New To The Forum W/Question About Replating Bezels

[SLOSteve]

Hi,

I'm sure glad I found you guys. I've uploaded a couple of pictures of two radio bezels I want to replate. I haven't purchased a kit yet because I've read, and read, and read information on pot metal plating. I've even watched a video showing the cyanide version of flash copper plating. The bottom line is.......I'm totally confused now because everyone has a different method of cleaning,flash coppering etc..and what is required to do it.

One picture is of a badly pitted bezel........the other is less pitted but still in need of replating I think.

Where do I start?

Any suggestions,advice,opinions would greatly help

Thanks guys, I appreciate it !

[KCV6]

ok, I have just recently completed 2 Mini cooper S badges, both with the same sort of level of pitting as your bezels by the looks.

The first one I sand blasted, fine grit at medium pressure. Would not do this again, as all it did was make the underlying pits a lot worse, it did provide a perfect surface to flash copper though.

Degrease, rinse and Flash copper for 30 mins.

Small butane soldering iron with fine blowtorch adapter. heated from reverse side and solder pasted all pits.

Sanded back and dremeled (is that a word) starting with 400 grit working back to 1200 grit wet and dry. A Downside with soldering. No mater how hard you try, with a badly pitted surface you will go back through to pot metal, don't care what anyone says. if you re-plate with solder or even then go to nickle, you can not heat again. the solder will re-flow and cause any plating over it to blister and loose adhesion. so only solder once.

re-flash copper for 15 mins. Inspect for any pin holes and clean and then flash copper until there is a complete coat on all surfaces.

Acid copper and sand and acid copper and sand etc until you can polish the item to a high shine. Copper is the platers bondo. LOL

finish with desired top plate, i.e. nickel, copy chrome, chrome.


The second one I alkaline stripped the existing chrome rather than sand blasted Basically a tank with sodium hydroxide (draino) and two dummy stainless anodes with the current reversed, bring the voltage up until the bezel starts to fizz, generally will be stripped in 5 mins doing this (1A per square inch). A side note of caution, this bath must be disposed of properly as it now contains chromium in an unknown quantity, however it can be used over and over.

wet and dry sanded as best as possible.

I then chloride Zinc plated and sanded and re-zinc plated and sanded, why zinc? One, Zinc is cheaper than copper and two you get an excelent fresh zinc surface to flash copper once too. Remember to use a sulphuric based pickle between zinc plates. (10%).

Polish and then top plate as above.

I have not mentioned every pickle and rinse step, there are many

Hope this helps.

[SLOSteve]

Originally Posted by KCV6

ok, I have just recently completed 2 Mini cooper S badges, both with the same sort of level of pitting as your bezels by the looks.

The first one I sand blasted, fine grit at medium pressure. Would not do this again, as all it did was make the underlying pits a lot worse, it did provide a perfect surface to flash copper though.

Degrease, rinse and Flash copper for 30 mins.

Small butane soldering iron with fine blowtorch adapter. heated from reverse side and solder pasted all pits.

Sanded back and dremeled (is that a word) starting with 400 grit working back to 1200 grit wet and dry. A Downside with soldering. No mater how hard you try, with a badly pitted surface you will go back through to pot metal, don't care what anyone says. if you re-plate with solder or even then go to nickle, you can not heat again. the solder will re-flow and cause any plating over it to blister and loose adhesion. so only solder once.

re-flash copper for 15 mins. Inspect for any pin holes and clean and then flash copper until there is a complete coat on all surfaces.

Acid copper and sand and acid copper and sand etc until you can polish the item to a high shine. Copper is the platers bondo. LOL

finish with desired top plate, i.e. nickel, copy chrome, chrome.


The second one I alkaline stripped the existing chrome rather than sand blasted Basically a tank with sodium hydroxide (draino) and two dummy stainless anodes with the current reversed, bring the voltage up until the bezel starts to fizz, generally will be stripped in 5 mins doing this (1A per square inch). A side note of caution, this bath must be disposed of properly as it now contains chromium in an unknown quantity, however it can be used over and over.

wet and dry sanded as best as possible.

I then chloride Zinc plated and sanded and re-zinc plated and sanded, why zinc? One, Zinc is cheaper than copper and two you get an excelent fresh zinc surface to flash copper once too. Remember to use a sulphuric based pickle between zinc plates. (10%).

Polish and then top plate as above.

I have not mentioned every pickle and rinse step, there are many

Hope this helps.

Hey KC, that helps a lot ! I think the first thing I might do is to invest in a sandblaster for small parts but doing the alkaline strip sounds even better. So many people recommend sandblasting I was figuring that was the only way to go. I guess it's just a trial and error and whatever works. I'm going to try your method first though. Thanks so much for the suggestions and advice. It's appreciated ! Do you have the Triple Chrome Kit?

[KCV6]

No Problems Steve,

Sand blasting will still be the best method for getting a uniform clean surface to start with, I just found that even with a lot of small pits, clearing them first with the dremel and then chemical stripping the chrome ended out being less finishing work as a large percentage of the underlying nickle is still nice and shiny. Always remember, nickle and copy chrome can also be laid on thick and blocked back to get rid of any minor defects. There is no rule that says you can't do more than one coat of nickle/copy chrome.

If there are issues with black pits after alkaline stripping the chrome, then use a sand blaster to only clean these spots.

I run two types of NiCo (nickle Cobalt) with one of them being Copy Chrome, I also have chloride zinc/gold chromate (trivalent)/silver chromate (trivalent) and of course flash copper and acid copper. I must admit I am fairly lazy with the copper and mostly use the flash copper as it builds fine and is easy to use, throws excelently and is really forgiving on the preperation of old corroded parts. Saves on shutting down one tank and starting up another.

Another piece of advice is don't be tempted to have more than one process going at any one time. Take your time and get each step fully completed. You will hear horror stories of re-activation gone wrong if things are not proceeded to the next step immediately. I have had no problems at all that were not caused by some unrelated issue, even up to a week later.

Cheers

Mark

[SLOSteve]

Hey Mark,

Whew ! You relieved me when you said that each step doesn't have to be done "immediately" following the previous. I was thinking that I would have to add on to my garage to set up 4 tanks at once ! I suppose the secret to taking each step nice and completely is to keep the part(s) clean between each step? One thing I do have ingrained in my mind is that the prep work equals the finished product.

I ordered my triple chrome kit on Thursday so I'm going to spend part of the weekend getting my garage set up for when it arrives.

Do you have any tips on controlling amperage with a 6/12 battery charger? Would a lamp dimmer switch control it enough? Also, can muriatic acid be substituted for sulfuric in the baths that need acid?

Thanks for your help. You've really shed a lot of light on replating for me and it's appreciated !

Steve

[SLOSteve]

Hey Mark,

Whew ! You relieved me when you said that each step doesn't have to be done "immediately" following the previous. I was thinking that I would have to add on to my garage to set up 4 tanks at once ! I suppose the secret to taking each step nice and completely is to keep the part(s) clean between each step? One thing I do have ingrained in my mind is that the prep work equals the finished product.

I ordered my triple chrome kit on Thursday so I'm going to spend part of the weekend getting my garage set up for when it arrives.

Do you have any tips on controlling amperage with a 6/12 battery charger? Would a lamp dimmer switch control it enough? Also, can muriatic acid be substituted for sulfuric in the baths that need acid?

Thanks for your help. You've really shed a lot of light on replating for me and it's appreciated !

Steve

[SLOSteve]

Hey Mark,

Whew ! You relieved me when you said that each step doesn't have to be done "immediately" following the previous. I was thinking that I would have to add on to my garage to set up 4 tanks at once ! I suppose the secret to taking each step nice and completely is to keep the part(s) clean between each step? One thing I do have ingrained in my mind is that the prep work equals the finished product.

I ordered my triple chrome kit on Thursday so I'm going to spend part of the weekend getting my garage set up for when it arrives.

Do you have any tips on controlling amperage with a 6/12 battery charger? Would a lamp dimmer switch control it enough? Also, can muriatic acid be substituted for sulfuric in the baths that need acid?

Thanks for your help. You've really shed a lot of light on replating for me and it's appreciated !

Steve

[SLOSteve]

Hey Mark,

Whew ! You relieved me when you said that each step doesn't have to be done "immediately" following the previous. I was thinking that I would have to add on to my garage to set up 4 tanks at once ! I suppose the secret to taking each step nice and completely is to keep the part(s) clean between each step? One thing I do have ingrained in my mind is that the prep work equals the finished product.

I ordered my triple chrome kit on Thursday so I'm going to spend part of the weekend getting my garage set up for when it arrives.

Do you have any tips on controlling amperage with a 6/12 battery charger? Would a lamp dimmer switch control it enough? Also, can muriatic acid be substituted for sulfuric in the baths that need acid?

Thanks for your help. You've really shed a lot of light on replating for me and it's appreciated !

Steve

[SLOSteve]

Hey Mark,

Whew ! You relieved me when you said that each step doesn't have to be done "immediately" following the previous. I was thinking that I would have to add on to my garage to set up 4 tanks at once ! I suppose the secret to taking each step nice and completely is to keep the part(s) clean between each step? One thing I do have ingrained in my mind is that the prep work equals the finished product.

I ordered my triple chrome kit on Thursday so I'm going to spend part of the weekend getting my garage set up for when it arrives.

Do you have any tips on controlling amperage with a 6/12 battery charger? Would a lamp dimmer switch control it enough? Also, can muriatic acid be substituted for sulfuric in the baths that need acid?

Thanks for your help. You've really shed a lot of light on replating for me and it's appreciated !

Steve

[SLOSteve]

Hey Mark,

Whew ! You relieved me when you said that each step doesn't have to be done "immediately" following the previous. I was thinking that I would have to add on to my garage to set up 4 tanks at once ! I suppose the secret to taking each step nice and completely is to keep the part(s) clean between each step? One thing I do have ingrained in my mind is that the prep work equals the finished product.

I ordered my triple chrome kit on Thursday so I'm going to spend part of the weekend getting my garage set up for when it arrives.

Do you have any tips on controlling amperage with a 6/12 battery charger? Would a lamp dimmer switch control it enough? Also, can muriatic acid be substituted for sulfuric in the baths that need acid?

Thanks for your help. You've really shed a lot of light on replating for me and it's appreciated !

Steve