My Hand at Plating Options

[ww914]

I have read where others have done some plating on this site, but here's my picture account of my experience. The kit I ordered is the Copy Cad kit from Caswell.

Here is the set-up. Much of this stuff you have to get from the hardware store.
Top shelf: 3 amp rectifier
Below shelf: copper bus bars and thermostats for heating elements
Bottom shelf - left to right: degreaser in old crock pot, bottle of distilled water for rinsing, muriatic acid dip, cad-zinc dip (notice negative copper bar for hanging parts, yellow chromate dip for the bright yellow shiny look




Crock pot with degreaser


Nuts and washers in cad-zinc pot hanging with brass wire (negative side) The rectangular piece in the back of the bucket is the cad (postive anode) Also in the bucket is a water circulator, thermometer, and heater.




This bucket contains the yellow chromate solution for the yellow shiny look



Parts drying. Notice basket with wired mesh bottom. Great for small parts



Completed parts with yellow chromate



Completed parts on first batch. I sent this picture to Caswell for evaluation and they said I need to be sure of my surface area for amps used and to clean parts really good before the process. As you can see, some parts came out better than other parts. The lug bolts were not dipped in yellow chromate. The lug bolt at the top of the pile was buffed out. The caliper in the upper right corner was done by Eric Shea of PMB Performance. Put it in for comparison.




This may not have been the most cost effective way to get my parts done, but it was sure a lot of fun. Going to play around wth black oxide next. Oh, I asked how long my cad-zinc solution would last. They said what the sent me would do 60 sq ft. Guess I'm good for awhile.