Re: Larry's 1951 Club Sedan Project
Posted by Larry51 On 2010/4/28 4:25:54
Zinc Plating
Have been doing my own Zinc plating, and the pics below show a few of the results achieved so far.
Also have the chemicals for bright Copper and Nickel plating, but I haven't had a need to use those yet . . . the time will come.
Have Zinc plated a few dozen small parts (nuts, bolts, washers, body hold-down bolts and tubes etc) so far, with mainly very satisfactory results. On the few pieces where the result has been a bit 'cloudy' the problem has been either insufficient cleaning and buffing of the part before plating, or using too much current from the power supply for the area to be plated. Settings and layout need a bit of experimentation to get it right.
It is fiddly and time-consuming work, I really can't recommend doing it yourself unless (like me) you have a lot of time to spare.
One advantage is that you don't have the problem of sending a bucket of parts off to the plater and getting a bucket full of someone else's parts back! Most people know what I mean. Darned hard to get Packard small bits without having someone lose them for you.
Plus there is quite a lot of satisfaction when you take a shiny 'new-looking' part out of the tank when what you put in a while ago was a very ordinary-looking bit of metal. And the benefit is that the zinc will protect the part for a much longer time than if not plated.
It is also probably about cost-neutral once you have bought the (expensive) chemicals and power supply, as rather than buying new nuts / bolts etc you are using the originals, and getting a more authentic resto job to boot.
In Oz you cannot buy a Chrome plating kit, it's against the law due to the very poisonous nature of Chrome. I think Chroming kits are still available in the US -?
Anyone wanting more information - PM me.
Have been doing my own Zinc plating, and the pics below show a few of the results achieved so far.
Also have the chemicals for bright Copper and Nickel plating, but I haven't had a need to use those yet . . . the time will come.
Have Zinc plated a few dozen small parts (nuts, bolts, washers, body hold-down bolts and tubes etc) so far, with mainly very satisfactory results. On the few pieces where the result has been a bit 'cloudy' the problem has been either insufficient cleaning and buffing of the part before plating, or using too much current from the power supply for the area to be plated. Settings and layout need a bit of experimentation to get it right.
It is fiddly and time-consuming work, I really can't recommend doing it yourself unless (like me) you have a lot of time to spare.
One advantage is that you don't have the problem of sending a bucket of parts off to the plater and getting a bucket full of someone else's parts back! Most people know what I mean. Darned hard to get Packard small bits without having someone lose them for you.
Plus there is quite a lot of satisfaction when you take a shiny 'new-looking' part out of the tank when what you put in a while ago was a very ordinary-looking bit of metal. And the benefit is that the zinc will protect the part for a much longer time than if not plated.
It is also probably about cost-neutral once you have bought the (expensive) chemicals and power supply, as rather than buying new nuts / bolts etc you are using the originals, and getting a more authentic resto job to boot.
In Oz you cannot buy a Chrome plating kit, it's against the law due to the very poisonous nature of Chrome. I think Chroming kits are still available in the US -?
Anyone wanting more information - PM me.
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