noob... tiny steel parts plating suggestions.

[tempogen]

Hello all.. i can't describe how glad i am that i found something like this.
However before i get too excited :

I'm fixing up an old piano, and it has all these metal parts, especially in the action.
Anyway, some were apparently plated at some point, but extreme conditions led them to get very rusty. I cleaned the rust and now i am left with naked steel bits, ready to get rusted again. so i'm wondering, what kind of plating i should use? and what kind of pre-plating conditioning i should do.

most of the parts are thick wires, used in the wippen if anyone knows what that is.
also some tiny screws and fixing plates.

all advice is appreciated, and here's a picture of the wippen

[Brintiff]

I'd go with electroless nickel so you won't have to worry about having to get good connections on a bunch of small parts. Electroless nickel has excellent corrosion resistance.

As to prepping the parts, they must be totally free of dirt, oil, grease, rust ETC. However the metal looks before plating they will look after plating, plating hides nothing.

If the parts are not visible they just need to be rust free and clean, if visible and you want them to be bright then you'll need to polish each part.

[tempogen]

thanks Brintiff..

what about the wood? i assume it does get effected, and i can't detach the wires... so i would guess that electroless nickel for the screws and plates, and the plug n' plate for the wires... does that sound about right?

Also, there are 88 of that part i'm holding.. is the solution from one kit enough to get the job done?

[Brintiff]

I don't know if the EN bath would harm the wood or not, immersion would be so much easier than plug and plate. Do you have an extra piece of that wood or know what type of wood it is? I could test a piece to see if the bath damaged the wood. You could also mask but that would take some time.

Is the wood going to stay as is or will it be finished? Could you apply a varnish to the wood without it effecting performance?

[tempogen]

the wood is finished, however im sure that immersing it in a liquid will not do it any good... so i guess i will have to use the plug n plate.

What remains is the question of the solution quantity

[Brintiff]

Solution quantity is going to depend on how much material you need to plate. Each kit will plate a certain amount but also has a load limit which is how much you can plate at one time.

[tempogen]

well there are 88 like the one in the picture....

[Brintiff]

You'll need to figure out your surface area and then look at the kits to see which one you'll need. The link below will help you calculate the surface area of your parts or you could just multiply the radius of the wire x the length, this will give you square inches. I have never had to figure out thin parts like your wire but it shouldn't be a problem.

Caswell Inc - Calculating Surface Areas

[tempogen]

thanks brintiff.

the surface area is roughly 176 square inches... 0.04 X 704. i looked at the kits, but i can't find where it says how many maximum square inches does one 8 Oz of solution plate. i'm sure they can't accurately state EXACTLY how many, but there should be a rough estimate..

[Brintiff]

Ahhhh, I forgot you need to brush plate, right? I have no idea how long the brush plating solution lasts for.