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I've been electroforming ALOT these past several months... mainly acorns & birdhouses. It's kind of tough, though, because you can really only have maybe 3 pieces in the "bath" at one time... you have to adjust the electric current accordingly (current x2 for 2 pieces, x3 for 3 pieces & so on) & I can only fit so many in my small Pyrex beaker that came w/ my kit at one time. They take probably 8-12 hours each, too. So lately, I've had a long line-up of acorns ready & waiting for their turn.
A few months ago I started trying to figure out how I could possibly expand the setup so I could do more pieces, knowing that if I got a larger container & had more pieces in there at one time, I would have to do some serious adjusting to the current to try to figure out what would work out best w/ however many pieces I was doing. Then I thought that maybe I would just have to have more than one set-up w/ another few rectifiers (power source), which would be a nice chunk of change. Don't think so. My next thought was that maybe I could put some sort of splitter on the lead wires so I could split the current between 2 beakers... then it occurred to me that the thick copper wire that each of the pieces were suspended from could just be expanded over multiple containers & the current would be the same for each container, not split between them... so I wouldn't have to multiply the current times every single piece that was being suspended from that wire, just times each piece that were suspended in each container.
I know... I lost you, didn't I?? :o)
Anyway... it made sense to me, so I tried it, adding a second round glass container & it worked! I was able to do 3 pieces in each one at one time, no problem!! That was awesome!! But, I didn't like the round containers... they felt small & restrictive. I read a bit & found out that I could use acid resistant plastic containers & was pointed to a restaurant supply place. I found some plastic steam pans that would be just perfect... (Cambro Camwear® Food Pan, 1/6 Size, 6" Deep, Clear #CAM66CW135)
Here you go... I set this up this weekend & had 12 acorns going at once... it was great! That went too well :o)... now I need to get more acorns & birdhouses ready to go...
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