Zinc Plating kits

[daglad]

I am thinking of getting a zinc plating kit to play with. Anybody any experience with one. I am looking at a kit from Gateros Plating. Any advice would be appreciated before i commit to buying one

[midlifecrisisrd]

Not got the zinc one but did get the nickel one from them.

Simple to use and good results. Most important thing is getting the stuff absolutely clean first.

Steve

[nikfubar]

I've only done nickle plating, but once you know what your doing & follow the instructions exactly you get good results.
Heres a set of old head bolts I plated a few weeks ago, just sold them on ebay for £20.00 ;D

[daglad]

Cheers guys, when i said zinc i meant nickle. Your Head bolts look splendid nik, i think i will take punt and have a go, i have quite a few bits to do on my fireblade as well. i will post the results, probably have a bash over the xmas break.

[nikfubar]

Nice one ;D
All your steel parts need to be spotless, I use a cup brush on an electric drill, then you need to dip them in acid for about 20 mins, I use Jewsons brick & morter cleaner. Then rinse in distilled water, I get this from local motor factors in 5ltr tubs, then in the plating bath for about 20-30 mins.
You need an old car battery to power it & you have a resistor coil with the kit to regulate the voltage, you want around 4v measured from the negative wire to the nickle anode suspended in the bath. If the voltage is too high it will burn out the plating solution & blacken the piece you are trying to plate & if the voltage is too low it will take ages & you get a bumpy matt finish. Wear rubber gloves or the oil on your fingers will get on the steel & ruin the finish.
Any thing you need to know just ask ;D

Here's a kick start I modyfied & plated & various other bits

[shandyboy]

Nick what kit you using mate and whats the cost
cheers
alan

[nikfubar]

This is the kit I bought, been using it for about 3 years now & done all the plating on 2 rebuilds

www.gaterosplating.co.uk/Bright-Nickel-Plating-Kit.php

[daglad]

Cracking advice nik, thank you very much, i was looking at the £125 kit from gateros do i need this one or will the £85 be ok. The bits you have done look first class. I've noticed the water pipe i didn't realise you can plate alloy?

[nikfubar]

Dec 1, 2011 18:24:00 GMT 1 daglad said:

Cracking advice nik, thank you very much, i was looking at the £125 kit from gateros do i need this one or will the £85 be ok. The bits you have done look first class. I've noticed the water pipe i didn't realise you can plate alloy?

Which kit is it can't see it
Yeah you can do ali as well but you need to use this on the ali first


www.gaterosplating.co.uk/Zincate.php

Nasty stuff when you are mixing the chemicals up do it outside.

[daglad]

I don't know how to add a link but it is on the Gateros website and the kit is titled as

THE ULTIMATE SUPER BRIGHT ZINC/NICKEL PLATING KIT

It looks like it has everything i need in one hit.

[nikfubar]

Still can't find it the only ultimate kit I can see is a brush plating one.
To add a link open the page you want to link then go to the header right at the top of the screen, right click on it & a drop down box appears, left click on COPY, return to your post, right click & drop down box apperars, left click on PASTE. Job done

[LC_BOTT]

Nick, why did you chose to go with the nickel rather than the zinc plating, was it for a better sinier finish, or is there a durability issue with zinc, as i believe it's a sacrificial coating??

[nikfubar]

I went with bright nickel as it's a nice shiney finish, there are lots of nuts, bolts & parts which are not easy to replace with stainless & I can't be arsed to paint so this is a quick easy solution that looks good ;D