I've been playing a round with zinc plating small parts. I'm using cast zinc anodes, distilled water, vinegar, and a old 6v dc cell charger. I'm just experimenting for now. I still need to find some zinc brightener, and a better electrolyte. I just plated an old witworth blue point wrench, turned out good. anyone have any tips?
A better bet for an electrolyte would be Caustic Soda/Sodium Hydroxide. As far as a brightner goes you would have to find a vendor as the formula for such are closely guarded. You may be able to find out the main ingredient and try it at differant concetrations to get a nice finish. From what I have heard an Acidic Zinc electrolyte would be the brightest but also a bit more dangerous to work with at home. Zinc is a very commonly plated metal so there should be a lot of information on it. I know there is a small hobby plating company called Caswell that would probably be able to provide you with some basic chemisty for such a project. They however may not be very cost effective. To try to get better results with what you have you could try to find a way to adjust the voltage and also try differant temperatures and even try some agitation in the solution to see if any of these help the appearance. Best of luck!
the current eddy makes plating inside a part difficult. I had to put the anode inside the ring of this wrench to get it to plate.
Same as Igo.....been using Eastwoods for a number of years for bolts and brackets and such (stuff too small to send to the chromer's) and have had keen results! Take a look in my build thread....(specifically the engine pics) pretty much all the bolts that are silver have been plated by me.
That's really cool. Can you explain the process in more detail? I've got a '42 Ford project and all of the interior trim is zinc plated, even have a zinc hubcap, and some of it could stand to be replated.
Cast zinc anodes, distilled water, vinegar, and a old 6v dc cell charger(12v seems to work better) It's real simple, just put this stuff together and experiment. I forgot - I did beadblast the parts super clean beforehand. basic cell charger used
So, no magic mixing ratio of vinegar to distilled water? How long you dunking the parts for? I'll have to give this a go for sure.
I think I used about 1 qt distilled vinegar to 1 gallon distilled water. plated the parts for about 10-15 min.
A model train transformer might be a cheap way to get variable voltage; the little train set ones from the '70s and '80s I can hardly give away most of the time, to the point I'm debating about pulling the copper out of some and s****ping them.
Caswell offers many different plating setups for the DIYer. The wife makes jewelry and I have seen some of the websites she frequents...there are many interesting setups used there as well.
I have been wanting to do copper? same process? Just a cheap phone charger and some copper plates? teach me!
If you get a coat of copper with this process you can then go with a high build copper afterwards that will plate much faster. Its made up using Copper Sulfate, Battery acid, De-ionized water, and copper pipes for the anodes.
Isn't electroplating fun? I think so; maybe it's the fumes... For what it's worth, Jimmy2s83 knows more about plating than I do; A valuable ***et if you want to get some honest advice from an experienced custom plater. BTW, the fumes aren't bad at all with that small of a setup; it's the subsequent buffing process that puts all the zinc dust in the air. Have you considered nickel plating? It isn't any harder to do, but the anodes are a lot more expensive.
Bump, I think we need a write up with dumbed down instructions! Whats the difference between copper and high build copper. And what ratio do I mix the battery acid and water? I want to copper plate some small parts to make them stand out. Everyone has chrome but I love copper.
I will get some instructions typed up and post them for some trial and error copper plating at home. This at home set up would be best suited for easily plated metals such as steel, and br***. Potmetal would require a cyanide based solution which is extremely poisonous! To clarify the high build copper is an acidic based solution that will only plate on top of copper, br***, and nickel (when properly activated). The copper strike is able to plate onto steel (and most metals) directly. It is usually an alkaline based solution. In this setup it is based on using vinegar which should work fine for an at home setup.
I just finished the S.U. <center> <br/><br/> <br/><br/> <br/><br/> <br/><br/> <br/><br/> </center> stock carb for this bike.
OK, I have tried to make this hobby friendly. First of all I have not worked with the vinegar based copper so its best to work with that as described and once you get a good layer of copper on the parts you can then go from there to the high build copper. Basic makeup for high build copper. For a 1 gallon setup. 1: Fill container to 1/3 of de-ionized water. 2: For battery acid (diluted sulfuric) slowly add .4 gallons or 1.5 liters. *****BE VERY CAREFULL WHEN ADDING ACID!!!!!****** 3: Stir in 1.5 lbs of copper sulfate. 4: Check PH. It should be at 2 or less. If not add more sulfuric as needed. 5: Add a couple of drops of muriatic acid aka Hydrochloric acid. This is based on the stuff at the hardware store which is about 30% concentration. 6: Place in the anodes (copper pipe for water lines not tubing) copper should be hooked up with positive DC current. Try to make sure the power supply being used is around 2-4 volts. 7: Add any water needed to fill tank to desired level. Once you have a steel part with a copper layer on it or even a piece of copper or br*** to be plated in this solution you should do this pretreatment. 1: Clean with dish soap or any degreasing cleaner. (if just sand blasted or plated you can start at step 2) 2: Rinse really well. 3: 30 second Dip in either sulfuric/battery acid or Hydrochloric acid diluted half/half with water. The half/half is based on store bought quality acids. 4: Rinse really well. 5: Place in solution and hook up power asap. Now let it plate for 10-20 minutes and check on it. You could also let half the part stay out of the tank to compare thickness being applied. This will not get a bright copper color it will be more like a salmon pink. To get bright copper additives are required which are acquired through chemical suppliers. I know a key ingredient in the stuff I use is actually Formaldehyde. I have also been told that "guar gum" can be used. So be carefull and see what you can come up with! If you are really wanting a brightner to get a brighter coat of copper on the part you can check out the hobby plating companies and try to purchase just the brightner aka maintenance for copper sulfate solutions. That may save a lot of headaches and provide much better plating. Any Qs just ask!
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