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DIY Electroplating


NickJ

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About to kick off quite some work on the Datsun and among the parts i'd like to restore the yellow zinc finish to fasteners and brackets.

Totally aware that there are numerous places around Chch that offer this service and that its not all that expensive but as i'll be doing a stack of work in to clean up all the parts prior and my insane paranoia of loosing stuff or forgetting what goes where 6 month later, running smaller batches in my own time would be very useful.

A quick search of chemicals online shows how unsavoury they are and at higher concentrations not available to the general public, but has anyone got a DIY friendly recipes or suppliers I could contact?

Feel free to post your setups and experience, its all motivational!

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2 hours ago, kws said:

Keen to follow this too. Been wanting to plate things for ages, but the kits either arent available here, or are expensive.

The closest I have found is this kit, in AUS, but they will ship to NZ. https://www.caswellplating.com.au/store/store.php/products/copy-cad-or-zinc-plating-kit-6-litre

I too have seen that kit, unfortunately they list the chromate as an addition, a solution that is DG so shipping internationally is not fun.

If that can be sourced in NZ, all the bits are found here easy enough.

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If you still want to homebrew, find a chromate salt you can buy (sodium chromate?), and a zinc salt which is benign (zinc chloride?) and mix.

Don't drink it. 

https://www.ecplabchem.co.nz/sodium-dichromate-ar-500g-see-view-product-details-for-specification-xidp1417552.html

https://www.ecplabchem.co.nz/zinc-chloride-100g-lr-anhydrous-see-view-product-details-for-xidp1416386.html

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2 hours ago, nzstato said:

If you still want to homebrew, find a chromate salt you can buy (sodium chromate?), and a zinc salt which is benign (zinc chloride?) and mix.

Don't drink it. 

https://www.ecplabchem.co.nz/sodium-dichromate-ar-500g-see-view-product-details-for-specification-xidp1417552.html

https://www.ecplabchem.co.nz/zinc-chloride-100g-lr-anhydrous-see-view-product-details-for-xidp1416386.html

Do those guys deal to the public? 500g of chromate would need a few more resto projects to consume!

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Seems safe enough to work with, lol...

GHS Classification:

H272 May intensify fire; oxidiser.

H300 Fatal if swallowed.

H310 Fatal in contact with skin.

H314 Causes severe skin burns and eye damage.

H330 Fatal if inhaled.

H334 May cause allergy or asthma symptoms or breathing difficulties if inhaled.

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18 minutes ago, Bling said:

Seems safe enough to work with, lol...

GHS Classification:

H272 May intensify fire; oxidiser.

H300 Fatal if swallowed.

H310 Fatal in contact with skin.

H314 Causes severe skin burns and eye damage.

H330 Fatal if inhaled.

H334 May cause allergy or asthma symptoms or breathing difficulties if inhaled.

And to think, that was one of many chemicals I used to work with as an electroplater when I was a teen, with no more PPE than an apron and some long gloves :lol:

I do know that the liquid in the cyanide tank was very bitter to taste.

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38 minutes ago, NickJ said:

Do those guys deal to the public? 500g of chromate would need a few more resto projects to consume!

Not sure, but better luck there than the other chem companies I know, there is an old guy (Neal) there who I used to work with.  OG chem sales rep was on the road in an hq back in the day.

failng that, try an online order at Sigma Aldrich

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19 minutes ago, kws said:

And to think, that was one of many chemicals I used to work with as an electroplater when I was a teen, with no more PPE than an apron and some long gloves :lol:

I do know that the liquid in the cyanide tank was very bitter to taste.

I spent 4yr in a chem dept of a major uni.  Lots of H&S yarns....

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello gents. 

I'm currently setting up a small electro plating thing as well. 

There are many YT videos where they use either the caswell kit or vinegar home brew. 

So far I have got both zinc and nickle anodes off aliexpress and a small variable power supply. 

There are a couple of videos that i have been basing my brew from. 

There is a guy who rebuilds carbs. He talks about a recipie for a pasiviate in one video. Needs a couple of different acids. I think sulfuric for yellow and nitric for black/silver. 

I have found some of what I need at bunnings. The hydrochloric acid and a drain cleaner. 

There is a pool chemical that is used in the plating brew as a brightener. I have found a nz supplier but it's in a different format to what's in the videos so would need a little bit of playing to get mix correct. 

The other stuff zinc oxide? Can be purchased from soap making supplies. 

The hardest thing was the acid. It can be found easy but I don't have the funds to get it at the moment. 

I'll be back to post the video's soon. 

 

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