Heavy Metal. Rust Removal and plating

As we are talking backyard stuff here and it is not mainstream chemistry it makes it difficult to recommend a cure for the problems encountered, the bubbling on surfaces is by and large hydrogen and to reduce this you need a small amount of hydrochloric acid added to the solution, without this you can finish up with hydrogen embrittlement and the whole lot of plate can just crack off the work piece, the purity of solutions is also very important, nickel plate direct to steel is the correct way to do your bolts, copper first will give you a soft sub-stratta and damage easy, and as most copper is acid based it does not take directly to steels, you would need an alkaline copper strike for this, there is not much point in recommending so called secret additives as in the UK you have to be licensed to carry or buy them which then means you have to use within regs and dispose of to a licensed waste carrier, consent to discharge rinse waters is also needed it's a minefield here, if i want shiny these days i buy new or get others to do it for me.

Hi Kevski,

Can you recommend anybody for plating? I’m interested in bright nickel and yellow zinc nickel
 
Last edited:
Bewarethemoon, unfortunately I have never had anything plated in the UK so cannot recommend anyone. See Kevski in Entry 58, he used to work in the industry so may know of a good plating shop. Maybe send him a PM.
 
I avoid recommending, as in general expectations (silk purse out of a sows ear) run much higher than is actually financially possible when it comes to re-plating old parts, they all do a good job but sometimes things either are to crappy or sometimes just dissolve.

Can I expect consistent results with brand new parts?
 
Can I expect consistent results with brand new parts?
Yes you can expect consistancy with new parts, but if you have a mix of new and old parts you can really spot the difference, when i re-furbed my present XS650 i actually sourced good quality used parts which generally have to come in from across the pond and replaced most nuts and bolts with stainless, with the fine threaded large size 10mm+ from china as the UK and Stateside prices are ridiculously high.
20190816_124133.jpg
 
Yes you can expect consistancy with new parts, but if you have a mix of new and old parts you can really spot the difference, when i re-furbed my present XS650 i actually sourced good quality used parts which generally have to come in from across the pond and replaced most nuts and bolts with stainless, with the fine threaded large size 10mm+ from china as the UK and Stateside prices are ridiculously high.
View attachment 158012

I’ve had engine mounting brackets of my own design made and I’m toying with the idea of Nickel plating
 
Yes you can expect consistancy with new parts, but if you have a mix of new and old parts you can really spot the difference, when i re-furbed my present XS650 i actually sourced good quality used parts which generally have to come in from across the pond and replaced most nuts and bolts with stainless, with the fine threaded large size 10mm+ from china as the UK and Stateside prices are ridiculously high.
View attachment 158012

Very clean Special Kevski!
 
Let's see them!!! :er:

I should have the brackets in my hands this week and then I’ll post photos for all to scrutinise.

They’re not dissimilar to the ones offered by HHB, I’d also liked what I’d seen others do with theirs so I thought I’d combine all of these elements and draw up my own.

I’ve actually enough materials for a few sets of front & rear brackets so if guys are into them I could pass them on.
 
Last edited:
This weeks efforts with "plating" steel with copper:

I have examined a method of plating essentially the same as that for nickel as described in the video Jim linked in Entry 2, except the nickel electrodes were replaced with copper. This method is essentially the same as the other DIY copper plating methods listed on YouTube. It is very easy to get a layer of copper onto steel, but beware, this is not copper plating in the true sense. The layer formed is finely divided copper particles and has very poor adhesion and easily wiped off.

For the DIY enthusiast the key issue here is the relative reactivity of steel verses copper. The iron in steel is more reactive that copper so the second you place clean shiny steel into a solution with copper ions a displacement reaction takes place and iron goes into solution to become iron ions and the copper ions are converted to copper which drops out of solution and coats the steel surface. This all takes place spontaneously without any actual plating taking place. Although there are DIY ways to get around this, good quality copper plating seldom occurs.

Professionally copper plating is easily done to a very high quality using chemical systems not really suited to the home. Two systems I am aware of use either cyanides or pyrophosphates. But these are not generally available to the DIY market where the aim is to use easily obtained materials, often scraps of this and that. The following link is well worth reading as it sums up the DIY and Professional plating metalities regarding copper:

https://www.finishing.com/308/52.shtml

So I have given up on copper plating for now and turned my hand to nickel plating which is much easier to do at the DIY level because we do not get a spontaneous reaction between nickel and copper ions. But will my DIY efforts give a nickel plate that has sufficient decorative appearance and weathering resistance for my needs???? Maybe if I control temperature/voltage/current, use proper industrial nickel anode and sufficient metal cleaning and metal preparation techniques...
 
Playing with Nickel: I had a little play using the plating method outlined in Entry 2. I took an Allen screw and stripped the black oxide coating on the head using hydrochlric acid. Then plated only the head at 3.3V and 35mA for 2 hours. The result is kind of what I want for the screws holding the side covers on the engine.
Nickel Top.jpg
It isn't shiny nickel, but I think it will nicely complement the slightly weathered chromed VX engine side covers. I will do six and fit them to see how they stand up to the remainder of this very damp Welsh Winter.

The coating is not uniform, bit of a shadow on the side facing away from the anode, so next time I must rotate the screws every 1/2 hour.
 
The ring anode sounds like a good idea.
I have found it difficult when zinc plating cap screws to get good coverage inside the socket head. Best result was after bead blasting the part first then acid dip followed by distilled water dip.
During plating rotate the part and use a gentle stream of air bubbles from a aquarium air pump to break up the hydrogen bubbles on the part.
I think the same approach would work with nickel.
Let us know how the ring anode works out.
 
The ring anode sounds like a good idea.
I have found it difficult when zinc plating cap screws to get good coverage inside the socket head. Best result was after bead blasting the part first then acid dip followed by distilled water dip.
During plating rotate the part and use a gentle stream of air bubbles from a aquarium air pump to break up the hydrogen bubbles on the part.
I think the same approach would work with nickel.
Let us know how the ring anode works out.

Very interesting Signal.

I’ve just made contact with someone to yellow zinc plate 72 bare steel spoke nipples. The fee is reasonable, hopefully the results are satisfactory.

Daniel.
 
Bewarethemoon the only reason I started doing my own was the local zinc plater moved to a bigger city and with freight and the potential to loose small parts it all go a bit expensive and risky. If you have a good local plater that is fairly priced go with them.
 
Back
Top