Aluminum Plating Question

[hoytheld]

I need to gold plate two motorcycle axle covers, made from ..I assume 6061. They are about 3"x2"

I realize I have to prep and zincate before I plate....but how do I get a final outcome of shiny gold....plate with copper first then polish...then nickel...then gold....or can I go from zincate to nickel...polish...then gold?

[fxstcguy98]

You can go from zincate to nickel to gold if your part doesn't need scratches or pits filled in. If you do a lot of zincated parts in the nickel, the zinc will eventually contaminate the bath. If you need to fill scratches or pits then it is zincate, nickel or flash copper strike, acid copper, nickel, gold. If you plan on doing a bunch of aluminum, I would recommend either getting flash copper or having a nickel bath dedicated to the aluminum.

[hoytheld]

so, start out with a polish peice of aluminum to get a polished gold....or do I have to polish the nickel??...(the pieces will be pit/scratch free)

[fly]

It will really help if you could make a nitric acid bath, so that you could go in after you zincate to make sure that the part is etched really good. You can polish the nickle but you need to use the flannel cotton wheel with white compound.

[fxstcguy98]

If you polish the aluminum really good before plating, you may not have to polish after nickel at all. If you have brighteners and levers in the nickel, it should look pretty good coming out of the nickel. You could always lightly polish the gold too (I'm guessing, I have never done gold).