Zinc Plating

[Brian]

Has anyone had any experience with the zinc plating kits that are available for home use.

I have done quite a bit of research on the net and it all sounds easy enough but have yet to talk to anyone that has actually done it.

My main reason for thinking about doing my own plating is the convenience factor, not cost. Unfortunately I have had a few bad experiences with commercial electroplaters plus they are usually reluctant to do just a few pieces when necessary.

Brian.

[RichardL]

Brian,

Are you looking at Caswell? http://www.caswellplating.com/

I think they are the main supplier of such kits in the U.S. Of, course, this isn't what you asked, but I've also considered home plating and am also interested to hear of any results. What I bought from Caswell was their two-part gas tank sealer, which, so far, has been great.

Richard L.

[Brian]

Richard the one I am looking at is here is Australia but by what I can see on the net they are all basically the same.

http://www.janekits.com.au/mainframe.php

Brian.

[terryk]

Hi Brian, there is a fella up here in Nth QLD (Tarzali cycles) near Cairns that does his own plating from one of those kits you mention. He seems to like it, if you email me gflash11@hotmail.com I will give you his number to have a chat. He is a good fella does old british bikes. He has no A10 bits though I got the last one of those.

[LJ.]

I've just bought a kit and have yet to use it. It is identical to a kit that a local friend has bought and he is over the moon with it. Like with anything you need to get to know the kit. It seems that you have to use it at a warm temperature, swirl the solution and get the voltage correct. The results are quite impressive and can be quite a bright zinc coating, of course it all depends on your preparation of the item to coat. I shall be using mine when it gets warmer out in the shed and intend to do the things like wheel spindles etc.

Ebay Item number: 260321106677   of the product that I bought.

[orabanda]

Brian,
I have been using an excellent plater in Perth.
His name is Anthony, and he operates "Aeroplate".
He provides a wide range of quality plating services, including Cadmium, which is the finish I prefer (including for my Japanese bikes!).

He initially provided plating services for the aircraft industry, but has expanded into motorcycles and cars, etc.

I also use him for components we manufacture for the fluid power industry, and am very satisfied.

He also offers other finishes including the matt black type common on Japanese bike clamps and exhaust shields.

He is very fussy; it must be his aircraft background.

If you are interested in contacting him, let me know and I will provide his number.

Richard

[trevinoz]

Brian, I have been using the kit you mention but with a home made power supply to speed things up a bit. With careful preparation you will get good results. Also nothing goes missing.
I only use it for small bits and pieces, anything large goes out to the plater.
I know the bloke who is selling these kits, he was a member of the same club. Any problems I have struck, he was more than willing to help.

[Brian]

Richard, thanks for the offer. I have an Adelaide company that do a good job but only do decorative plating, they dont do zinc or cad or anything similar.

Trev, thats just what I wanted to hear, thanks. I have decided to go with the small 4 litre kit and experiment with that. Once I know what I am doing I will go to a bigger kit and better power supply etc. The main reason for this is convenience and as you say not losing anything.

Brian.

[fido]

I think cadmium plating has been banned in UK. There are various different zinc plating techniques though and it is possible to get a similar finish to cadmium plate.

[beezalex]

I've been using a zinc plating kit supplied by eastwood for several years and have had great success with it.  The only problem I have is that the electrodes are not cheap to replace.

Cheers.

[Richard]

I have now tried the kit I bought from an ebay seller and have mixed results
I wanted to plate the linkage on the twin Leading shoe front brake, all the parts were cleaned and polished the same way then put in a dilute hydrocloric bath for a few minutes rinsed with de-min water then put in the plating bath, not all at the same time.
the link rod has come out great but the brake arms have a pitted appearence and as for the nuts and washers the electro plate comes of when a spanner is attached and it reaches it tightest point.
I found that trying to keep the voltage between 2 to 3 volts was difficult using their method of a double filiment 12volt lamp using one or the other or both filiments to act as a volt dropper as the more parts in the bath to be plated or larger parts brought the voltage down. I have tried keeping the heater on in the electrolyte as well as removing it when plating still I get a pitted appearance on the larger items
After plating and when polished it comes up quite shiny not as good as chrome but better than a grey matt colour with black and rust marks on them.
Now if any one can throw som advice at me then please do
Thank
Richard

[LJ.]

Richard... I'm not one to be able to offer sound advice as I have not yet used my kit. However I'm told by a local mate who has the same kit, that its crucial to get the voltage right with the amount of items in solution, he also found that its best to get the electrodes close to the item being plated and swirl the solution round. I think when I get started I may get myself one of those variable voltage controls with a meter from Maplins.

[trevinoz]

I use a variable transformer plugged into the mains driving a battery charger. I set the voltage across the anode/cathode to roughly 0.75 volt and vary the transformer as the load is varied. If you have excessive bubbling on your items, lower the voltage. High voltage will give a black "burnt' finish.
                Trev.

[beezalex]

I agree.  2-3 volts sounds high.  I'm getting excellent results with 1.3-1.5.  This is on zinc with the solution agitated with an aquarium pump and heated with an aquarium heater.  Finally, I first media blast and then etch my parts in muriatic (Hydrocloric acid) available cheap for swimming pools, then rinse with water to neutralize.

HTH.

[Tomcat]

G'day 'A' series owners, Ive not posted for a while, but still around riding and restoring .
A while ago someone asked about removing chrome and I don't think there was a home based answer to this. So off to the platers I go and am relieved of $50 to de-chrome an oil tank  . So last week I purchased a zinc plating kit and in it is the instructions to de-chrome. You need sulphuric acid, water, a battery, a bath and jumper leads. I will be learning how to de-chrome and zinc plate (or not!!) over xmas and shall report back with the results. Cheers Tomcat