Result of copperplating experiment
Answers
General setup: As can be seen with the leaf it is only covered on the one side that was closer to the copper pipe. One thing I will try to improve in that regard is use a better container that is either square or circular bottom side and taller ledges so that I can more easily put the thing it want plated in the centre and I will use a copper sheet bend around the edge of the container to get the copper to stick to every side.
Cathode: One problem I had encountered is that the Graphite Spray I used didn't stick perfectly to the things I wanted to plate. While it stuck well enough to make their surface conduct current, some of it washed of as soon as I put them into the electrolyte tainting it.
At first everything was ok as all the things still got plated but as I moved on to test plating other things they didn't want to get plated at all. I think wat happened is that the graphite particles that were swimming losely in the solution started to carry the current instead of the Cu2+ ions, basically stopping the whole process.
This problem will require a lot of experimentation with different methods of making a graphite paint thats thin enough be put on the object in a small layer to preserve its fine shape, have enough graphite to be very conductive and stick well enough to not taint the solution. Making graphite paint is something I had already tried, and it didn't work. This time I will buy myself some graphite dust, so I don't have to think about having not enough graphite from pencil lead.
Electrolyte: Strangely enough I had problems using a completely saturated solution of CuSO*4* as my Anode started to get covered in blue crystals, but after I added a bit of water the crystals dissolved again. So I guess I will dilute my saturated solutions a bit next time. I considered using a bit of Sulfuric acid alongside the copper sulfate but decided against it because I don't want to risk getting hurt by it.
Thanks for reading and I hope someone in the future will find this useful trying to electroplate something themselves