Desperate to Get Nickel Plating to Work Can Anyone Help?

[antiquetele123]

Hi. I just bought a Caswell brush-on nickel plating kit and have been pulling my hair out trying to get it to work and just nothing happens. Used a wire buffer attachment on an electric drill to prep. parts, and then fallowed the instructions further to begin the plating process, clipped on the alligator clamp to piece to be plated and used the wand & plating solution and nothing happens, not even a slight amount of plating will show up. I take it I’ve been had as far as the kit goes, as I would now assume that there is one hellova lot more to plating than the instructions lead on to. It’s got to be rocket science. Does anyone do nickel plating? Can anyone that’s done this type of work at home and has had success please tell me how to do this? I would hate to put the parts back on now that they have been wire buffed and as ugly as they look without any plating. Would appreciate anyone’s experienced advice.

Thanks,

Chris

[startgroove]

I've tried the Caswell Plating System with marginal results. It took a very long time to plate my Victor Brake. Too long for me to even try a larger part.

For suggestions, be sure the parts are absolutely clean of all varnish or other finish, wash them thoroughly to remove any oil, and test the system first on a clean penny. If nothing is happening, test the two leads to be sure they have some voltage output. Also, test the leads to be sure the polarity has been set up correctly.

Note, plating on iron is a bit difficult to begin with, it may have to be copper plated first.

[edisonclassm]

Re-plating old worn and corroded parts it not and easy task for an amateur. One has to be technically astute in the various steps as to how to accomplish a suitable result. Until you educate yourself on the various steps you must take, you won't get very good results with the Caswell plating system. The products from Caswell are marginal at best even when everything is in line. I have an inhouse nickel plating tank at my shop and get decent results but whenever I have a persnickety job I take it to a friend of mine who owns a plating shop as he has all of the proper cleaning and base metal preparation chemicals to do the job correctly and get an optimum result

[holdthepickle]

Having it very clean, as suggested, is a big part of the process I've found. I would also suggest submersion plating for the smaller parts. It's much more thorough and I get my best results from it. I've never had great luck with the brush-on techniques. It's always hard to tell if its working, and the results are often patchy and it takes forever. You already have the hardware, just invest in (or make) more electrolyte and invest in some submersion electroplating cleaning solution.

Before:

After:

[Curt A]

Read this post: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=43680&hilit=+nickel+plating

[cosmo666]

I'm using the same technique as seen in the video right now. The piece is a Victor tapered tone arm. The video suggests that it only takes a couple of minutes but I have found for a good job it takes a few hours. I'll move the electrode around every so often. I then take the piece out of the bath, wipe it dry then polish with a 5000 grit pad that you can get from the auto parts store. If its not to my liking I put it back in for more time. Works great. Steel stuff has to be copper plated first.