On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 17:42:16 GMT, Ignoramus2206
wrote:

On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 11:21:56 -0600, Don Foreman wrote:
Yes... I will be checking out the easiest process to start off with.


Zinc, copper and nickle are all pretty easy. Zinc is probably easiest
but none of them are difficult. Chrome is fussy, takes a LOT of
current, and the chemicals are very nasty. I don't mess with chrome.

Thanks... I checked out Caswell and they do not have a "zinc plating
kit", as such. Probably for some good reason.

They certainly do!
http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/zinc.htm

Just get the zinc crystals, the anode, and the zinc brightener stuff.
You probably already have everything else you need. The brightener
makes a big difference in how things turn out.

Is it true that for copper plating, all I need is copper sulphate
(sulfate), and a copper anode? Also, can steel be copper plated? If
so, I would like to try that first.

I have done it years ago with copper sulphate, but I was
copper-cladding carbons. I don't know if it would work on steel.

Caswell's bright acid copper (which I think is copper sulphate with a
brightener and some sulfuric acid you supply) does not work on
steel. The steel must be flashed with nickle first. His alkaline
"flash" copper does work on steel, also on potmetal -- or zinc-plated
steel. It's also useful as a flash for nickle-plating potmetal. The
acid copper is better where you want heavy build -- a lot of copper
thickness.

I will try to read a little about plating, as Caswell sells components
that I already have (such as water heaters and plastic buckets and
power supplies). I would prefer to buy chemicals alone.

Yup. Caswell does offer just the chemicals. You can probably buy
many of the chemicals locally, but the Caswell stuff has additives
that make the chemicals capable of really excellent plating results.
For example, I think the zinc juice is mostly ammonium chloride, but I
can tell you that straight ammonium chloride doesn't work nearly as
well. If you follow his directions and add a few ml of brightener
each time, the zinc plate comes out as bright as new bolts at the
hardware store -- and you can put on as much as you want rather than
just enough to keep it from rusting on the shelf until sold.

One crucial key to successful plating is having the metal absolutely
spotlessly water-break-free clean. If water forms drops on the metal,
it isn't clean enough. Water must sheet on the metal. Clean with
solvents, abrasives and blasting if necessary. Then, handling only
with gloves or tongs from this point forward, rinse in an alkaline
degreaser, rinse in tap water and then spray-rinse (squeeze bottle)
with distilled water. Caswell sells an alkaline degreaser that is
undoubtedly excellent, but I just use a solution of lye, sodium
carbonate and TSP. Works great. For really stubbornly-adherent
grease or wax, Soft-Scrub often does the job.

Many of my little projects include a welding or soldering operation.
The heat from that reduces oils and waxes to carbon, which can then
be removed by beadblasting. I usually then have zero problem with
getting them waterbreak clean in prep for plating. Stuff that has
been buffed can be a bitch to get clean because of the wax in the
buffing compounds. Machined parts where cutting or tapping oil was
used usually respond to a soak in lacquer thinner, blow off,
Brake-Kleen, blow off, then a trip to the alky jug and rinses.
Cleaning and prep is 90% of the job in plating.