Question about DMM bath

[estevamtec]

Considering the composition of DMM is made of copper, it can be processed in Nickel baths or if there is a specific bath to make matrices from copper DMM?

[andybee]

copper plating needs copper baths, there are some different versionss of cupper
baths available, some can be very dangerous for health.
you need an experienced surface coater & exper for setting this up for this...
good luck

[mossboss]

Acid Copper is commonly used on the stainless steel substrate so as to provide the base for the 10 -15 micron copper coating to it,
Conditions and the chemical composition of the bath in so far as additives are concerned is a case of what works for the few people that do it, its no big deal, however the plated stainless steel plates, lets call them masters have got to go into a freezer immediately after a quick rinse when out of the bath, they are placed is a protective film in a cardboard envelope than kept at minus 18 or less, until they are to be used
If they are to be used they are given a lubricating coating on a spinner at low revs which also brings them up to ambient temperature, they are also given a final quite a fast spin to dispose of any liquid remaining, clean filtered air is used to dry them, they get placed straight away on to the cutting lathe to cut the program
Leave them out of the baths or the cutting room for a short time at ambient temperature they are good for nothing, to heavy for frisbees, the crystalline structure of the copper deposit alters, changes to something else that makes the cut useless, it will still cut though
The chip looks like a chainsaw blade which tells the cutter to just forget that cut, DMM technology was never fully developed as the CD killed the record industry as well as its supporting industry
GZ have got it down pat but it took them many years of experimenting with all manner of things to get it right and they have, some years ago I sold them a DMM lathe
The scientologist are also another entity that has more than one DMM lathe and another in the works getting resurrected they do it as well, some years ago I got all their plating baths when they were in North Hollywood, before going elsewhere with a brand new setup, I have never seen the new setup
Considering that only about 20 odd DMM lathes where ever produced with lesser number sold the people that use them now had to work it out themselves
I am not sure why you are asking but the above gives you a glimpse into DMM masters, Its only a glimpse by the way, may be you can inform us why you are asking, well, if you so wish of course
Best

[misjah]

FWIW. we receive DMM blanks vacuum sealed and ship them idem.

[mossboss]

Thanks for that, I hear you, I can only talk about what I know first hand, and that is a few years old like 8-10 years ago, I offered GZ a pile of DMM blanks acquired with the lathe and they clued me up back than, at a visit subsequently I was shown around the whole process steps, same in North Hollywood, it seems someone has figured out a different method or way, I was told it does not happen all the time, but they do not take any risks, I may be able to find out if they still do it the same way, however Knowing the ppl there with their conservatism I dare say they still do
Best

[Yasiek]

I think estevamtec asked if it is possible to process metal parts (fathers, sons) with DMM in nickel baths. You don't need a special galvanic bath for this.
Well, you have to grow these metal parts somewhere and this is usually done in normal nickel baths, like any lacquer stamper.
It is only a matter of properly preparing the DMM surface for processing.

Another thing is if you want to produce blanks... there is some fun here, as the guys above write... and nobody will give this technology away for free.
The German TZO Leipzig GmbH offers blanks and they are more expensive than MDC laqs...

[Aussie0zborn]

The freshly cut DMM disc serves as a mother. A regular nickel bath is used to make a stamper so you treat it as if it was a nickel mother. The only trick is knowing how to passivatwe the DMM disc.

[mossboss]

Not really a trick just knowing the steps, which we did in the UK I still have the formula we did quite a lot of DMM metal work there as the only other outfit doing them was quite expensive, and the 3rd wouldn't touch them
We warned clients about the issue and they where quite OK with it, once started at low amps one could pump the amps through them really hard You can grow a stamper in no time by comparison to lacquer, cooling your nickel sulfamate in the tank was essential, as at around the 300-400 Amps per cell, and we had a four cell rig there for DMM, it turned into a kettle, lovely 50HZ hum from the four Europa Film Traffo's
The biggest issue was that if there was a slight undercut on the track due to misalignment of the diamond stylus or a spot where the cut wasn't smooth the stamper wouldn't separate completely, sometimes it would be just a spot in other cases a full circle, with the deposit left behind, and at others impossible to pull apart, not often but a known issue
In the UK cutting outfits who did DMM cuts always replaced the cut without quibbles as I have already said that's my very own First hand experience of some 8-10 years ago not sure if anything changed I wouldn't be surprised, I simply do not know if so
Best