This will be a test of my patience....Zinc Plating

[lbhsbz]

I have decided to bring my plating in house, since I don't do enough of it anymore to put a proper 700lb batch together to take to a shop.

I ordered the kit through Caswell Plating.....3 gallon kit for now, we can scale up later if I don't lose interest by the end of the weekend lol.

The "kit" arrived yesterday, and of course, it includes about 1/2 the stuff you need....so I've gotta source the rest. Gotta head to home depot and buy more buckets, and some bucket heaters from Amazon.

For now, the plating bench is a folding table in the driveway....we may or may not expand upon that, depending on how many parts I fuck up by the end of the weekend....


I'll post some pics when things get going.

 

[ltbaney1]

I tried my hand at powder coating a few years ago. bought the kit from eastwood when i though my powder coater was jerking me around on pricing. hopefully it goes better for you than it did for me. threw the kit in the trash, paid my guy to strip and recoat.

 

[lbhsbz]

I tried my hand at powder coating a few years ago. bought the kit from eastwood when i though my powder coater was jerking me around on pricing. hopefully it goes better for you than it did for me. threw the kit in the trash, paid my guy to strip and recoat.

LOL....I fully anticipate that's how it will go.

Much like the Resin 3D printer I bought. It lasted until about 1/2 way through my second print before there was half cured resin stuck to fucking everything and I just walked it over the trash bin while it was still making noise...the cord unplugged itself about 1/2 way there

 

[Travmon]

I will be watching with curiosity as I too need to plate bolts and fasters in house. I spent a decade in and around every plating process known to man at boeing so Ive done plenty of plating in my past.

 

[lbhsbz]

I will be watching with curiosity as I too need to plate bolts and fasters in house. I spent a decade in and around every plating process known to man at boeing so Ive done plenty of plating in my past.

I can help you with prep....order yourself a Trinco 20/88ST blaster. Makes short work of small hardware

TRINCO™ MODEL 20/88-ST - Trinco Trinity Tool Co.

TRINCO™ has combined the convenience of automatic tumble blasting with the versatility of manual blasting into one compact dry blast cabinet. Model 20/88-ST includes removable 8” x 8” basket which easily converts into a manual blasting system, allowing larger parts to be cleaned.D

trinco.com

 

[TimeBandit]

I used an old zinc anode, laundry wash soda / water mixed in a trash can, and a battery charger to zinc some parts for my bar stool racer.

I'm curious what the "right" way to do it is, my way seemed to work?

 

[rivermobster]

We used to do emblem plating at one of the Lexus dealerships I worked at.

Customers would want gold or black emblems on their cars, and Lexus would charge a small fortune for them!!! That made it worth it to buy the equipment.

There was some prep involved, and it was a bit time consuming (at first), but once we got the hang of it, it was Definitely easy money.

The weird part to me was how the gold plating fluid was blue!

It was a fairly straight forward process.

 

[Albert]

This just sounds like an episode from breaking bad…

 

[lbhsbz]

I used an old zinc anode, laundry wash soda / water mixed in a trash can, and a battery charger to zinc some parts for my bar stool racer.

I'm curious what the "right" way to do it is, my way seemed to work?

I tried something similar a while back....mixed up some sort of solution based on what I found on the interweb with stuff from the grocery store, and I bought some blue chromate concentrate on Amazon.....turned out like shit. I only wasted 2 days and $100 on that bolt though....so we'll try the real deal this time lol

 

[stokerwhore]

I will be watching with curiosity as I too need to plate bolts and fasters in house. I spent a decade in and around every plating process known to man at boeing so Ive done plenty of plating in my past.

sounds like our paths may have crossed. i was there from 2014-2021

 

[Backlash]

I'm interested in this topic and will be following along. I have a small batch of items I'd like to have bright zinc plated, but I've only found one shop here in L.A. that accepts walk-ins with small batches. They also have a $175 minimum.....so there's that. I have enough projects and things to do that I don't need to pick up any more hobbies. So I'd rather pay someone else to do it knowing it will actually turn out the way I'd like.

 

[lbhsbz]

I'm interested in this topic and will be following along. I have a small batch of items I'd like to have bright zinc plated, but I've only found one shop here in L.A. that accepts walk-ins with small batches. They also have a $175 minimum.....so there's that. I have enough projects and things to do that I don't need to pick up any more hobbies. So I'd rather pay someone else to do it knowing it will actually turn out the way I'd like.

Well, you can come do 'em here in a week or 2....

 

[Backlash]

Well, you can come do 'em here in a week or 2....

I don't know shit about this or the zinc process, but I might take you up on the offer! What solutions/techniques do you guys recommend to strip all the hardware down prior to zinc plating?

 

[lbhsbz]

I'm interested in this topic and will be following along. I have a small batch of items I'd like to have bright zinc plated, but I've only found one shop here in L.A. that accepts walk-ins with small batches. They also have a $175 minimum.....so there's that. I have enough projects and things to do that I don't need to pick up any more hobbies. So I'd rather pay someone else to do it knowing it will actually turn out the way I'd like.

Also, assuming you're talking about General Brite plating on Olympic? That little munchkin fuck Alan that owns it is a liar and an asshole. Don't use them.

 

[lbhsbz]

I don't know shit about this or the zinc process, but I might take you up on the offer! What solutions/techniques do you guys recommend to strip all the hardware down prior to zinc plating?

I've got the equipment to do all that. Don't fuck it up and waste time doing it yourself.

 

[Backlash]

Thank you for the heads up. They're the only place I've found who accepted walk-ins. I appreciate you letting me know.

 

[Travmon]

I can help you with prep....order yourself a Trinco 20/88ST blaster. Makes short work of small hardware

TRINCO™ MODEL 20/88-ST - Trinco Trinity Tool Co.

TRINCO™ has combined the convenience of automatic tumble blasting with the versatility of manual blasting into one compact dry blast cabinet. Model 20/88-ST includes removable 8” x 8” basket which easily converts into a manual blasting system, allowing larger parts to be cleaned.D

trinco.com

I have a nice glass bead cabinet

 

[Travmon]

sounds like our paths may have crossed. i was there from 2014-2021

I was at auburn from 85 to 95. Im old !!

 

[lbhsbz]

I have a nice glass bead cabinet

....With a rotating basket that does all the work while you enjoy a beer?

 

[poncho]

I was at auburn from 85 to 95. Im old !!

I plated at Industrial Plating and Art Brass way back, old guy here.

 

[kat_williams]

I did a home anodizing setup at my old house. I had 7 gallon tanks. Good dye that wouldn't fade was super expensive. I never setup it back up after I moved, it took up half a wall of my garage in space. Does the zinc plating take up a lot of room?

 

[lbhsbz]

I did a home anodizing setup at my old house. I had 7 gallon tanks. Good dye that wouldn't fade was super expensive. I never setup it back up after I moved, it took up half a wall of my garage in space. Does the zinc plating take up a lot of room?

I'm looking at 9 buckets I think....

Degrease
Degrease Rinse
Acid
Acid Rinse
Plating
Plating Rinse
Chromate
Chromate Rinse

Possibly another acid bucket for pre-chromate dip....not sure, we'll play with it.

No idea where I'm gonna put all this shit right now. I'm already out of room, but I think I can stack 'em 3 high when not in use, and they won't take up too much real estate....We'll see....should be a good shit show

 

[Waterjunky]

LOL....I fully anticipate that's how it will go.

Much like the Resin 3D printer I bought. It lasted until about 1/2 way through my second print before there was half cured resin stuck to fucking everything and I just walked it over the trash bin while it was still making noise...the cord unplugged itself about 1/2 way there

Lbhsbz, I'm not sure anyone here believes this story. You are after all, legendary around here for tolerance and patience!


I kid.... I still appreciate your help on my antique forklift a year or two ago.

 

[wzuber]

I'm looking at 9 buckets I think....

Degrease
Degrease Rinse
Acid
Acid Rinse
Plating
Plating Rinse
Chromate
Chromate Rinse

Possibly another acid bucket for pre-chromate dip....not sure, we'll play with it.

No idea where I'm gonna put all this shit right now. I'm already out of room, but I think I can stack 'em 3 high when not in use, and they won't take up too much real estate....We'll see....should be a good shit show

What are you going to use for clean rinse water?
Where will all your rinse water go? Haha

 

[lbhsbz]

What are you going to use for clean rinse water?
Where will all your rinse water go? Haha

Well, I'm planning on using clean rinse water lol.


When it's not clean anymore, I'll dump it in a pot and set it on my hotplate burner thing until it's gone.

Acid is just Muratic acid....good for cleaning drains, sold at home depot and people swim in it....no issue there.

Degreaser is just soap....no issue there with the rinse water.

Plating solution is just salt and acid....no real issue there, it's just stuff you can buy at the grocery store

Chromate is Trivalent, not Hexavalent...so Erin Brockavich won't be paying me a visit....but it's still probably bad to dump down the drain, so I won't....Caswell has a "zero-waste" program....I'll have a couple spray bottles full of distilled water for rinse, as well the buckets, and if you rinse with the spray bottles over the bucket of the stuff you're rinsing off....it kinda just serves as make-up water for the natural evaporation. That's the plan with the rinse for the nasty shit.

I currently do a Zinc Phosphate finish on castings in house.....I bought a gallon of the concentrate 6 years ago and haven't dumped it yet. I just add a bit more solution and make up water when I need to. It doesn't really go bad. I'll die someday and it will be someone elses problem

 

[kat_williams]

I'm looking at 9 buckets I think....

Degrease
Degrease Rinse
Acid
Acid Rinse
Plating
Plating Rinse
Chromate
Chromate Rinse

Possibly another acid bucket for pre-chromate dip....not sure, we'll play with it.

No idea where I'm gonna put all this shit right now. I'm already out of room, but I think I can stack 'em 3 high when not in use, and they won't take up too much real estate....We'll see....should be a good shit show

Ya very similar to anodizing. I think I had 7 buckets. That hard part was some of them need to be temp controled. One had to be almost boiling. I had to leave everything setup as I didn't like dealing with the acids and bases. I wouldn't mind getting back into it but I would need to put it in a shed or something. Just took up too much working space for the amount I used it.

 

[lbhsbz]

Ya very similar to anodizing. I think I had 7 buckets. That hard part was some of them need to be temp controled. One had to be almost boiling. I had to leave everything setup as I didn't like dealing with the acids and bases. I wouldn't mind getting back into it but I would need to put it in a shed or something. Just took up too much working space for the amount I used it.

I've got 2 buckets that need heat....but only like 110(F) max, so I ordered a couple of those silicone wrap around bucket heaters....buddy said they work way better than the imersion heaters. We'll see. Degreaser is bath is gonna be in Momma's old Crock Pot (she's on board...bought her a new one today lol). so that's covered. I think.

Cleaning castings will be as usual in my big shot blaster, and hardware will get done in my little Trinco basket blaster with glass bead. I might not even need to degrease...one of the shops I used didn't both as I the parts were still warm out of my shot blaster when I dropped them off every day...and the plating turned out great when the Boss man ran it.

 

[Rennsport]

Be mindful of hydrogen embrittlement with zinc plating. mostly regarding highly loaded fasteners and brackets. There is a baking op one can do afterwards That helps mitigate.

this was the beauty of real cad plating - no embrittlement but now harder to find real cad platers in CA

 

[JUSTWANNARACE]

Well, I'm planning on using clean rinse water lol.


When it's not clean anymore, I'll dump it in a pot and set it on my hotplate burner thing until it's gone.

Acid is just Muratic acid....good for cleaning drains, sold at home depot and people swim in it....no issue there.

Degreaser is just soap....no issue there with the rinse water.

Plating solution is just salt and acid....no real issue there, it's just stuff you can buy at the grocery store

Chromate is Trivalent, not Hexavalent...so Erin Brockavich won't be paying me a visit....but it's still probably bad to dump down the drain, so I won't....Caswell has a "zero-waste" program....I'll have a couple spray bottles full of distilled water for rinse, as well the buckets, and if you rinse with the spray bottles over the bucket of the stuff you're rinsing off....it kinda just serves as make-up water for the natural evaporation. That's the plan with the rinse for the nasty shit.

I currently do a Zinc Phosphate finish on castings in house.....I bought a gallon of the concentrate 6 years ago and haven't dumped it yet. I just add a bit more solution and make up water when I need to. It doesn't really go bad. I'll die someday and it will be someone elses problem

Just dont get the muriatic acid on your concrete or have it around any aluminum. Just the fumes will destroy aluminum.

 

[Eliminator21vdrive]

I tried my hand at powder coating a few years ago. bought the kit from eastwood when i though my powder coater was jerking me around on pricing. hopefully it goes better for you than it did for me. threw the kit in the trash, paid my guy to strip and recoat.

I have had great success with Eastwoods kit and an old oven. What went wrong for you?

 

[Nord]

I’ve got an amazing zinc plater but he isn’t local so you got to pay to get him the parts.

 

[lbhsbz]

I’ve got an amazing zinc plater but he isn’t local so you got to pay to get him the parts.

There's a few good plating shops I've used....the problem is the minimum batch sizes and turn around times. I have guys that want to send in one set of calipers to get redone, and of course they usually arrive here a day or 2 after I've just picked up a batch and I'm not gonna have another batch ready for a month or so. Due to the lead times, I was keeping a lot (300-400 finished units) on the shelf. Ties up a lot of money in cores and a lot of space. If I can do them in house as I need 'em, it might work out better.....or maybe not, we'll see.

For now I'm just doing the castings. I can black oxide the hardware and while not ideal, it's good enough. If I get into plating the hardware I'll do some testing to see if baking is needed. At Centric, we replated most of our hardware and never baked anything and never had any issues with critical hardware failing, but that doesn't mean it's a good way to do it.

 

[DrunkenSailor]

When I did circuit board plating a lifetime ago we used vibrators on the basket holders. Are you using anything to agitate during the process?

 

[lbhsbz]

When I did circuit board playing a lifetime ago we used vibrators on the basket holders. Are you using anything to agitate during the process?

It came with a little fish pump thing.

 

[lbhsbz]

Well, we're getting off the start I expected. Took off this morning to get more buckets. 3 different Home Depots had 2 gallon buckets, but no lids for 'em. I don't want 5 gallon buckets because limited space. Went to smart & final and got some 3 gallon foodservice buckets....pretty nice, although $20 each with lids, and they had 3....and about 1/2 the distilled water I need.

Dammit. Figured I'd find something at home for a rinse bucket, but they're all full of other shit. lol.

 

[TimeBandit]

When you buy muriatic acid it comes in a gallon jug sealed in a plastic bag.

This is necessary because it will eat the cement beneath it even if the jug is sealed when it's not in the plastic bag.. that stuff is crazy and it will corrode anything within a few feet of The sealed jug, it destroyed a bar stool I had next to it and corroded the RAM on my cherry picker.

Keep that s*** outside far from anything Metal.

 

[lbhsbz]

When you buy muriatic acid it comes in a gallon jug sealed in a plastic bag.

This is necessary because it will eat the cement beneath it even if the jug is sealed when it's not in the plastic bag.. that stuff is crazy and it will corrode anything within a few feet of The sealed jug, it destroyed a bar stool I had next to it and corroded the RAM on my cherry picker.

Keep that s*** outside far from anything Metal.

Yeah, that shit's pretty evil. I've played with it before. I have a 4 foot long stick with a hook on the end so I don't need to get near the bucket.

All this is happening outside.

 

[lbhsbz]

First one outta the process…

 

[JUSTWANNARACE]

First one outta the process…
View attachment 1481834

That doesn't look bad at all. Nice work!!

 

[lbhsbz]

That doesn't look bad at all. Nice work!!

hold off till we see the second and 3rd lol

 

[rush1]

Well, I'm planning on using clean rinse water lol.


When it's not clean anymore, I'll dump it in a pot and set it on my hotplate burner thing until it's gone.

Acid is just Muratic acid....good for cleaning drains, sold at home depot and people swim in it....no issue there.

Degreaser is just soap....no issue there with the rinse water.

Plating solution is just salt and acid....no real issue there, it's just stuff you can buy at the grocery store

Chromate is Trivalent, not Hexavalent...so Erin Brockavich won't be paying me a visit....but it's still probably bad to dump down the drain, so I won't....Caswell has a "zero-waste" program....I'll have a couple spray bottles full of distilled water for rinse, as well the buckets, and if you rinse with the spray bottles over the bucket of the stuff you're rinsing off....it kinda just serves as make-up water for the natural evaporation. That's the plan with the rinse for the nasty shit.

I currently do a Zinc Phosphate finish on castings in house.....I bought a gallon of the concentrate 6 years ago and haven't dumped it yet. I just add a bit more solution and make up water when I need to. It doesn't really go bad. I'll die someday and it will be someone elses problem

Dump it down the toilet and it will go through the treatment center.

 

[Roosky01]

First one outta the process…
View attachment 1481834

That looks awesome! I think you need to start giving yourself just a tad bit more credit. Not like you could make awesome beef jerky credit, but close...

 

[Backlash]

Looks fantastic!!

 

[Rennsport]

Nice! I hear you on batch to batch consistency being tricky

 

[lbhsbz]

Nice! I hear you on batch to batch consistency being tricky

I ran 6 pieces yesterday. There are some challenges.

First being air pockets....I got a wooden stick to tilt the workpiece on the my wire hanger as soon as it goes in and that seems to have gotten rid of the air bubbles in corners.

2nd being that the plating process is sort of "line of sight" to some extent, between the anodes and the workpiece. Most say to rotate the part 180° about halfway through the process. I'm running 4 anodes around the plating bucket. The first one I rotated at 7 minutes, then pulled it at 14....a little plating down the bore, but not much. I like to see it go at least to the seal groove. On the second one, I started moving the anodes at the 3 minute mark, then rotated the part at the 7 minute mark, then moved the anodes again at the 11 minute mark, and ended up with excellent coverage. The last 5 pieces were very consistent.

I'm taking a lot of notes so I can duplicate the process. Technically I should be calculating the surface area of these pieces, but I have no idea how to do that with any sort of accuracy.....Most of the stuff I do is similar enough that I can break it down into about 4 size catagories....so I'm just guessing on amperage and it seems to be working. I'll just run consistent settings and should get consistent results....maybe lol.

I'm happy with it so far, a bit of a pain in the ass to set up initially, but should be 5 minutes to set up next time. I'll do another run later this week, as I have some actual jobs that need to be plated.

Also left a few of the 'test" pieces sitting outside to get exposure to sun/morning dew to see how they hold up. Sometimes I've had plating get destroyed in just a couple days of this.

Its kinda cool...when you pull it outta the Chromate, they just look like sort of yellowish shit, then you hit it with a bit of compressed air and the colors magically appear.

 

[ltbaney1]

I have had great success with Eastwoods kit and an old oven. What went wrong for you?

more than likely it was user error. I have heard from most people who have used it and gotten good results. I wound up getting very "lumpy" finish, and it almost looked like it had runs in it.

 

[lbhsbz]

I used an old zinc anode, laundry wash soda / water mixed in a trash can, and a battery charger to zinc some parts for my bar stool racer.

I'm curious what the "right" way to do it is, my way seemed to work?

The Caswell solution has some sort of magic in it that my homebrew stuff didn't have, or maybe it did. The real key I think, that I didn't do last time, is the post plate pickling bath....I'm using about 8:1 pool acid to water and in 15 seconds, the plating brightens up a whole bunch before going in to the chromate. It comes out of the Plating bath pretty dark and dull. Also, I'm seeing plating deposited within seconds, not minutes like I was seeing with my homebrew setup.

 

[lbhsbz]

Be mindful of hydrogen embrittlement with zinc plating. mostly regarding highly loaded fasteners and brackets. There is a baking op one can do afterwards That helps mitigate.

this was the beauty of real cad plating - no embrittlement but now harder to find real cad platers in CA

I've got 2 places that do CAD in the LA area, PM me if you want their info. I've been doing Cad mainly because the first place I had doing it was better...the stuff would just last, like Cad should....they just took a month or more to turn around a batch, which I couldn't deal with...and the appearance wasn't really what I was after...real dull with no iridescence to speak of, but it was OK. The place I've been using for the past 3 years has all the right colors, but it fades pretty fast and was a bit too shiney for my taste, but was OK. The product I'm getting out of this caswell kit is pretty much what I've been looking for the whole time. The one piece I've had sitting outside for 3 days still looks perfect too....while others would have changed color by now.

My anodes are about gone....I'm using strips of zinc flashing I bought a while back, they're too thin. Caswell only provided enough to run 2 anodes, I want to use 4 for better coverage and less babysitting. I picked up a 36x12" sheet of .060 zinc yesterday at OnlineMetals in Santa Fe Springs, so I should be good to go for a while on anodes. Also ordered blue chromate and black chromate so I can waste more time doing little parts that need a different color lol.

There's a hobby zinc plating facebook page that I've joined, and there was a discussion a few days ago about Hydrogen Embrittlement. Some smart people who based on their posts know a whole hell of a lot more about the chemistry and processes than I do, said basically it's not an issue on this scale. I'll find out. If bolts snap upon arrival at the torque value....it is an issue. If they hold torque, it's not.

 

[kat_williams]

I ran 6 pieces yesterday. There are some challenges.

First being air pockets....I got a wooden stick to tilt the workpiece on the my wire hanger as soon as it goes in and that seems to have gotten rid of the air bubbles in corners.

2nd being that the plating process is sort of "line of sight" to some extent, between the anodes and the workpiece. Most say to rotate the part 180° about halfway through the process. I'm running 4 anodes around the plating bucket. The first one I rotated at 7 minutes, then pulled it at 14....a little plating down the bore, but not much. I like to see it go at least to the seal groove. On the second one, I started moving the anodes at the 3 minute mark, then rotated the part at the 7 minute mark, then moved the anodes again at the 11 minute mark, and ended up with excellent coverage. The last 5 pieces were very consistent.

I'm taking a lot of notes so I can duplicate the process. Technically I should be calculating the surface area of these pieces, but I have no idea how to do that with any sort of accuracy.....Most of the stuff I do is similar enough that I can break it down into about 4 size catagories....so I'm just guessing on amperage and it seems to be working. I'll just run consistent settings and should get consistent results....maybe lol.

I'm happy with it so far, a bit of a pain in the ass to set up initially, but should be 5 minutes to set up next time. I'll do another run later this week, as I have some actual jobs that need to be plated.

Also left a few of the 'test" pieces sitting outside to get exposure to sun/morning dew to see how they hold up. Sometimes I've had plating get destroyed in just a couple days of this.

Its kinda cool...when you pull it outta the Chromate, they just look like sort of yellowish shit, then you hit it with a bit of compressed air and the colors magically appear.

I had to calculate surface area too for the anodizing. Can get hard with weird shaped items. Something like that brake caliper I might try to wrap in foil then unwrap the foil and calculate the surface area of the unstretched foil. Or I mentally break it down into a bunch of rectangles, triangles, and spheres and add those up together. I was always able to get close enough.

 

[lbhsbz]

I had to calculate surface area too for the anodizing. Can get hard with weird shaped items. Something like that brake caliper I might try to wrap in foil then unwrap the foil and calculate the surface area of the unstretched foil. Or I mentally break it down into a bunch of rectangles, triangles, and spheres and add those up together. I was always able to get close enough.

I just sorta guessed. Saw a youtube video of a guy doing a caliper similar in size to the "big" ones I do...Porsche 911 front, lets say...and he ran 5 amps for 20 minutes.
The one in my pictures is a 356 rear, same basically as an early 911/912 rear.....a bit smaller, so I ran those at 4 amps for 14 minutes, and run the big ones at 5 amps for 14 minutes. Seems to work well, so I'll keep with that theory. I did some M10x 60mm bolts the other day, 4 on a string at 1.2A for 14 minutes and they turned out great....and didn't break lol. The range of parts I deal with is such that I can sort of establish size catagories and just use trial and error to figure out what works...then write it down and do it like that all the time.

For the $0.60/lb I used to pay for zinc, I can make a pretty fair assumption that nobody gave 2 fucks about the surface area and just turned the knob on the rectifier until they thought it was close, and it was...generally.