Re: flash copper
I'll be honest with you, like many other people you have picked the worst stuff to plate. Motorcycle aluminum is extremely difficult to do. Here's how I do it.
1. Wash it with your favorite cleaner (ceramic stove-top cleaner is best)
2. Dip it in pickle #3 and watch to see if it fizzes. The more fizz the more difficult to plate. If it doesn't fizz at all then you will have no problem with this part.
3. Never buff before zincating. You should be sanding wet 600. Get used to examine the surface using a small microscope 60 - 100x. With experience you will be able to see trouble spots.
4. Personally I then dip it in Caswell's de-oxidizer 1 min. Rinse well then a short dip in pickle #3. Rinse and Double zincate (zincate,remove it with pickle #3, then zincate again). Proper zincating is the key to Flash copper adhesion.
5. Rinse well (and I mean get a garden hose gun not just the tap in the kitchen). Place in your flash copper tank at 1 amps/15 sq.in for 30 seconds then drop the amperage to 0.33 amps/15 sq.in. for 30 min.
Typically some areas will plate well and some area are bubbly. You must sand down the bubbly areas and examine with the microscope to find out why it is lifting. You do NOT need to remove all the copper. Only the bad areas. Start over as many times as necessary. Finally some aluminum parts are next to impossible to plate in this manner. Some guys strike with Nickel instead of Flash copper.
Good luck
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