Anyone do any home Zinc Plating?

[porschedude996TT]

I am starting a small business to service the wine making industry. My hopes are to keep me just a little busy in my retirement years. I love wine and wanted to be around the industry in a small way. I don't want to compete for the larger builds, just the small stuff. I have worked with stainless steel for many years and enjoy designing and improving where there are problems. I got my first small job that is more of a refurbishment than a redesign, although I did improve the handle pivot. Maybe that will be another topic.

So after needing a Blast Cabinet, (see other thread

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2506793#post2506793 )

I needed to replate the original hardware. I started with a small Nickel Brush type plating kit and was reall disappointed. So I bought the tank type plating kit in Zinc. Most bolts that you see these days that we call Cad-Plated and really Zinc. With this kit you can plate items to look like the old dull cad if you don't use the Zinc Brightner chemical in the plating solution.

It works pretty slick.

Picture 1 is the whole setup.

Picture 2 is the plating portion DC Constant Current, vary the Current based on the total surface area of the parts.

Picture 3 is the degreasing tank, no electric current in this tank.

Picture 4 is the Plating Tank with the pump to circulate the solution and a heater to keep the solution at 110F. Note the two Zinc Plates connected to the + power source.

Picture 5 are my first two pieces. Larger was the second piece. It has a better surface finish because od a lower current applied to the part.

Picture 6 is a the successful items.
content need to be copper plated to prevent this dull finish.

Picture 7 is of the best and worst of my efforts thus far. The Brass Coupling Nut came out almost like chrome. Gray plate had too much nickel to directly plate with Zinc, I would need to first plate with copper to get the best results.

It is a lot of fun and it may turn into a business all on its own. I plan to also Anodize as well in the near furture.

 

[mayday0017]

Looks neat to me, can you do yellow zinc plating as well?

 

[porschedude996TT]

Looks neat to me, can you do yellow zinc plating as well?

Yes it is just another bucket after the plating. It does add a level of corrision resistance. I think I would need another tank heater.

 

[porschedude996TT]

I got back to my Bright Zinc Plating and bought the Yellow Chromate material "Chromic Acid" I am refinishing some parts on my project car and attached is a picture of some work I completed over the weekend.

 

[Tutt]

that stuff looks really good! mind sharing details on the "kit" you bought?

 

[porschedude996TT]

The kit I bought was from (caswellplating.com). I had a issue with one piece that I was trying to plate and asked a question of them and they responded pretty fast and it made complete sense.

 

[Steven67fr]

Thanks a lot for sharing. Great to know this is out there and that someone has had a positive experience.

 

[RivennHewn]

No, but I may have to start.

 

[Trey T]

when it becomes a waste, how would you manage it?

 

[CamarosRus]

Suggesting you source, purchase and use FLUID FILM on those plated surfaces to inhibit the degradation and corrosion that will surely start.

I did say FLUID FILM and not that household pizz water WD-30

 

[ndoran]

If you are doing this at hope you may want to check out how hazardous this is for you and your families health. You also need to realise you can't dispose of these chemicals into the sewer: you can find your pipes dissolve and the local authorities come to talk about the impact on their treatment facilities and the local rivers.

I know you are only talking about small quantities of chemicals for home use the problem is they are concentrated and very toxic and can react vigorously with anything else they come into contact with.

 

[Jvvmusme]

What is the solution used in picture 4 ?

 

[porschedude996TT]

when it becomes a waste, how would you manage it?

Not a problem, the manuals I'm using already advises waste stream process. Not costly at all.

If you are doing this at hope you may want to check out how hazardous this is for you and your families health. You also need to realise you can't dispose of these chemicals into the sewer: you can find your pipes dissolve and the local authorities come to talk about the impact on their treatment facilities and the local rivers.

I know you are only talking about small quantities of chemicals for home use the problem is they are concentrated and very toxic and can react vigorously with anything else they come into contact with.

I don't appreciate the attempted schooling. I have worked with rocket fuels for 33 years as well as many other industrial chemicals. These acids and bases are not very hazardous as something like cyanide. The process is to drive any metal in solution onto a scrap part and treat the solution for safe disposal. Things that can't be treated, I don't have any that can't be processed, may take other considerations. If I did it would go to a hazardous waste facility properly contained and identified as required by federal, state, and local government agencies.

I was trying to share my endeavor with the group, not trying to collect lectures.

I have in place loose leaf binders with the marked containers and the instructions on how to deal with the solution. A complete half-wit could cleanup the hazard. This is not rocket science, I know because I am one...LOL

 

[porschedude996TT]

What is the solution used in picture 4 ?

That is the zinc plating solution.

 

[brucew]

Thanks for the pics. What did you use for the degreasing?

 

[Strouty]

We were looking at plating some steel, but found out because it was all ready galvanized, it would not plate well. We have to modify the length of some pieces and drill new holes in it. I know I could cold galvanize it, but it will be part of a dock on the ocean, so we are going to have them dipped again. They charge an extra 6 cents a pound to strip the zinc (acid bath) and then dip them the next day. I bet they can reuse some of the zinc that is removed too.

I am going to try doing some plating myself for small parts, thanks for sharing the info. I may just start with an electrolysis tank.

 

[bonneyman]

Very cool idea and nice work!

 

[frugalguido]

What size Caswell kit is that? Do you like the size you purchased or if you had to do it again would you have purchased another size? I would do similar sized stuff that you showed previously.

 

[F124C]

I got back to my Bright Zinc Plating and bought the Yellow Chromate material "Chromic Acid" I am refinishing some parts on my project car and attached is a picture of some work I completed over the weekend.

Looks really nice, thanks for sharing.

Al.

 

[porschedude996TT]

Thanks for the pics. What did you use for the degreasing?

Any solvent to get the bad stuff off, glass bead to get tough stuff, then the cleaner that Caswell sells as a final cleaner.

We were looking at plating some steel, but found out because it was all ready galvanized, it would not plate well. We have to modify the length of some pieces and drill new holes in it. I know I could cold galvanize it, but it will be part of a dock on the ocean, so we are going to have them dipped again. They charge an extra 6 cents a pound to strip the zinc (acid bath) and then dip them the next day. I bet they can reuse some of the zinc that is removed too.

I am going to try doing some plating myself for small parts, thanks for sharing the info. I may just start with an electrolysis tank.

It might be fun for you.

Very cool idea and nice work!

Thanks, I enjoy the positive results, but sometimes things don't work and you need to figure things out.

What size Caswell kit is that? Do you like the size you purchased or if you had to do it again would you have purchased another size? I would do similar sized stuff that you showed previously.

I started with the 5 gallon kit with a larger power supply.

Looks really nice, thanks for sharing.

Al.

Thanks, I enjoy trying different things in science.

 

[Dozerhand]

I wish I could find it but at one time I had a popular mechanics magazine from the mid 50's that showed you how to zinc plate at home. The picture showed the smiling man in his kitchen with three or four big smoking pots on the stove. I had to laugh when I thought about how that would go over in my household.

Wife after a long days work: What in the world stinks and what's all this smoke?
Me: I'm just galvanizing some ceiling fan hardware.
Wife: Are those my good pots and pans?
Me: Uhhhhhh

 

[logixjock]

Not a problem, the manuals I'm using already advises waste stream process. Not costly at all.



I don't appreciate the attempted schooling. I have worked with rocket fuels for 33 years as well as many other industrial chemicals. These acids and bases are not very hazardous as something like cyanide. The process is to drive any metal in solution onto a scrap part and treat the solution for safe disposal. Things that can't be treated, I don't have any that can't be processed, may take other considerations. If I did it would go to a hazardous waste facility properly contained and identified as required by federal, state, and local government agencies.

I was trying to share my endeavor with the group, not trying to collect lectures.

I have in place loose leaf binders with the marked containers and the instructions on how to deal with the solution. A complete half-wit could cleanup the hazard. This is not rocket science, I know because I am one...LOL

It is maddening the way some people will stomp on a thread with absolutely no practical experience just to feel they are contributing....