The light metal may be plated with almost any other metal, but copper is most commonly employed. Two formulas for coppering aluminum follow:

I

Make a bath of cupric sulphate, 30 parts; cream of tartar, 30 parts; soda, 25 parts; water, 1,000 parts. After well scouring the objects to be coppered, immerse in the bath. The coppering may also be effected by means of the battery with the following mixture: Sodium phosphate, 50 parts; potassium cyanide, 50 parts; copper cyanide, 50 parts; distilled water, 1,000 parts.

II

First clean the aluminum in a warm solution of an alkaline carbonate, thus making its surface rough and porous; next wash it thoroughly in running water, and dip it into a hot solution of hydrochloric acid of about 5 per cent strength. Wash it again in clean water, and then place it in a somewhat concentrated acid solution of copper sulphate, until a uniform metallic deposit is formed; it is then again thoroughly washed and returned to the copper sulphate bath, when an electric current is passed until a coating of copper of the required thickness is obtained.

Brassing of Aluminum

The following recipe is recommended for the bath: Copper acetate, 50 parts, by weight; dry zinc chloride, 25 parts, by weight; crystallized sodium sulphite, 250 parts, by weight; ammonium carbonate, 35 parts, by weight; potassium cyanide, 110 parts, by weight. Dissolve in 3,000 parts of water.