Thanks again, Ed. Would you know whether nickel is significantly less
dangerous, easier or cheaper to apply to small parts on a hobby-level scale?

I kinda suspect that both would involve about the same aspects and safety
issues.

The only source of nickel I know of presently, would be rods for electric
welding cast iron, but I'm sure there would be sources of the right alloy to
use for plating.

I think it's DoN that regularly applies electroplating to some of his small
machined parts, so maybe there will be other comments regarding home shop
plating.

--
WB
..........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html


"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...


'Sounds like nickel. That was a common final plating until the '50s, when
they started putting flash chrome on top of it for everything.


There is an area where some of the plating has been ground away (probably
to remove an engraving) where a sub-layer looks like copper.

It probably is. Copper was used for leveling, but also to get a better
grip. A typical first-class chrome plating job on steel is, first, a very
thin flash coating of nickel (it promotes adhesion); copper plating to
level the surface; a regular nickel plating on top of that; and chrome
plating, often quite thin, on top of the whole works.



Nickel was stylish and implied quality in those days.


The plating may have been a "pride in our name" and/or a better quality
than our competitors' products appearance-comparison issue, in that
bright plating would appear to be a much better grade of finish than
wrinkle paint, I suppose.

You probably suppose right.

--
Ed Huntress