plating bolts and aluminum

[gottago_joe]

Will the copy chorme and the black chrome finishes come off when I torque down on them? Also, why is it a bad idea to use the brush on technique on aluminum that has been zincated? Does it come out bad or take more time and solution? I realy want to put some black Krome on some parts but I can't have chemicals in my apartment. I am buying the kits anyway because there are several other parts I'm plating but would like to be able to do it all. Thanks

[mcaswell]

Why can't you have chemicals in your apartment? You have drain cleaner, bathroom cleaner and other similar products right? There's nothing in either the nickel or Black Krome kits that's worse than these products. Even the zincate, which is corrosive, is no worse than most corrosive household products such as Fantastik.

The zincated part needs to be immersed in a plating bath after zincating, so that the zincate is removed and plating applied in one even step. Brush plating simply won't work reliably.

The plate shouldn't be damaged by normal tightening. Surface prep is the key to ensure the plate is firmly applied to the base metal.