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Originally Posted by seanc
Broke:
Are you using the "brightener" in the zinc electrolyte solution? If so, try without it.
For me, the brightener is NOT compatible w/blackener. It gives a poor finish, and it will rub off on my fingers. On the un-brightened part, the black is fairly durable, although not 100%. See the pictures:
http://www.hogheaven.com/hobby/plati...c/cctest3.html
Have you measured actual voltage & current during plating? I'd like to know those figures if you have them.
Sean |
No, the brightener has not been used, I forgot to mention that. I have never tried the brightener at all actually.
I have not actually measured the voltage or mA during plating, as I only have a very cheap multimeter, and I thought I had read that they won't be accurate, but I will check it next time I try plating.
I measured the bolts surface area (not using the Caswell manual, which has a few errors in it on measuring the bolts), and they come out to about 3 sq-in each, so I do 4 at a time, to match the 25mA per sq-in that the Caswell power supply should deliver (1.7V 300mA).
On early test pieces, the black would rub off easily with my fingers, then after allowing them to sit for 24 then 48 hours, they did get better, but still nowhere near the durability needed for a bolt finish
I will try to get 4 more bolts blasted tonight, and get them plated and blackened, making note of volts and amps during plating.
I have had no problems with the quality of the zinc plating thus far, only the treatments afterwards.
I was interested to read on your page that the blackener was used for 15 minutes, as Caswell told me to dip ONLY long enough to get it black, then rinse it right away, not to let it sit "for another 30 seconds" after it has turned black. On early pieces, I had also tried letting the blackener work on the bolt for 3 or 4 minutes, and while it was a deeper more rich black color, it still wasn't durable enough.
Thanks for the reply!
Broke