Electroless question

[brayhaven]

May not be the right group, but the answer might be the same for "eletro". I'm just getting into plating and have a cas electroless ni kit. How do I keep plating from taking place in areas that I don't want to change dimensions on like a reamed hole etc?
Thanks for any help,
Greg

[CarWiz]

There's a couple of ways to do it. You can adjust your bore during machining to allow for the plating thickness or you can mask the area(s) that you don't want plated. I use a rattle can of clear urethane paint to shoot all areas that I want eliminated from the plating process. After painting, I bake the part for 30 minutes at about 200*. That bakes out the humidity and speed dries the paint.

After you've buffed, cleaned and plated, the paint can be left or washed out with lacquer thinner. For your bore, you'd want to wash it out. You can use most any paint to block the plating. Ones to stay away from are lacquer, lacquer primmer and metallic. The metallics are obvious but the others are porous and can leach liquids.

Hope this helps.

[brayhaven]

Originally Posted by CarWiz

There's a couple of ways to do it. You can adjust your bore during machining to allow for the plating thickness or you can mask the area(s) that you don't want plated. I use a rattle can of clear urethane paint to shoot all areas that I want eliminated from the plating process. After painting, I bake the part for 30 minutes at about 200*. That bakes out the humidity and speed dries the paint.

After you've buffed, cleaned and plated, the paint can be left or washed out with lacquer thinner. For your bore, you'd want to wash it out. You can use most any paint to block the plating. Ones to stay away from are lacquer, lacquer primmer and metallic. The metallics are obvious but the others are porous and can leach liquids.

Hope this helps.

Thanks CW, That's just what I needed.
Greg