Well, the plating turned out great! Was very simple to do too. Only real problem is that the plating did not stick to the soder I used, and the "conductive " paint did not conduct.  This was graphite paint, the silver paint may work better.

All in all, this was a cool project that I learned a ton from all of you! I will end up doing another one in a bit with the new knowledge. Biggest thing i learned for increasing the size is i should not have just tried to build it up with weld, I should have welded sheet metal to the sides. Also the stick welder worked great, but a wire welder would be preferred so the coating on the rod does not get into the weld. May not have been an issue if I wasn't building it up so much. Learned a ton on filing,  thanks ssdave! I will play around with the plating more tokens. Definitely need better polishing equipment,  and to sand past 400 grit