Electroplating

[Rob Glasgow]

Anyone have experience with either the Caswell or Eastwood kits to electroplate small parts like fasteners? They look fairly easy to use and would allow me to keep the fasteners organized in small batches rather than sending them all in a box to a commercial plater and then trying to sort them out when they come back. Any recommendations based on your experience? Are there other units available?

 

[Randy Forbes]

Caswell has quite a forum, I'm sure you'll get objective answers there.

I suppose the stuff like cad plating wouldn't be too hard, but I'd go in with an open mind if you're considering chrome plating.

The quality of the results is going to be heavily dependent on how much pre/post polishing you're willing to do. One word: tumbler.

 

[GregW]

Hi Rob,
Both John Loftus and I have Caswell kits. He cad plated most of his cars parts with good results. I have the nickel plating kit which is great also. There are two threads down in the tool section that you can find using caswell and my forum name. For some reason, I couldn't do a search from my phone. Biggest expense is the power supply. It is more work than taking it to a plater, but you don't worry about parts getting lost. Deplating is pretty nasty though. The acids you need for old plate removal arqe toxic.

 

[57_BN4]

Hi Rob,

After recently plating all my fasteners and a number of other small widgets, I'd totally recommend sending them to a plating company as it is so cheap. NZ$90 (US$70) for every fastener on the car and all existing zinc parts except a few I forgot.

The process I used is:

1) photograph all items in their original location to identify bolt head markings (wire brush to clean off dirt where necessary). photograph all thread lengths and washer markings and include the part they came off in the photos to save confusion. take heaps of pics. Note the thickness of washers and spring washers, there are many different styles for different applications.

2) soak everything in sodium hydroxide solution to remove all the grease and crud. wash with water.

3) soak everything in 25% hydrochloric acid (spirits of salts, used for cleaning concrete). This will remove all rust and all existing plating except chrome. wash with water. Acid does attack steel but only very slowly. I left the very rusty items in overnight with no noticeable loss of metal.

4) dip in sodium hydroxide to neutralise the acid and wash with water, then dry with a heat-gun until completely dry.

5) wire-wheel everything to polish. don't harshly wire-wheel any pressed steel items as the wheel scratch marks will show through the zinc. A brass wire wheel would be a good option I think, wish I had one now that I look over my speedo housing and wish I hadn't tried to polish it...

6) using tie-wire, string up all small items such as nuts, washers etc. bend the tie wire ends well so they can't come undone

7) put all the parts in a 'fish bin' with a lid and have them barrel-plated by a competent plater. Ensure all plated items are oven baked at 200 degC for min one hour. This does two things- it removes any risk of hydrogen embrittlement if any hardened fasteners are plated (don't plate ultra-high strength fasteners but Healeys don't have any anyway so it isn't an issue) and it also takes the shine off the finish to a more matt (better looking IMO) finish.

8) set up a PC and monitor on the work bench and go through the photos identifying the hardware and returning it to the original location. I'm at this stage now, it is quite rewarding.

The results for even the most rusty parts is quite remarkable. All of the above steps are necessary for home plating except (7) so I don't see any advantage in home plating which risks not getting enough thickness to the zinc and having the whole lot go rusty after the first rain shower.

Oh and don't put nylock nuts in the acid or alkali, they won't have any nylock function left after about ten minutes! I need to buy some more nylocks :-(

Andy.

 

[Keoke]

To keep the fasteners organized in small batches.
Put each group as they are removed in zip lock bags with a note denoting their location inside.

Doesn't matter whether you DIY or send them out side [except I would never do the plating at home ] they will be organised and ready for reinstallation at the appropriate time.--Fwiw--Keoke

 

[GregW]

Now that I'm on the computer, here's the link in the tool section. Caswell

 

[GregW]

Hi Andy,
Here in California, the plating industry is heavily charged fees for hazardous materials. Having stuff chrome plated is expensive around these parts. :frown: I'm not sure how much cheaper zinc plating is though.

 

[Cottontop]

Hey Greg,

What has happened to John Loftus?

I went to visit him a couple of years ago as he was in the middle of putting his Healey back together.

Haven't seen or heard much out of him since....

Tim

 

[Magyar]

Rob,
If you choose to send your parts out to have them electroplated and take Andy's advice to photograph all the items in their original location to identify the bolt head markings, I would gladly pay you for the set of photos to make the extra effort worth your while. I have boxes of "unmarked" items that need to be sorted and a set of photos would be very helpful. Let me know if that is a possiility.
Regards, Magyar

 

[57_BN4]

Hi Andy,
Here in California, the plating industry is heavily charged fees for hazardous materials. Having stuff chrome plated is expensive around these parts. :frown: I'm not sure how much cheaper zinc plating is though.

Hi Greg,

Chrome is very expensive here too, I took all my Healey chromework to a plating outfit recently and came back with a $10,000 quote to strip, polish and rechrome it all. The zinc plating process is far more friendly- hence why it can be done at home and chrome can't. Off to try and find a better price on chrome plating today.

Andy.

 

[Keoke]

Hi Greg,

Chrome is very expensive here too, I took all my Healey chromework to a plating outfit recently and came back with a $10,000 quote,

Ship it to USA those Blokes be pullin your leg.----Keoke

Andy. [/quote]

 

[Legal Bill]

Rob,

I used the eastwood kit with excellent results. the parts were originally zinc plated and the finish I put on them was also zinc. Cad is nice, but not original, so that is your choice. As to how to get great results, I recommend sand blasting the hardware down to bare steel. this will both clean the part and remove any old zinc. Use gloves to avoid getting oil and sweat on the hardware and acid on your hands. Follow th edirections in the kit. When you remove the part, give it a quick buffing on a soft wire wheel. this will remove any of the slag or dull residue and expose bright, shiny plating.

 

[GregW]

What has happened to John Loftus?

Hi Tim,
I haven't talked with John in a while. He has other hobbies ( hard to believe the Healey isn't all consuming). :wink:

 

[GregW]

recently and came back with a $10,000 quote to strip, polish and rechrome it all.

I think Keoke is on to it. Send the chrome here to the states and we'll send you our zinc plating jobs.

 

[Cottontop]

He has other hobbies ( hard to believe the Healey isn't all consuming). :wink:

Especially with the precision he is using...

I'm coming out to Laguna Hills in late January. I think I'll look him up to see how he's getting along.

I usually to go Cars & Coffee in Irvine. You ever go there?

Tim

 

[GregW]

I haven't been in about a year. Hard for me to get my act together that early Saturday morning after a 60 hour work week.