Lab-Metal Putty: powercoat only?

[thesound]

I noticed in the description for this new metal putty that it can be powder coated, but what about being plated? Does it conduct current to allow for this? Or is this putty just designed to stick to metal? I had posted a thread in the polishing forum that I'm having problems with air bubbles in the LT1 intake manifold I'm currently polishing. My plan is to chrome the intake once I get a good show polish on it. I was thinking this metal putty might be a viable alternative to take care of the these air bubbles instead of going through all the hassle of putting a hugely thick layer of copper on the intake to fill the holes but then have to spend alot more time polishing down the other areas that got too much fill. If this putty will hold a plate I'll definitely buy some.

[mcaswell]

The Lab Metal CO says it can be plated.

We did some very quick trials and weren't too successful.
BUT, we didn't persevere, so we aren't 100% sure either way.

[non-stick]

I would imagine that it can be done with some limited amount of trial and error within the realm of "smaller surface" area, truth be known. Keep in mind that it is a metal filled epoxy resin, however. Pinholes and small areas that you can't tig and/or mig weld would be best suited for this purpose perhaps. Think of it this way.... it's a metal filled bondo on sterroids Good for the powder and liquid paint coaters alike. I'm personally not a plating guy so I can't offer any more insight than what I've already used it for. If you have no worries about finishing over a small amount of a polymer or plastic, by all means give it a shot. Lab-Metal is probably one of, if not THE best product out on the market for quite some time. Good luck with it and please post your results in this thread as I'm curious as well...... Russ aka: "non-stick"

[dadkar2]

Plating Lab Metal

I did a trial, substituting the Lab Metal in place of PlumbLoy for restoring some antique clock components (filling pits after Aluminum oxide blasting). The Lab Metal was not a suitable substitute and did not plate well. It did not plate effectively with Flash copper, and therefore cannot be used in my process. It's hard to imagine a plating formula that would be more aggressive than the Flash Copper (EPI EBrite Ultra Cu). This stuff plates just about anything else beautifully in my experience.

If anyone has any suggestions for a material to fill pits that doesn't require heat, I would be very grateful.

Ken