Looking at nickel plating process, that can be done at home ! Any one tried it ? With high humidity here on the coast, want to plate the handles on the Bridgeport. Are there any platers in the Daytona Beach area ? .
Friend of mine bought a kit from Caswell and did a lot of small items for several cars. The kit he bought is limited in size but works well. I think it does chrome too.
I have a small Eastwoods nickle plating kit I use for small brackets and bolts....I'm in the St Augustine area if you wanna swing your stuff by I can plate it on the spot....it doesnt take all that long and you can polish it yourself
Rusty; Is this the type of kit you used ? http://www.caswellplating.com/electroplating-anodizing/nickel-plating-kits/electroless-nickel-plating-kits/electroless-nickel-deluxe-kit-2-5-gals.html .
Hey, divco, There's a plater here in Jax who does real cadmium plating, and others as well. I have had two cars' worth of bolts and brackets plated there. PM me if you want the contact info--he's very reasonable and a great old guy. Dino
My mistake....I have a zinc plating kit....here's the one I have http://www.eastwood.com/ew-electroplating-system-tin-zinc.html
Caswell's "chrome" plating kit is not actual chromium, but a safer alternative for home use. I think it is cobalt or a cobalt alloy, which is close in appearance and quite durable too; just not the exact same. I've yet to see any DIY chromium plating kit, for good reason. The bright nickel plating is sulfuric acid based, with no real exotic or especially dangerous chemicals; but to get the plating right it takes proprietary maintenance and brighteners. Plating is pretty fun; many of the items in the kits can be had much cheaper in unexpected places too.
Josh; Thank you for the input. What I need to do first is Get the x/y/z handles plated, on my Bridgeport mill. Looking to inhibit rust from our high salty humidity here on the coast of Florida. I use to use http://www.classicplating.com/index.html for my builds, at my shop in Michigan. Used them for nickel plating, on all our 12 point bolts. Always did a perfect job Have not found a Platter in the Daytona area, that will do a half a dozen parts or less. Do you have small parts quote list. Ball park prices ? Again thanks: Bob
It's not me it's a friend. He has 2 outfits, both from Caswell. The first was for doing nickel or chrome, he liked it so well he bought another outfit for doing zinc or cad plating. Don't know much about it except he did many parts with success. I saw the parts and they turned out great. They looked like brand new parts. The only drawback was, the outfits were small. The biggest part he could plate would be like a door handle or hood ornament. He wanted to plate bigger stuff like a grille or bumper so I offered to make him a bigger power supply. I made a good one out of an old arc welder and offered to give it to him. But it needed some diodes to change the current from AC to DC and he would not spend the money so the project fell through. The point is the Caswell products are good as long as you do not expect too much. By that I mean, go ahead and plate small trim items but do not expect to plate a bumper or grille.
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