Satin Finish When Nickel Plating

[stingman1]

I restore old military watches, and a number of WWII watches were brass cases that were nickel plated but had a satin finish. They also tended to be somewhat darker than a bright nickel finish. Does anyone know how that finish is obtained when nickel plating? I recently bought the nickel PNP kit but don't want to start until I get some input here.

Thanks.

[engineerscott]

Normally the way I get a satin nickel finish is that the base metal is not fully polished, i.e. you stop the polishing process before you achieve a mirror shine at the point where you are using a fairly large grit. Basically, the finish underneath the nickel will determine the finish of the nickel plate. If you polish the base metal to a mirror finish you will get a mirror finish after you plate. If you stop polishing at a satin finish on base metal you will end up with a satin finish post plating. When you polish up after plating you want to stop with a fairly rough rouge as well.

[mcaswell]

Buff the parts lightly on a scrubber wheel. Then plate it, that should give you a good satin finish.