Finally got a quote from a plating company recommended by one of our respected vendors. It seems a little nuts though. I have about 50 lbs. of clean parts that need either yellow cadmium or yellow zinc. Another very small batch in black zinc. They asked me to separate out hardened and non-hardened parts because they only bake the hardened stuff, and send pictures. I did that. The hardened yellow amounts to about 2 lbs. of parts. The black zinc, maybe a pound. They also said they'd let me know if yellow zinc would be cheaper. Here's what I got back:



$200 for the main batch doesn't seem bad, but having to separate out sure adds up for a small amount of additional hardware. I'm just wondering if this is typical of what others are paying. I may just plate and bake the hardened stuff myself but man is that a PITA. Here's what will be in each of those lots:

Black Zinc baked $115
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Yellow Cad no bake $200
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Yellow Cad bake (except for the hose clamps which will be moved to the no-bake per recommendations and I just noticed a few other pieces that shouldn't be in there) $215
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Last I had done, Yellow cad here is $95 for 1st 50lbs

Are you dealing with the actual plating company
or a middle man that does prep work and then sends it out to plate?

I called a car restoration company near me and got the name of the plating company they use.... you can try that....:you can ship via USPS flat rate boxes.
Shouldn’t be that expensive.....

I'm trying out a new place, they did 600+ pieces for $185 gold zinc, silver zinc, and black zinc.

Actual plating company. It's the same one PMB uses in SLC and is about the closest one to me. I'll get the name of the place my neighbor who restores cars uses. He said he sends stuff somewhere in CA but didn't remember the name off the top of his head. Thanks for confirming this is high. And any recommendations welcome!:beer2:

It would be a gift on the east coast. Nobody does it here.

@mepstein the guy I'm trying out is in Wisconsin, that's a bit closer to you. I'll let you know how it looks when it gets back to me.

I’m in Delaware. I’ll probably have to ship no matter what.

What is the name of the place in Wisconsin?

Call P. Russel and Company in Ipswich Mass.
and ask who they use.. They told me a few years ago but I
forgot now..
Also, I googled “zinc plating in Massachusetts” and got a few
names from those people....

I had 12 caliper halves and a few other misc pieces done and I didn't make the $50 minimum. Eco plating in minneapolis mn

I wonder if it's the place @mb911 uses. When I was looking for recommendations before, he said he has a place local that is reasonable.

Might also check with Shaun Budka at Tru6. He's in Watertown, MA. No idea how his prices stack up but seems to do quality work.

Cadmium Plating and Not yellow zinc?

Have him quote the ASTM spec. or MIL spec.

@raynekat used him and I checked into it early on. He does fantastic work but mucho dinero. His service is cleaning and prepping the parts then working closely with the platers for a perfect finish. I've already done spent over a hundred hours doing the prep.



If you are referring to the quote I posted, that's for actual cadmium except for the black zinc. I just told him a preferred cadmium but not if zinc would be cheaper. His first response indicated any price difference depended on the condition of the parts. After seeing the pics, he quoted me zinc. To be honest, communication has been a little frustrating. Nice guy, but I think he's a little too busy to deal with my small potatoes.

Still, I didn't think $200 was horrible for a large batch in actual cadmium. It's the having to pay the whole separate lot charge for the smidgen of parts that need to be baked that is the killer. Then another lot charge for the even smaller batch of black zinc.

Shaun is a middle man that does additional prep
work sends the parts out to plate and he does a final
polish of parts...
And his prices reflect that.
If your Looking to pay at the top level,
check with him...

I think that is a great price for Cad.

I was thinking that he might tell you it.s Cad and then plate yellow zinc for that price. That is why I posted that.

I was not aware of that. Thanks for the clarification.

To clarify tru-6 does allot in house but plating he sends out.. He preps everything. He does all the Cerakote in house, he does lock rekeying in house.

As to plating I use finishing and plating services in Kenosha Wisconsin. If you look at my build thread everything was done there except for my bumpers which Oscar did.

Also a side note no one to my knowledge is really doing cad plating it is zinc yellow..

One last thing if I can help at all let me know.. I could drop it off and typically talk with the owner for a minute or 2 and for 20-40 bucks get a huge 5 gallon bucket done.

The place I got the quote from (Quality Plating in Salt Lake City) still does cad. They claim it has 3X the corrosion protection as zinc.

I think I have a couple 5 gallon buckets. I hate to ship big lots of metal but I think I will have to send your way. The only places I've found around here charge 20-40 bucks for a handful of parts. Like chrome, it's not an east coast thing.

@bbrock are the Pmb brake calipers cad or zinc? The reason I ask I can tell you the difference if interesting as my calipers started the corrosion process very quickly from just sitting on the shelf vs my plated parts from finishing and plating

Also a note. FPS only does plating no prep. You would have to clean/polish or blast ahead of time.

@mb911 That's something I was thinking of asking @Eric_Shea . All their how-tos and videos say yellow zinc but if they are using a place that also does cad, it makes me wonder. From what I've ready, cad has both better corrosion protection and lubricity compared to zinc so it seems like it would be better for calipers.



Everything has been prepped and ready to go. I"ve lost count of the hours spend wire wheeling, tumbling and blasting this parts. A few parts have a small amount of flash rust from sitting around naked, but that will come off in the pickling before plating. Do you know if FPS bakes parts to control hydrogen embrittlement?

@mb911

Shout out to @mb911 ! After months of poor communication with the outfit in SLC, I decided to drop Ben's shop in Kenosha an email. Within minutes I got a reply directly from the CEO. He asked for pics which I sent. Within minutes I had a quote. $190 for my entire bunch of parts, both yellow zinc and black, including baking and shipping. That sounds a lot better than $550 + shipping even it this isn't actual cad. Just as important, they actually act like they want my business. Looks like I'll be shipping my parts out to Ben's general vicinity. Thanks for the tip dude!

@bbrock - What determines baking vs not. Do springs, strut adjustment plates, shims and other hardware get baked or just hardened bolts.

@mepstein from what I've looked into it's just hardened bolts and spring steel that seem to need baking

OK.

Correct. Anything of 10.9 hardness or less does not need to be baked and some sources say shouldn't be baked. I haven't figured out why it is not desirable to bake non-hardened pieces though. I think most places just bake the whole batch if requested. For a technical pub, this document explains things pretty clearly: http://www.boltcouncil.org/files/HydrogenE...ers-Brahimi.pdf

I actually have a box there for @mepstein waiting to get done..

And some more on the way soon.
I’ll throw the bell crank and steering bushings in the box. @mb911

I thought about sending mine to you but decided to see if I could just ship direct and save you the hassle. So far, I'm super impressed with their customer service and don't feel like they think they are doing me a huge favor by accepting my business.

baking reduces hydrogen embrittlement (i.e. cracking due to hydrogen getting into the molecular matrix of the steel). Baking drives the hydrogen out.