I've done plenty of door hinges and brackets in this size setup. I have done a few brake calipers and even plated a few master clutch and slave cylinders. When the part gets bigger (ie, the surface area increases) the voltage and amperage need to go up a bit, but can still be handled with a small battery charger.
How do you not plate part of the item? I'm thinking about when you plated the master cylinder, how did you not plate the inside of the bore? Or does that matter? I have wanted to nickel plate small parts for some time as an alternitave to paint or powder coating. Thanks for the step by step instruction and pictures!
To save the inside, I turn some urethane plugs and cap the bores. If you need to build up the bore on a worn cylinder, the nickel process will work to restore slight corrosion damage, then you can use a hone or reamer to size it again.
This is a great tech. I'm wondering the same, how is the price on materials and availability. I've got a few parts I want to nickel plate. To me, the nickel looks so much more "period" than chrome. Is $61 too much to pay for : Nickel Ammonium Sulfate Lab Grade 500 Gram????? Where do you get the best prices on the chemicals?? Thanks for posting this.
A point of clarification -- Nickel Ammonium Sulfate is not the same as Nickel Sulfate. It can be used, but then you won't need the Ammonium Chloride or the boric acid. It is much more expensive, but I have never used this chemical, so I don't know what plating parameters and measures you should use. The process ingredients I listed are for Hard Chrome Plating that resists flaking. I don't know what the results will be with Nickel Ammonium Sulfate --I'm just a hobby car restoration guy, not a chemist -- The vendor I purchased my ingredients from is called Chem Center and they sell through Amazon I purchased 500g of Nickel Sulfate for $25 (I purchased two 500g cans (1Kg) because I needed more than one can for the 1gal plating solution) 1lb. of Ammonium Chloride for $10 5lbs. Boric Acid for $20 Unfortunately they seem to be sold out of the Nickel Sulfate --but I suspect there has been a run on the stuff since this posting. Wait a few weeks and then give them another try. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aag/main?i...erID=105-0697330-3892219&seller=A2QI1LLWJGHHE May I suggest that when HAMB members find good deals on these chemicals, or develop their own plating tubs and solutions, that they post their information here -- just a thought, I'm new, so I don't know the rules quite yet.
Around my area the local rock polishing and hobby jewelry making place sells these chemicals. You guys may also want to contact the local highschool science teacher and see where they order from. I order from a company called "boreal" or "northwest" Nic Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Great Tech article. Thanks for sharing. I've gotta give this a go. Found this guy on ebay. He has a good price on the Nickle and Ammonium chloride. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nickel-Sulf...638?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5af6d4f6fe
This is far outside something I would try at home, but I'd like to throw out a simple suggestion for the air bubbles. When I saw the tubing my first thought was aquarium tubing. You can get a simple air pump (in various sizes depending on air output) from wal-mart and the clear plastic tubing. You can also find t-connectors and other small air line stuff that would work for your small job stuff that you've built here. It is very cool by the way.
When electroplating jewelry my father used to use fingernail polish on the areas he didn't want to plate. Washed right off with acetone when done and was easy to get exactly where he wanted it. That was fun stuff. Big pickle jars full of cyanide solution, a 1940s Bakelite cased power supply, looked like a mad scientist rig from a movie.
Nothing like fresh nuts and bolts, they look so much nicer than crappy old ones. I just took buckets of them to the plater for him to do.
Reading through this thread it becomes apparent to me that this whole plating at home thing is way too much work for the pay off in the end. Not to mention the toxic mess that you are left dealing with.
Why? It is to some another way of do it yourself for a variety of reasons. Oils, tranny fluid, old paints, ect are dealt with as well.
Blue, DIY plating is a bit like having a Brookville scrapyard next door! You can adjust and experiment to get it right. And the costs are spread over the number of parts done. I've begged and pleaded to get pieces done these days, then had to have them re-plated, due to errors at the plating shop. Seems worth the trouble in some cases.
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