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Caswell Copy Cad/Zinc plating kit
- Thread starter John Loftus
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OP
John Loftus
Darth Vader
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Hi Bas,
Not difficult at all but there was a learning curve. The most time consuming part is preparation. First parts get soaked in Laquer thinner (or parts washer) for initial de-greasing and removing old paint. Bead blasting or tumbling or wire wheel (or combination) to get the surface clean and the level of polish you want. I have been using the wire wheel (brass) to finish because I want a slightly shiny result. Then I put the parts in diluted Simple Green (or ZEP Industrial Purple degreaser from Home Depot) for 10 minutes or so. I rinse with tap water through the garden hose and use the 'water bead test' to see if the surface is de-greased. If water beads it is still to oily, if the water sheets then it is ready. Brushing can help during this stage to fully de-grease the parts.
Then I wire-up the parts with copper wire on a cross bar or put them in a plastic basket that has been drilled and a network of wires along the bottom (see pictures below). The individual wires work better (more current and more exposure to the plates) but for small parts the basket works well. The "zinc" plates are hooked up to the positive side of the power supply (bought this from Caswell) and the wired parts are hooked up to the negative side. I flip on the power and adjust the power to the mass of the parts being plated. Caswell says you need to calculate the approx. volume of parts to set the power but I use my own 'fizz' test. The parts effervess during plating .. if the power is too high the fizz will boil off the parts, if too low no bubbles. I go for a nice light fizz and it seems to work well. I check the parts every 5 minutes or so, dipping the basket or parts up and down to aggitate the solution and check progress. Smaller parts such as nuts, bolts and washers go for about 10 to 15 minutes and larger pieces for 30 minutes or so. Then I take the parts out and spray them with the hose and do a final little rinse with distilled water in a spray bottle. Lay the parts on paper towels to dry. Sometimes I use some fine steel wool to polish the parts but lately I haven't needed to. I do add a few teaspoons of the brightening solution to the mix every once in awhile to achieve the shinier type zinc effect.
Not difficult at all but there was a learning curve. The most time consuming part is preparation. First parts get soaked in Laquer thinner (or parts washer) for initial de-greasing and removing old paint. Bead blasting or tumbling or wire wheel (or combination) to get the surface clean and the level of polish you want. I have been using the wire wheel (brass) to finish because I want a slightly shiny result. Then I put the parts in diluted Simple Green (or ZEP Industrial Purple degreaser from Home Depot) for 10 minutes or so. I rinse with tap water through the garden hose and use the 'water bead test' to see if the surface is de-greased. If water beads it is still to oily, if the water sheets then it is ready. Brushing can help during this stage to fully de-grease the parts.
Then I wire-up the parts with copper wire on a cross bar or put them in a plastic basket that has been drilled and a network of wires along the bottom (see pictures below). The individual wires work better (more current and more exposure to the plates) but for small parts the basket works well. The "zinc" plates are hooked up to the positive side of the power supply (bought this from Caswell) and the wired parts are hooked up to the negative side. I flip on the power and adjust the power to the mass of the parts being plated. Caswell says you need to calculate the approx. volume of parts to set the power but I use my own 'fizz' test. The parts effervess during plating .. if the power is too high the fizz will boil off the parts, if too low no bubbles. I go for a nice light fizz and it seems to work well. I check the parts every 5 minutes or so, dipping the basket or parts up and down to aggitate the solution and check progress. Smaller parts such as nuts, bolts and washers go for about 10 to 15 minutes and larger pieces for 30 minutes or so. Then I take the parts out and spray them with the hose and do a final little rinse with distilled water in a spray bottle. Lay the parts on paper towels to dry. Sometimes I use some fine steel wool to polish the parts but lately I haven't needed to. I do add a few teaspoons of the brightening solution to the mix every once in awhile to achieve the shinier type zinc effect.
GregW
Yoda
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Looks great John.
Hi Basil,
Here’s the same part nickel plated (kit from Caswell). It is a pretty easy process, though I have run into some snags occasionally. Some of the old zinc plating had to be removed in a sulfuric acid bath. Something you definitely want to do outdoors. But the acid bath makes the new plate really go on nicely. I’ve found the nickel won’t hide any imperfections like a thick chrome job will, so I’ve been sanding and polishing some of the pieces before plating.
Hi Basil,
Here’s the same part nickel plated (kit from Caswell). It is a pretty easy process, though I have run into some snags occasionally. Some of the old zinc plating had to be removed in a sulfuric acid bath. Something you definitely want to do outdoors. But the acid bath makes the new plate really go on nicely. I’ve found the nickel won’t hide any imperfections like a thick chrome job will, so I’ve been sanding and polishing some of the pieces before plating.
mcguijo
Jedi Hopeful
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All these plated parts look great. However, would you all care to share any pictures of parts where the plating did not work and perhaps an explanation of why you think it didn't work? I'm trying to minimize the learning curve. Or perhaps the learning curve is related mostly to figuring out the appropriate level of "fizz". Can you relate the appropriate level of "fizz" to anything?
OP
John Loftus
Darth Vader
Offline
Hi,
If the plating doesn't look good for some reason I just clean the surface again with the de-greaser (or glass bead, wire wheel if there are some surface defects. To condition the solution for the first plating wire up a length (6 to 8") of copper tubing which has been wire wheeled and de-greased. Since it is copper color you should be able to see the zinc immediately start covering it. Let it plate for 15 minutes or so. To see the level of "fizz", wire up just one small bolt, dip it into the solution and turn the power supply all the way up. With the part just below the surface you should see bubbles boiling off the part (so many that the part will be obscured with the bubbles after 5 seconds or so). Adjust the level to something just above zero and you should see just a small stream of bubbles or 'light fizz'. This light fizz is what you are aiming for although you can increase this a bit to speed up the plating.
Remember if you want nice shiny parts they need to be shiny before you start and need to add the brighter solution per instruction.
If the plating doesn't look good for some reason I just clean the surface again with the de-greaser (or glass bead, wire wheel if there are some surface defects. To condition the solution for the first plating wire up a length (6 to 8") of copper tubing which has been wire wheeled and de-greased. Since it is copper color you should be able to see the zinc immediately start covering it. Let it plate for 15 minutes or so. To see the level of "fizz", wire up just one small bolt, dip it into the solution and turn the power supply all the way up. With the part just below the surface you should see bubbles boiling off the part (so many that the part will be obscured with the bubbles after 5 seconds or so). Adjust the level to something just above zero and you should see just a small stream of bubbles or 'light fizz'. This light fizz is what you are aiming for although you can increase this a bit to speed up the plating.
Remember if you want nice shiny parts they need to be shiny before you start and need to add the brighter solution per instruction.
GregW
Yoda
Offline
Hi Mcguijo,
I’ve had two problems when plating. The first one was a small hole that I didn’t get the rust out of. It contaminated the plating and left some black streaks in the nickel. I used a drill to slightly bore the hole and get the rust out, replated with no problem. The other problem was blotchy plating. The problem there was I had tried to remove old zinc with a wire brush. I talked with tech support at Caswell (very helpful people). They said brushing zinc makes it bond with the base metal. That’s when I used the sulfuric acid to fix what I had screwed up. The instruction book they include is pretty helpful and you can always call them with questions. John’s fizz method sounds intuitive, the instructions also walk you through how to calculate the amount of amps recommended for the surface area being plated. I don’t think you can do anything that is irreversible.
I’ve had two problems when plating. The first one was a small hole that I didn’t get the rust out of. It contaminated the plating and left some black streaks in the nickel. I used a drill to slightly bore the hole and get the rust out, replated with no problem. The other problem was blotchy plating. The problem there was I had tried to remove old zinc with a wire brush. I talked with tech support at Caswell (very helpful people). They said brushing zinc makes it bond with the base metal. That’s when I used the sulfuric acid to fix what I had screwed up. The instruction book they include is pretty helpful and you can always call them with questions. John’s fizz method sounds intuitive, the instructions also walk you through how to calculate the amount of amps recommended for the surface area being plated. I don’t think you can do anything that is irreversible.
Britishtools
Senior Member
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Click on one of the Caswell Plating Links from BCF. There is a Finishers Forum on the site that should show you every kind of picture and peice of advice you could want to know. Its very similar to using this site!
OP
John Loftus
Darth Vader
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Yes, the Caswell forum is very good. There is a guy named SeanC who has posted tips on his CopyCad/Zinc techniques which helped me out. I did start by caluculating the volume of parts. After awhile I could estimate the volumes but I just don't think it is as critical with the Cad/Zinc plating as with other plating.
Cheers,
John
Cheers,
John
Bruce Bowker
Obi Wan
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Is there a way to fill small holes? Brazing perhaps?
Bruce
Bruce
GregW
Yoda
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Hi Bruce,
If your going to have someone plate it for you, I’d check with them before you do any brazing. Caswell’s manual covers pit filling. If I remember correctly, it’s rather involved. Copper plate the part. Lead the pits, sand smooth. Replate with copper, buff, nickel plate and finally chrome plate.
If your going to have someone plate it for you, I’d check with them before you do any brazing. Caswell’s manual covers pit filling. If I remember correctly, it’s rather involved. Copper plate the part. Lead the pits, sand smooth. Replate with copper, buff, nickel plate and finally chrome plate.
Bruce Bowker
Obi Wan
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Sounds like some doing but at least it can be done.
Thanks
Bruce
Thanks
Bruce
mcguijo
Jedi Hopeful
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I'm getting ready to set up my plating tank. I noticed that SeanC from the Caswell forum has set up a rectangular tank while Caswell sends a round tank (bucket). Has anyone switched over to a rectangular tank. .or is the bucket preferrable? Also what sort of aeration system works best??
OP
John Loftus
Darth Vader
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I use the bucket that came with the kit and it works fine although the rectangular tank would probably be more efficient use of space. I use a small aquarium air pump (I bought the one from Caswell when ording additional supplies and it was only $15). Don't use an air stone on the line .. the large bubbles from the air line work better to stir up the mixture. The line wants to float so I wired a nut to the end to drop it down to the bottom of the tank.
I have changed my methods just last week. I learned from Sean that chromate conversions add to the durability of the zinc finish so I purchased the clear (blue) chromate dip from Caswell. I also obtained some Nitric acid that has been diluted down to 1% solution. Now my process is:
1. Clean, prep parts by bead blast, tumbling or wirewheel.
2. remove all traces of old zinc with muriatic acid (diluted 4 parts of water, 1 part of muriatic). Leave parts in until bubbling stops.
3. rinse parts with water and then use fine brass wirewheel on grinder to shine parts, clean threads, etc.
4. degrease parts using diluted (about 20%) purple industrial cleaner (from Home depot) or Simple green with brush. Rinse with water
5. Wire parts and zinc plate.
6. Dip parts in distilled water bucket
7. Dip parts in Nitric acid for 1 to 5 seconds (this brightens the parts and removes the brown tint of zinc plate solution)
8. dip parts in distilled water bucket
9 dip parts in blue chromate bucket for 15 to 30 seconds.
10. unwire the parts and put them in shop oven 140 degrees F for 15 minutes or so to dry the parts.
The parts now look store bought and the zinc is far more protected (some of my early experiments were losing their shine quickly because the zinc was exposed to the elements)
I have changed my methods just last week. I learned from Sean that chromate conversions add to the durability of the zinc finish so I purchased the clear (blue) chromate dip from Caswell. I also obtained some Nitric acid that has been diluted down to 1% solution. Now my process is:
1. Clean, prep parts by bead blast, tumbling or wirewheel.
2. remove all traces of old zinc with muriatic acid (diluted 4 parts of water, 1 part of muriatic). Leave parts in until bubbling stops.
3. rinse parts with water and then use fine brass wirewheel on grinder to shine parts, clean threads, etc.
4. degrease parts using diluted (about 20%) purple industrial cleaner (from Home depot) or Simple green with brush. Rinse with water
5. Wire parts and zinc plate.
6. Dip parts in distilled water bucket
7. Dip parts in Nitric acid for 1 to 5 seconds (this brightens the parts and removes the brown tint of zinc plate solution)
8. dip parts in distilled water bucket
9 dip parts in blue chromate bucket for 15 to 30 seconds.
10. unwire the parts and put them in shop oven 140 degrees F for 15 minutes or so to dry the parts.
The parts now look store bought and the zinc is far more protected (some of my early experiments were losing their shine quickly because the zinc was exposed to the elements)
OP
John Loftus
Darth Vader
Offline
No, I haven't tried the Evapo-rust product yet. Just heard about it several months ago .. wish I had heard about it a couple years ago! Sounds like a great product.
Bugeye, I don't use a die on the male threads as the wirebrushing cleans everything up very well. I do use a tap on any nuts or internal threads.
Cheers,
John
Bugeye, I don't use a die on the male threads as the wirebrushing cleans everything up very well. I do use a tap on any nuts or internal threads.
Cheers,
John
twigworker
Jedi Trainee
Offline
For what it is worth department...and absolutely NOT to douse any of this plating business with cold water as I want to do some plating myself...but some years ago Volvo tried to cadmium plate either their lug nuts or their hub studs, I can't remember which, and it created an occasional disaster. When fully torqued the plating would bind in the threads and the nuts were nearly impossible to get off. I think that we had to actually torch at least one off and just heat the devil out of others. Permatex antiseize was the fix for that problem. Cadmium is the key word here. I don't ever remember anything like that happening to fasteners that were zinc plated. Jack
tony barnhill
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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OKAY! I just stumbled onto this thread....where do I go to buy one & how much is it?