kmer7777 Posted September 19, 2014 Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 I'm under the impression that red plating goes on over gold. (?) If that is true then I need to figure out if there is some way I can do this myself or have someone do it for me. I have shwack of gold plated hooks (mainly wire jig hooks) that need to be red. Any ideas? The first plating company I contacted suggested I powder coat them. Not what I thought would be the answer. The reason I'm considering this is that my buyer doesn't want ANY gold hooks. They only want bronze or red. This is the first time I heard of such an anti-gold preference (for walleye). Mind you, I'm fairly new in terms of fishing experience. I'd like to hear others thoughts on 'gold' hook preferences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmer7777 Posted September 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 (edited) Dang, I meant to post this in the wire bait forum. Doh! Edited September 19, 2014 by kmer7777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted September 19, 2014 Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 There have been several discussions on electroplating and for the hobbyist it is a bit expensive. It also has it's health hazards. If it were me and I was needing some red hooks I would just buy enough to satisfy the need of the customers who are requesting them. There are several threads regarding this process so you might do a search for them and read up on the info offered there. good luck, Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmer7777 Posted September 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 Ya it's easy enough to search for electroplating in terms of 'gold', 'chrome', 'nickel' etc... I guess what I'd like to know is.. What is the chemical or material that is being deposited on gold to appear 'red'. Is it a metal, acrylic, resin, ink, dye? This is where I run into a wall. What do the commercial hook makers use? Is it a secret? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted September 19, 2014 Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 Try searching online for "anodizing". It's a different from electroplating, but I think this is how some of the colors are applied. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted September 19, 2014 Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 I personally don't like colored hooks but I've noticed that there is quite a difference in how long the color stays on different brands. Mustad - not so good. Gamakatsu - pretty durable color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wchilton Posted September 19, 2014 Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 Anodizing is a process that forms a thin oxide on the surface of the metal. Can be done with some metals (aluminum, titanium) but not all. The way the color is added is by dying the oxide (dye sticks in the pores of the oxide) and then sealing by either a treatment or some coating. Don't think you can anodize iron. Anyway your hooks are already plated with a gold plate of some sort. Electroplating deposits a thin coat of metal on top of a surface. Never heard of plating with a metal that is RED. You might be able to plate with copper/brass to get a brown color but don't know if it would be enough. I left a sink fixture partly submerged in a mild acid solution (to remove water deposits) one time and copper came out of the internal parts and "plated" onto the chrome to make it yellowish. Your best bet for red may be to use a coating like DN which is made for coloring metals. Also check out "Caswell Plating", they have a lot of metal finishing stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clemmy Posted September 20, 2014 Report Share Posted September 20, 2014 Probably not satisfactory for a commercial venture, but great and cheap for your own is to use red blade dip. I swear this is what some of the manufacturers use given how easy their red comes off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
