Anyone tried a home nickel plating kit?

[Brassodemolish]

Most of the hardware on my mini hohner seem to be unique to the model, non standard mini strap brackets and the bass strap screw plate replacements seem to be non existent. A well known company sells a nickel brush plating kit for relatively cheap and I'm thinking about restoring the brackets and grill. The bellows I'm rebuilding from scratch so I don't have to worry about plating the steel corners.

 

[JerryPH]

I see quite a few people doing some home-based nickel plating while doing restorations of things like guns, knives, watch parts and so on, and it looks very nice after polishing... but it mostly looks like more of an electrolysis than a brush on process, and the nice thing is that one can use brass to get that touch of gold in the color, which I could see as being really nice for straps, screws, grills.

 

[Brassodemolish]

I see quite a few people doing some home-based nickel plating while doing restorations of things like guns, knives, watch parts and so on, and it looks very nice after polishing... but it mostly looks like more of an electrolysis than a brush on process, and the nice thing is that one can use brass to get that touch of gold in the color, which I could see as being really nice for straps, screws, grills.

 

[Dingo40]

Somehow it looks too good to be true! (Google DIY nickel plating problems) ?

 

[JerryPH]

That was awesome to watch... what we don't know is how many times he went over each piece or how long the whole process took... I've seen enough YouTube videos to know not to assume that a job like this takes 10 minutes... lol

But yeah, I was right about the electrolysis method, just that he dipped the solution of boric acid and nickel plating on a small piece of cloth and negatively charged the letter with a small alligator clip. That stuff would kill celluloid if it much touched it anywhere else.

Good video!

 

[Waldo]

I have a Caswell system for plating with several metal types. While the "brush" method does work, the plating is quite thin, on the order of microns. The submersion method creates a plating thickness on .001-.003" range (far more durable). The system shown could be used for submersion plating on removable parts that can be completely submerged while still suspended in the liquid. A compatible (you'd need to research this, Iron if I remember correctly) anode would substitute for the brush.
You would also need to confirm the original plating is nickel and not chrome. If chrome, all the original plating must be removed via "reverse" plating (stripping).

Key points:

1) Plating will not cover surface imperfections (in fact, it will highlight them).
2) Polishing to a mirror finish is imperative (see #1 above)
3) Cleanliness, prior to plating, is a must for even (not streaked) results.
4) Nickel is a toxic substance and can cause contact dermatitis. Gloves a must (as seen in vid).
5) Steel substrates would require a copper "under-plate". (Not so for brass, which is part copper and part zinc). Check for steel with a magnet.
6) Accurate voltage is also important. (Note transformer in vid). 3 "D" cell batteries would suffice in this situation (4.5VDC). Confirm voltage with a decent multimeter.

Lastly, mind the acetone overflow on celluloid, it'll soften and may discolor/stain the exposed areas.

Plate on....
Waldo