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I have a 51 radio the has a rusty case. After cleaning the back cover there was not much left of the original plating. Has anyone tried to do their own electroplating? The process doesn't seem to be rocket science. What was the plating on the radio case. It looks like Cad plate or maybe zinc. As far as I can tell zinc would be pretty easy because zinc for the cathode is readily available at boating supply stores and the electrolyte is mostly table vinegar.


Has anyone tried it with any degree of success?

haven' tried myself but eastwood sells a kit and have heard of people doing it sucsessfully with kits from jane.
janekits.com.au/mainframe.php

I spent many years doing R&D on printed circuit boards and thus have some familiarity with electroplating, mostly copper, nickel, gold and solder. There is A LOT of art in electroplating, for most metals and applications it's not as simple as might appear. One item to contend with are the proprietary (generally trade secret) additives in the electrolyte that control leveling, brightness, etc. And also the matter of varying current densities in various locations. For example, consider a simple rectangle of steel. The electron densities at the corners will be relatively very high and attract the highest number of metal ions, reducing them to the base metal, but the high density can lead to rough, dull plating and often "trees" of growth rather than a layer. In the center of your panel where the electron density is very low, you'll get very little plating deposit. In addition to chemical additives to minimize that, platers often also use "thieves" which poach some of the current density to eliminate poor plating at locations of high electron densitie.

By all means, try it yourself, you'll no doubt have some fun and learn something in the process. But don't expect results like someone who makes a living at it. See if you can pick up a copy of a book, probably out of print, called "The Electroplater's Handbook". Very useful.

Another site you might check out.caswellplating.com/

I've been very tempted to check out their plug and plate kits for small items.

I know people who have bought the Caswell plating kits and had good success with them. The Caswell people seem to be good to deal with as well.

They sell a plating kit that is specifically designed for doing small car parts like your radio.

There is a certain amount of "Mr. Science" experimenting required. But once you figure out how to do it, you can get very professional results.

The big secret of a perfect finish is in the polishing. The plating won't hide any flaws.

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I have never bought one of their plating kits, but I have been dealing with them since it was a father and son operation. Nice people.

Check out the forums on their board about plating.