low temperature, and forms a very insufficient 

 joint, besides preventing any sound or ring in the article so soldered. 

 Where cheap goods are required, this may be used in this process 

 as well as in the old, but is always open to the same objection. All 

 goods of superior quality, made for the electro-process, are soldered 

 with what is termed in the trade hard silver solder, composed of 2 

 parts of silver and 1 part of brass melted together, which is not 

 affected by any ordinary degree of heat, and presents a joint as strong 

 as the metal itself. 



The common solder of braziers may also be used with advantage : 

 it is very hard and durable, and requires a strong heat to melt it. 



3. The electro-plater, in producing ornamental articles, is not 

 obliged to incur the expense of cutting iron dies for every minute 

 portion ; being under no restriction, he models his pattern, and by 

 casting and chasing in solid metal, produces an exact copy, which is 

 afterwards plated or gilt. 



Thus any pattern which can be executed in silver may be readily 

 made in plate by this method. 



4. The junction of the plating with the metal below, by the elec- 

 tro-process, is perfect, without the presence of any intervening sub- 

 stance : the forks and spoons thus made are not open to the objection 

 of the old process, and are found to answer all the purposes of silver, 

 in sound, appearance, and wear : they are generally tested, previously 

 to polishing, by exposure in a furnace to a red heat. 



5. From the facility with which old goods may be now restored, 

 these goods bear an intrinsic value ; whereas, before the introduc- 

 tion of the electro-process, a plated article worn through in any part 

 was valueless. 



Objections to Electro-plating. Several objections to the electro- 

 process have been keenly urged ; but they may all be reduced to 

 the following : 



1st objection : Deposited metal is crystalline, and ..therefore, 

 though it may impart in appearance a silver coating, it must neces- 



