Cast Iron ????

[fking962]

I am a bathtub refinisher in South florida and refinish alot of old clawfoot tubs. People have often requested chrome or brass plating feet but I send them elsewhere. (I know, a lot of money left on the table).

My question is.. Can I chrome or brass plate cast iron with a system from Caswell? If so, which one? Thanks for any help someone can give me.

Frank

[jimcarry]

Yes you can plate these objects it just takes practice to help with the kit that is right for you go here http://www.caswellplating.com/pickakit

[gsw3]

Frank, sure, you can plate cast iron.
You can plate just about anything with Caswell's kits.

If you wanted to chrome the feet, you still have to nickel plate them first.
I would however, recommend that you apply a copper layer to insure durability.
I skipped this copper step because I a plater on this forum wanted to plate nickel only to cast iron (he did not have the copper kit) and needed some instruction on exactly how to go about doing it.


Degrease and clean the part.
Use the gelled type paint stripper to remove any paint.
Wash off and dry.
Bead blast the part to get all the rust off the part (and paint stuck in the pores).
Buff with a Nylox (or similar) abrasive wheel (will brighten up the final plating appearence).
One more scrub down with Caswell degreaser.
Rinse well (tap water ok for this step)!
Dip for (30) seconds in nickel pickel.
30 second distilled water rinse.
Go "Hot" (electrically connected) into the bath.
Lots of large air bubble action in your tank.
Anodes at least 3" away from part.
Increase the current by a 2X factor for the first (3) minutes (insures it starts to plate rather then rust in the solution).
Plate for at least 1 1/2 hours (.0015-.002" plate thickness).

The picture shown is the results you should get.

George W.