Home plating kits

[youngun]

Ive been looking at doing my own zinc plating, as living where I do a trip to the local zinc platers (if we had one) would be nigh on impossible. I have seen a couple of kits, but this one seems to be reasonable.
http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp? ... &subCatID=

The only thing that annoys me is that they arent really explanatory as to what you need to start from scratch as it were. They say you need the module kit, and then the stuff itself (either zinc, nickel etc). But what about prep etc of the items you want to plate.
If someone could explain it all to me i would greatly appreciate it, also it seems as if that Plating module could be easily made at home?

Thanks,
YG

[paulhumphries]

I've got a zinc plating kit somewhere in the garage but never used it - yet.
I bought it for when I restore my motorbike for the hundreds of little specials screws and clips etc .
I think I paid around £75
I'll dig it out tomorrow and list what you get but I reckon you could collect the parts from other sources as there is nothing special.
In fact, althought it's naughty, I suppose I could scan the instructions

Paul Humphries

[youngun]

Sounds like a plan paul. Thanks.

[zippy500]

Hi younggun, I seriously started looking at plating kits, started looking at the frost kits, then goggled for more info.

I think you need to get the piece your plating spot on before plating,
to get good results.

I have found this website really useful for info-especially if you look at their USA site they have a forum.

http://www.caswelleurope.co.uk/

Once I get my garage together might give their copy chrome a try just for the hell of it

[XDB]

I have a Frost zinc plating kit, I don't know whether it's me but the results I have got are disappointing. I have used it mainly on nuts bolts and pins. The results are patchy and don't seem to last long before going off colour. I would use it only if I was painting on top, which defeats the object. I now use stainless fasteners where I can.

[bmcecosse]

The parts to be plated need to be perfectly oil free - and then usually need to be pickled in acid mixtures (hydrochloric and sulphuric) before going through the plating. We had a plating line at work many moons ago - and it was horrible with cyanide etc - definitely not for the home! I doubt you will get worthwhile results - but you can experiment with a battery and some salts - coppersulphate and a bit of copper will let you 'plate' copper - but I doubt it will be any use other than as an ornament! The only worthwhile zinc application is galvanising - which involves hot dipping in molten zinc - definitely not for the home mechanic. Stainless fixings should only be used to fasten stainless parts. If used with steel they create a galvanic couple (dis-similar metals) - and guess what - the steel rots away! They often have quite low tensile strength and should certainly not be used anywhere that matters.

[XDB]

All you get with Frosts kit is some scouring powder similar to the old fashioned Vim. I use stainless fasteners to hold trim and other none vital parts, these have been painted first so should not be a problem, Unless you know better of course. Zinc plated fasteners are alright for a while but then discolour if they are exposed to the weather.

[bmcecosse]

Well the stainless will only create the 'couple' if there is metal to metal contact. If paint in between should be ok.

[jgunson]

I've used the Frost Bright Zinc plating kit on a tractor restoration that I'm doing and the results were disappointing to say the least. The kit is quite expensive for the small amount of zinc / chemicals that you get. In the end I managed to pick up some chemicals (zinc chloride + ammonium chloride) and two large zinc plates from an autojumble stand with which I have managed to get resonable results. I use a 0-30v variable bench power supply to control the plating which gives better results than the frost fixed supply. Frost do sell a book on electroplating which is well worth a read. It might be worth buying the electrolyte and passivate chemicals from Frost and sourcing and power supply and zinc anodes separately.

The book :- Electroplating by J.Poyner ISBN 0-85242-862-6

[bigginger]

*OT* is it just me, or are others finding that XDB's sig pushes the page out so wide that it's unreadable without sideways scrolling? If it is everyone, may I suggest that you put a carriage return in your sig after "never be right" - I'd do it myself if I could. It still happens even with images blocked, and it's a little irritating

[sii803]

I would have alook for a kit on ebay i reccon when i was looking they were much cheaper than $75.

[XDB]

Is that better?

[XDB]

I've used the Frost Bright Zinc plating kit on a tractor restoration

That is exactly the same reason I bought mine, I think its expensive for what you get, I have supplemented the kit with items for other sources. The next thing I was going to try was a tank agitator. I think bmcecosse may be right about not being able to get the parts clean without an acid bath.

[Orkney]

*OT* is it just me, or are others finding that XDB's sig pushes the page out so wide that it's unreadable without sideways scrolling? If it is everyone, may I suggest that you put a carriage return in your sig after "never be right" - I'd do it myself if I could. It still happens even with images blocked, and it's a little irritating

Not just you....
Is that whats causing it - i must have blocked that at some stage earlier if it was one of those force you to load a slideshow things - shame people do that really because if youve got adblocker set to block from the root folder then you never get to see pictures that people might post if they need help assuming they host in the same directory.

[alex_holden]

Is that better?

You've got rid of the signature altogether now. All you needed to do was put the cursor before the [img] tag and press enter to move it to a new line.

[Orkney]

No difference - XDB Not Guilty its still scrolling,
Reckon its YG's link paste, noticed that has happened before when ive put a fleabay link into posts sometimes.

[alex_holden]

Ah yes, he needs a space before the http to turn it into a proper link. Didn't notice that because my screen is wide enough to fit it all on!

[XDB]

adblocker set to block from the root folder

Too technical for me, I have stripped the signature out, so I am not an irritant.

[bigginger]

Not that big a deal, honest - it's just a very minor irritant. I seem to have cured it now by putting a space and a carriage return into YGs post, so apologies - do reinstate your sig
a