Nickel Plating

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

Clive I absolutely agree with you having worked for British Silverware and Anochrome it's my experience that chrome plating would have a base layer of both copper and nickel !!!

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Many moons ago I made an exhaust pipe for a BSA C10 by cut/shut/weld. If I do say so myself it was pretty good. My mate then said he's get it chrome plated as a foreigner. 6 months later it all fell off in sheets. They plainly hadn't copper/nicke plated it first.

[Fowlers FuryParticipant @fowlersfury]

OP wrote "Further to a comment on nickel plating on another thread I felt this might be better served by having 'it's own I would like to nickel plate some very small parts on a virtual one off basis. Consequently I don't particularly wish to make a big outlay to do so. "

To get back on topic, like Simon G., I plated Ni-plated many items for a motorcycle restoration some years ago.
The kit was then sold by 'Dynic Sales' and was advertised extensively in the m/cycle press of the day.
But – and it was a big but – you had also to purchase:-
An aquarium heater / aquarium aerator / amp meter / stabilised power supply or 12v battery / current controller as well as being prepared to construct various non ferrous rods from which to suspend anode & cathode on top of a plastic container.
Effective plating required control of temperature, current, agitation and a perfectly smooth surface on the steel item otherwise corrosion pitting would show up badly after plating. Again, like Simon G, I never Cu plated ferrous items first and eventually results were consistently good. (I did a petrol tank filler cap, shrouds for rear shocks, lamp bezels, Cu oil pipes and numerous steel bolts and nuts).

Bottom line? It is possible to Ni plate at home but requires one hell of a lot of aggravation and preparation. Somewhere I have the Dynic Sales instructions which are extensive. IF you really do want the buggeration of doing it for a few small items, I'll find them for you.

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

Just to clarify are we talking about chrome plating or nickel plating here? Because by the sounds of it, it's possible that chrome plating needs more sophisticated preparation than nickel plating.

With regards to nickel plating, I agree I've done it before, it's a bit hit or miss in terms of how well it does it at home, and you should expect to have to experiment with it. But I've got items I've plated with little signs of going anywhere sometime soon, without doing copper. 

You can also keep doing the same plating process to build up the layer, and this then falls into the realm of electroforming. 

This is all good and well if all you want to do is mess about with it, but if you've got a trophy you want doing, I would absolutely not tell you to go and get a home kit, you'll be very disappointed! Get the professionals for that. 

Michael W

 

Edited By Michael-w on 29/04/2018 21:10:27

[John Ockleshaw 1Participant @johnockleshaw1]

Hello Ramon, When I wanted to diamond plate some 0.125" diameter nickel bronze I was given half a cup full of nickel plating solution by one of the local electoplaters, whom I did not know. I am in Western Australia and your health regulations may rule this out.

As suggested by Cannings, of Birmingham, I plated directly onto the nickel bronze. Used as needle files the nickel and diamond grit has clung on like the proverbial to a blanlet and given excellent service.

Regards, John

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

A quick search located this description: **LINK**

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/nickel-home-plating-rig-142263/?highlight=Nickel+plate+home+rig

MichaelG.

[norm nortonParticipant @normnorton75434]

I have done quite a lot of nickel plating successfully on motorcycle parts. It can work very well, and I put nickel straight onto steel, which is what all the domestic home platers do. Yes, for chromium 'best' plating it should be copper, then nickel, then chromium onto the steel job. I suspect that copper makes an 'easier' bond onto steel when you have less than perfect surfaces, and you have a thick polishing surface to improve the final finish – you cannot so easily polish the nickel layer.

I have stripped old chromium from 50 year old parts and found just nickel underneath. We CANNOT home plate chromium because of the cyanide baths required, never mind more recent hexavalent chromium toxicology concern.

Ramon, you can't really do it on the cheap – it's like all jobs. The BIG issue is getting clean objects. New steel is perfect to plate but anything old takes a big effort to clean and get an activated surface. It means that you need various alkali and acid cleaners to follow the mechanical preparation. You need heated, stirred baths and a means of voltage control and current readout. You also need to practice on a few jobs. Like welding and spray painting it is 70% skill and 30% tools.

There is also a nickel+zinc process that produces nice finishes on fasteners, but it is no easier or cheaper to use. Gateros are a good, small company to deal with.

Norm

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

Here in SW France, if you have made something which looks good, the expression is "Nickel", if it is exceptionally good, then its "Nickel Chrome". Funny how these expressions come about !
BobH

[Dinosaur EngineerParticipant @dinosaurengineer]

The problem in plating copper as a base layer is that copper will adhere to" rusty" steel wheras nickel won't. Therefore its particulary important to make sure that the article to be plated is clean.

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