Nickel plating problem

[Misterg]

Don't change so much at once - the plating on the bridge(?) doesn't have that same mud-cracking as previously.

The colour / shine on your earlier parts looked OK, so maybe follow the same process but don't disturb it during plating. (Flick the air bubbles off, but don't stop the current or take it out of the bath).

Try and work to a consistent current density (amps per cm^2, or whatever).

 

[Kram]

copper electro-plating in copper acetate,

That too, is interesting. I've got loads of copper sulphate, but acetate I have not used. Ofcourse, acetate is vinegar. Something I can read up on...


To rule things out, perhaps try plating spme clean copper sheet. Sand it, rinse and plate.


Gloves may have a trace of silicone? I know it causes pain with any paints.

 

[Screwdriver]

So here's the latest abysmal bloody failure. I did everything I could to make sure these were absolutely clean - no solvol autosol this time, IPA to clean and degrease, 15 minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner, more IPA, dunk in 10% hydrochloric acid for 2 minutes, wash in DI water, followed by copper electro-plating in copper acetate, rinse in DI water and straight into the nickel plating bath. Gloves on the whole time, even though I only handled them with bent copper wires. The copper plating was perfectly smooth, no sign of any marking, patchiness or flaking. And the initial nickel plating looked to be reasonable, but after about 20 minutes it became obvious that it was going to turn out like poo.

As usual, when I can't do something after the fourth time I get fed up with it - this lot very nearly got chucked down the garden in disgust. There's no point in having a fifth attempt with what I've got at the moment as I have no idea what is going wrong. The only thought I have at the moment is that my 99.5% pure nickel is rubbish, and its Chinese monkey metal.

View attachment 531200

Looks pretty good to me for a DIY effort. What are you comparing your results with?

It does look more like a thick plating than a light coating though. Have you tried really ramping down the voltage or concentration? Electroplating is always going to exaggerate any imperfections in the workpiece. Could it be that you're expecting too much from the surface finish you started off with?

 

[Newlands]

Don't change so much at once - the plating on the bridge(?) doesn't have that same mud-cracking as previously.

Apart from ensuring that everything was as clean as possible, the only real changes were to give the parts a 2 minute acid dip and to copper plate them first. As it turned out, the copper plating was pretty good - an even coverage and no signs of imperfections at all. As for current density, my understanding is that nothing much happens below around 0.3 amps - the voltage is determined by the conductivity and concentration of nickel ions in the plating solution.

Could it be that you're expecting too much from the surface finish you started off with?

No. The surface finish was fine, and in those areas I didn't polish (the inside of the pot knobs and the milled-out sections of the bridge piece) the plating was just dull, exactly as you'd expect. This last effort was a poorer result than before, but partly that was due to stopping it once I saw it wasn't going well.

perhaps try plating some clean copper sheet.

The hangers were copper wire, and they seemed to plate well, but too small to really judge the quality. But that was the reason for doing the copper plating, so I wouldn't expect much difference between my parts or a bit of copper sheet. I think I'll order some different nickel - some rod or sheet instead of this strip stuff. It will be guesswork of course as there's no way of testing how pure it is, and all the suppliers on eBay and Amazon are from China. That will at least give me 2 or 3 weeks to forget this disaster!

 

[mark roberts]

I've been playing around with nickel using a very similar method, I too got the nickel from ebay in small strips. I did the brick acid and then dipped in water from the dehumidifier. My results are not as good as I would like. I was going to try the wand technique to see if that improves the quality. I was plating parts off a lathe that had been surface ground then sanded and polished.

 

[Newlands]

I've been playing around with nickel using a very similar method, I too got the nickel from ebay in small strips. I did the brick acid and then dipped in water from the dehumidifier. My results are not as good as I would like. I was going to try the wand technique to see if that improves the quality. I was plating parts off a lathe that had been surface ground then sanded and polished.

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I’ve just been reading your thread on the ornamental lathe restoration, and I’m rather envious of the plating results you show - loads better than I managed. Have you experienced the sort of finish I’m getting, like in my first post in this thread?
I’ve ordered some 10mm nickel rod (coming from China as I couldn’t find anything more local), along with some nickel plating solution and brightened from Chronos, and intend to have another go, probably in a week or two when it all gets here.
What sort of voltage and current do you use?

 

[Kram]

I've been playing around with nickel using a very similar method, I too got the nickel from ebay in small strips. I did the brick acid and then dipped in water from the dehumidifier. My results are not as good as I would like. I was going to try the wand technique to see if that improves the quality. I was plating parts off a lathe that had been surface ground then sanded and polished.

View attachment 531502

I know little about it and never tried it, however from a quick watch of YT, it looks like you may have zinc contamination giving the dull grey appearance.