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Metalworking (rec.crafts.metalworking) Discuss various aspects of working with metal, such as machining, welding, metal joining, screwing, casting, hardening/tempering, blacksmithing/forging, spinning and hammer work, sheet metal work. |
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WANTED: Electroless nickel recipe
Hi all I'm searching for a recipe for making electroless nickel plating . So far googling shows that someone perhaps wrote an article on the subject for Live Steam Magazine in 1977 and supposedly it went into the FAQ but I cannot find it there. As I understand it the process is not new nor propietary. I'm aware that Caswell sells a reasonably priced kit, but cheapness is not my sole motivator. I really would like to try it DIY and hope its not imposible nor impractical. Any help is thanked in advance Regards, Mongke |
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wrote in message ups.com... Hi all I'm searching for a recipe for making electroless nickel plating . So far googling shows that someone perhaps wrote an article on the subject for Live Steam Magazine in 1977 and supposedly it went into the FAQ but I cannot find it there. As I understand it the process is not new nor propietary. I'm aware that Caswell sells a reasonably priced kit, but cheapness is not my sole motivator. I really would like to try it DIY and hope its not imposible nor impractical. Any help is thanked in advance Regards, Mongke Whenever you need to find out what's in someone's chemical mixture, just remember the letters MSDS. Found some here. http://www.cutechhpi.com/plating.html Steve. |
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wrote in message ups.com... Hi all I'm searching for a recipe for making electroless nickel plating . So far googling shows that someone perhaps wrote an article on the subject for Live Steam Magazine in 1977 and supposedly it went into the FAQ but I cannot find it there. As I understand it the process is not new nor propietary. I'm aware that Caswell sells a reasonably priced kit, but cheapness is not my sole motivator. I really would like to try it DIY and hope its not imposible nor impractical. Any help is thanked in advance Regards, Mongke To add to my other message, the Material Safety Data Sheet is required to be provided by US Law. So if you decide to buy some of the stuff from Caswell or Brownell's or any other chemical manufacturer, make sure to ask that they include the MSDS. Don't just ask, "What is in it?" because the usual answer is "It's proprietary". But if you ask for the MSDS they can't refuse. Steve. |
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On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 13:25:21 GMT, "SteveF" wrote:
wrote in message oups.com... Hi all I'm searching for a recipe for making electroless nickel plating . So far googling shows that someone perhaps wrote an article on the subject for Live Steam Magazine in 1977 and supposedly it went into the FAQ but I cannot find it there. As I understand it the process is not new nor propietary. I'm aware that Caswell sells a reasonably priced kit, but cheapness is not my sole motivator. I really would like to try it DIY and hope its not imposible nor impractical. Any help is thanked in advance Regards, Mongke To add to my other message, the Material Safety Data Sheet is required to be provided by US Law. So if you decide to buy some of the stuff from Caswell or Brownell's or any other chemical manufacturer, make sure to ask that they include the MSDS. Don't just ask, "What is in it?" because the usual answer is "It's proprietary". But if you ask for the MSDS they can't refuse. Steve. They may well have proprietary ingredients that don't have to be included in the MSDS. |
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To add to my other message, the Material Safety Data Sheet is required to be provided by US Law. So if you decide to buy some of the stuff from Caswell or Brownell's or any other chemical manufacturer, make sure to ask that they include the MSDS. Don't just ask, "What is in it?" because the usual answer is "It's proprietary". But if you ask for the MSDS they can't refuse. Steve. They may well have proprietary ingredients that don't have to be included in the MSDS. Perhaps someone here who knows this subject well can chime in, but I believe that if they are classified as hazardous (hell, even sand is now classified as hazardous) , the manufacturer doesn't have a choice. I've never really understood the "proprietary" issue. If I really wanted to know what is in something I can take to a chem lab and have it analyzed. Something every one of their competitors is capable of doing. Steve. |
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On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 11:28:06 GMT, "SteveF" wrote:
,; wrote in message groups.com... ,; ,; ,; ,; Hi all ,; ,; I'm searching for a recipe for making electroless nickel plating . ,; So far googling shows that someone perhaps wrote an article on ,; the subject for Live Steam Magazine in 1977 and supposedly ,; it went into the FAQ but I cannot find it there. As I understand ,; it the process is not new nor propietary. ,; I'm aware that Caswell sells a reasonably priced kit, but cheapness ,; is not my sole motivator. I really would like to try it DIY and ,; hope ,; ,; ,;Whenever you need to find out what's in someone's chemical mixture, just ,;remember the letters MSDS. ,; ,;Found some here. http://www.cutechhpi.com/plating.html I didn't find anything useful there. There was a lot of research on this in the 1960's. If you have access to the Journal of Research of the National Bureau of Standards during that time period you will find recipes. I have been there and done that but unfortunately it was back in the 60's and the elapsed time has taken its toll on the memory banks. But AFAIR we had a 2 liter beaker, NiSO4 dissolved in a basic tartrate solution, with hypophosphite near the boiling point. Dip the part in and let it plate. Now the plate is not pure nickel. It is a nickel- phosphorus compound about 93% nickel. We also did this with borate instead of phosphorus which yields a nickle-boron plate. Can you do this at home? No problem if you can get the chemicals. |
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Unknown wrote:
On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 11:28:06 GMT, "SteveF" wrote: ,; wrote in message roups.com... ,; ,; ,; ,; Hi all ,; ,; I'm searching for a recipe for making electroless nickel plating . ,; So far googling shows that someone perhaps wrote an article on ,; the subject for Live Steam Magazine in 1977 and supposedly ,; it went into the FAQ but I cannot find it there. As I understand ,; it the process is not new nor propietary. ,; I'm aware that Caswell sells a reasonably priced kit, but cheapness ,; is not my sole motivator. I really would like to try it DIY and ,; hope ,; ,; ,;Whenever you need to find out what's in someone's chemical mixture, just ,;remember the letters MSDS. ,; ,;Found some here. http://www.cutechhpi.com/plating.html I didn't find anything useful there. There was a lot of research on this in the 1960's. If you have access to the Journal of Research of the National Bureau of Standards during that time period you will find recipes. I have been there and done that but unfortunately it was back in the 60's and the elapsed time has taken its toll on the memory banks. But AFAIR we had a 2 liter beaker, NiSO4 dissolved in a basic tartrate solution, with hypophosphite near the boiling point. Dip the part in and let it plate. Now the plate is not pure nickel. It is a nickel- phosphorus compound about 93% nickel. Tartrate is a bit unusual for electroless nickel with hypophosphite, citrate or acetate is more usual. Try (all ingredients are in grams per litre): Nickel Sulphate NiSO4.6H2O - 25 g Sodium hypophosphite NaH2PO2.H20 - 23 g Sodium acetate NaC2H3O2 - 9 g a touch of lead helps (dip a small bit of lead in the solution for 60 seconds, that's plenty) 85 C We also did this with borate instead of phosphorus which yields a nickle-boron plate. ITYM sodium borohydride. Nickel sulphate 12 or nickel chloride 9 sodium potassium tartrate (rochelle salt) 65 sodium hydroxide 40 sodium borohydride 1 a bit of lead again. 92 C Can you do this at home? No problem if you can get the chemicals. Can all be bought online in the UK, except maybe the lead (I haven't tried). I don't know about elsewhere. The pros "sensitise and catalyse" or "catalyze and activate" the surface first, which is a whole other story, usually involving palladium chloride. I don't know whether Caswell kits do, but I doubt it. -- Peter Fairbrother |
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Peter Fairbrother wrote: Tartrate is a bit unusual for electroless nickel with hypophosphite, citrate or acetate is more usual. Try (all ingredients are in grams per litre): Nickel Sulphate NiSO4.6H2O - 25 g Sodium hypophosphite NaH2PO2.H20 - 23 g Sodium acetate NaC2H3O2 - 9 g a touch of lead helps (dip a small bit of lead in the solution for 60 seconds, that's plenty) 85 C Thank you! This resembles plating steel with copper by means of an acidic copper sulfate solution. BTW, any particular caveats to be aware of? Regards, MOngke -- Peter Fairbrother |
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The Metals Handbook, Vol 2, 8th edition contains a number of recipes and
devotes several pages to the process. The subject is complicated and no doubt expensive to experiment with provided you can find the rather unusual chemicals required. Randy wrote in message ups.com... Hi all I'm searching for a recipe for making electroless nickel plating . So far googling shows that someone perhaps wrote an article on the subject for Live Steam Magazine in 1977 and supposedly it went into the FAQ but I cannot find it there. As I understand it the process is not new nor propietary. I'm aware that Caswell sells a reasonably priced kit, but cheapness is not my sole motivator. I really would like to try it DIY and hope its not imposible nor impractical. Any help is thanked in advance Regards, Mongke |
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