by Burgerman » 17 Jun 2019, 09:06
Tried zinc plating (difficulty? easy) in the past. Works easily. But goes dull.
Tried copper plating too. Just as easy. But again looks odd, goes dull.
Both work on most metals, and do stop corrosion but dont look great.
So I have ordered a lump of Nickel. To do nickel plating. Also ordered some ready made shiny nickel plating solution. You can make your own but too much messing about. Why? Looks a lot like chrome (only better on machined parts. And bolts etc. Works on steel, brass, old plated parts, battery terminals, bus bars etc and it looks pretty.
What do you need?
Very little. Some "solution". (theres 2 types. Dull and shiny like chrome). And some electrode material (a bit of pure nickel sheet from ebay). And a container. An old phone carger, or a bench power supply.
1. Bolt the nickel sheet inside a plastic container. So that you can push on or screw on a lid. Something like a square plastic food storage box or jar. I have a square one in my kitchen that will be used. So tat you can refit the lid, and use it whenever you want. Lasts years. It will have one metal bolt protrding. This ideally should be a stainless, or titanium, bolt. So it doesent react at all.
2. Tip in the solution. I have a litre. You can buy on ebay, or just the powder and add water.
3. Clean the part, and hang it in the jar submerged in the green solution on bit of bent titanium/stainless/or even copper wire.
5. Connect the positive (3 to 5V and around an amp or so max) to the bolt sticking out the side of your container/jar. Connect the negative wire to the hanging part. Wait till it has a shiny silver coating, and then wait the same time again to be sure. The longer you wait the thicker the Nickel plating layer. Not long enough? Too thin, wears off. Too long? Uneven but thick coat, that doesent look pretty. You will soon know. Too much amps/volts? Bubbles create arks on the plating. Too slow? Takes forever but works great regardless.
And its stays looking pretty. So you can do every nut, bolt, lump of metal, coins, keys, machined wheelchair part, etc. You cant do aluminium. But you CAN use a similar system to annodise it pretty colours very easily.
Only hard part is that the parts must be clean. Totally degreased. Or the finish will not be pretty.
I will use spray can of brake cleaner. Ebay. Or amazon. And a quick dip in a container of cheap brick acid from the DIY store cheap. And a rinse in tap water. Then DONT TOUCH as your fingers are oily!
Will do pics when I start to show the easy results that you can get in your kitchen.