lchris21
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- South Wales
Following on from a thread I'm putting together on another part of the forum: https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum...-got-a-bit-carried-away-xs650-makeover.88456/
A few of the thread subscribers have asked me to put together a simple thread on how I do/did the bright nickel plating. So here it is. Its not an in depth all scientific method but it seems to work for me.
I bought most of the materials from www.youplate.co.uk.
They are very helpful and have a Facebook page where you can ask questions and the response is pretty prompt
Bright nickel plating solution was about £30 - http://www.youplate.co.uk/nickel-products.html
Alkaline cleaner approx £6 - http://www.youplate.co.uk/cleaning-products.html
Some nickel anodes approx £10 - http://www.youplate.co.uk/anodes.html
The other chemical, the sulphuric acid pickle is the 10% concentration (mixed 50/50 with demin) I'd had from a few years back before people started running round using it as eyewash . Where you get this from now I have no idea, or if its strictly needed? I use it as I've read various information that it gives a more hard-wearing adherence to the plating?
The solvent cleaner is just regular brake and clutch stuff from the motor factors along with demineralised water, the same.
The power supply again, something I already had, but people use battery chargers, laptop power supplies, even car batteries.
The baby bottle warmer is a recent addition and I only stumbled across this during a recent attic clear-out. It warms the water up to +80deg but the nickel solution works best at 60deg, so I use a cheapo temp controller off ebay to regulate this with the thermocouple secured to the side of the bucket. Like I said I don't know how critical all these measurements, degrees, and percentages are but I've had good results with my rough setup?
First up is the prep of the part. Everything you read up is all about the prep, as the plating is only microns so if the part is not in good shape the end result will be poor also. I normally do all my filling, surface prep, emery, polishing etc to whatever I feel is needed. Sometimes I'll buff it on my polishing wheel, but most of the time its off the lathe after a bit of 600grit, or even a wire wheel finish?
After the surface finish is done then comes the cleaning, first off, If i can ? I put them in my ultrasonic cleaner with some detergent for 20mins
Then its on to the cleaning routine. I swill the parts in normal tap water. We have lovely clean soft water here in deepest darkest Wales . Then I scrub them with the Alkaline cleaner (AC99) using a toothbrush....my missus'
Forgot to take a pic of the scrubbing of those parts but a pic showing the spindle ends I did yesterday
Whilst I'm cleaning and prepping I'll get the nickel solution warming up in the baby bottle sterliser. I've got the solution in a £1 kilner jar from Asda. The cheapo temp controller keeps this around about 60deg, it works for me plus or minus 10-deg, so its accurate enough. Just a copper wire strap wrapped around the neck of the jar to attach the nickel anodes which are secured using titanium wire. This I got off Aliexpress for about a fiver delivered! You can use copper, but ive read it contaminates the solution after time?
My cleaning ritual is this. Degrease with solvent cleaner, Scrub with detergent (fairy liquid) or in ultrasonic bath again with fairy liquid. Rinse in tap water. Scrub with alkaline cleaner. Rinse off with demin water. Blow dry with airline. Just before i drop into solution I give it a quick swill in the acid pickle for about 30secs. Rinse off with demin then into the nickle plating solution.
There's all sorts of online calculators for surface area/amps setting but rule of thumb seems to be low amps/volts and take your time? My power supply settles out at about 1.5v and 0.5amps. Its bad practice to have bubbles form or fizzing apparently, and this is the lowest setting I've arrived at to deter this.
A few of the thread subscribers have asked me to put together a simple thread on how I do/did the bright nickel plating. So here it is. Its not an in depth all scientific method but it seems to work for me.
I bought most of the materials from www.youplate.co.uk.
They are very helpful and have a Facebook page where you can ask questions and the response is pretty prompt
Bright nickel plating solution was about £30 - http://www.youplate.co.uk/nickel-products.html
Alkaline cleaner approx £6 - http://www.youplate.co.uk/cleaning-products.html
Some nickel anodes approx £10 - http://www.youplate.co.uk/anodes.html
The other chemical, the sulphuric acid pickle is the 10% concentration (mixed 50/50 with demin) I'd had from a few years back before people started running round using it as eyewash . Where you get this from now I have no idea, or if its strictly needed? I use it as I've read various information that it gives a more hard-wearing adherence to the plating?
The solvent cleaner is just regular brake and clutch stuff from the motor factors along with demineralised water, the same.
The power supply again, something I already had, but people use battery chargers, laptop power supplies, even car batteries.
The baby bottle warmer is a recent addition and I only stumbled across this during a recent attic clear-out. It warms the water up to +80deg but the nickel solution works best at 60deg, so I use a cheapo temp controller off ebay to regulate this with the thermocouple secured to the side of the bucket. Like I said I don't know how critical all these measurements, degrees, and percentages are but I've had good results with my rough setup?
First up is the prep of the part. Everything you read up is all about the prep, as the plating is only microns so if the part is not in good shape the end result will be poor also. I normally do all my filling, surface prep, emery, polishing etc to whatever I feel is needed. Sometimes I'll buff it on my polishing wheel, but most of the time its off the lathe after a bit of 600grit, or even a wire wheel finish?
After the surface finish is done then comes the cleaning, first off, If i can ? I put them in my ultrasonic cleaner with some detergent for 20mins
Then its on to the cleaning routine. I swill the parts in normal tap water. We have lovely clean soft water here in deepest darkest Wales . Then I scrub them with the Alkaline cleaner (AC99) using a toothbrush....my missus'
Forgot to take a pic of the scrubbing of those parts but a pic showing the spindle ends I did yesterday
Whilst I'm cleaning and prepping I'll get the nickel solution warming up in the baby bottle sterliser. I've got the solution in a £1 kilner jar from Asda. The cheapo temp controller keeps this around about 60deg, it works for me plus or minus 10-deg, so its accurate enough. Just a copper wire strap wrapped around the neck of the jar to attach the nickel anodes which are secured using titanium wire. This I got off Aliexpress for about a fiver delivered! You can use copper, but ive read it contaminates the solution after time?
My cleaning ritual is this. Degrease with solvent cleaner, Scrub with detergent (fairy liquid) or in ultrasonic bath again with fairy liquid. Rinse in tap water. Scrub with alkaline cleaner. Rinse off with demin water. Blow dry with airline. Just before i drop into solution I give it a quick swill in the acid pickle for about 30secs. Rinse off with demin then into the nickle plating solution.
There's all sorts of online calculators for surface area/amps setting but rule of thumb seems to be low amps/volts and take your time? My power supply settles out at about 1.5v and 0.5amps. Its bad practice to have bubbles form or fizzing apparently, and this is the lowest setting I've arrived at to deter this.
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