Cadmium plating on old tools?

[dungeoncrawler]

I have been cleaning up a lot of old tools lately, and frequently (and very stupidly) I hand-sand or wire-brush them indoors and without a respirator - something I keep reminding myself not to do. One particular concern I have is a couple of tools I sanded that have a flaking finish that has a slight golden hue to it - an old pair of Petersen Vise-Grips and an Unbreakable 3" c-clamp. Googling around makes it sound like it could be either Nickel or Cadmium, and I dread to think how much of that dust I might have inhaled previously. Anyone have any idea what that finish could be?

 

[Maui]

Some photos would help. You can look at different threads by using the search function that discuss what cadmium plated tools look like. Old Craftsman sockets from the late 1930s and early 1940s were typically plated with cadmium. I have not noticed a golden hue associated with cadmium plated parts.

 

[dungeoncrawler]

First photo is indoor light, second is outdoor, both items next to a (plain?) steel Leatherman for comparison. I am more inclined to think it's Nickel coating, but I imagine breathing it in isn't great either.

 

[Toothaker]

Beryllium alloy tools can have a golden hue. It's also another metal that you don't want to breathe the dust from.

 

[PFSard]

Here's a recent thread on this.

Need Help on How to Clean This Wartime Snap on Set
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=400862&showall=1

 

[3baygarage]

I don’t think either tool is cad., especially a vise grip. See the missing plating around the edge of the clamp, that looks like regular chrome loss.

 

[dungeoncrawler]

I don’t think either tool is cad., especially a vise grip. See the missing plating around the edge of the clamp, that looks like regular chrome loss.

Does chrome come in that hue? I have lots of early 2000s Craftsman that has a similar golden hue (much shiner and polished, obviously), but the rest of my chromed stuff is very silver, older Craftsman also. I always thought it was a nice distinctive look but never really thought on the reason why it might look that way.



Here is another peculiar example - an old Craftsman I suspected to be Cad plated so I haven't bothered doing anything to it, thankfully. You can see areas that have a dull gray finish, that has mostly worn away at the edges with bare steel beneath.

 

[d42jeep]

I’ve had a ton of Visegrips and have never seen a pair that is cad plated. I’ve seen plenty of non-polished chrome plated ones. These wartime Williams tools are very likely cad plated.
-Don

 

[WAS Jr]

It doesn't have to be gold tinted to be cadmium. Modern aircraft hardware is cad plated gold, during the war and until the sixties( I think) it was silver. Be careful.
Bill S.

 

[bonneyman]

I wonder if theres a cadmium detection test we collectors could employ to tell if a tool is cad plated or not.

Like this test:
http://www.home-health-chemistry.com/Cadmium-Detection.html

 

[Gear Wolf]

There isn't an easy way to detect cadmium plating on vintage tools without going through the significant cost of using plasma spectrometry. One could talk about observing finish, texture, or sheen characteristics of a tool and attempt to make a call whether or not something is unpolished chrome or cadmium.

Yes, there are characteristics that can help determine one way or another, but typically that takes an experienced eye, knowledge of appropriately/safely making testing solutions, and a background in the interpreting results.

The simple solution: err on the side of caution. This is why we should use "universal precautions".

Cadmium poisoning is a very real thing. I'll spare everyone from another diatribe from me, again, about this. For most, it has permanent side effects. Do the smart thing. Wear PPE.

 

[d42jeep]

-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

+2 on the dangers, but I just don't understand the identification trouble. I don't know anything about modern tools, and modern use of cadmium, but any finish on a tool made before 1950 that is not naked steel and looks softer and much less shinier than nickel- or chrome-plating is either cadmium or some kind of oxide or phosphate. Don't touch it with a wire brush or a wheel. Period. And if it's deteriorating so badly that it is visibly flaking or peeling or rubbing off just by handling it, wear disposable gloves.

EDIT: FWIW, dungeoncrawler, here is a link to a photo of three sockets - steel, cad, and chrome - side-by-side.

In a long list of stickies we need, this subject should be one of them!

 

[Stuart in MN]

I didn't find anything to indicate Vise-Grips were cadmium plated, only references to them being nickel plated.

 

[notlob]

My process to clean any tool that is, or may be, cad plated, is (1) put on a NIOSH P100 rated respirator; and (2) wearing nitrile gloves, scrub the tool gently by hand with a fine brass brush in a tub of ATF.

YMMV.

 

[woody 73]

I also do not think the vise grips have any cadmium plating; at least none that I have ever run across in my 40 plus years of buying them.