What type of metal?

[rob46 New User Find all posts View Profile Close rob46]

I know this might sound like a simple question but...
I want to buy a kit to plate small parts of a motorcycle ie: small brackets, spindles, bolts, carb parts etc. Trouble is, i'm not really sure what type of metal these are. Is there a easy way to tell, i don't want to buy a kit and then find out only a small number of parts can be plated (unless you buy another kit)

Thanks for any suggestions!

[mcaswell ******* Inc Founder Find all posts View Profile Close mcaswell]

If you go to our Pick-A-Kit helper at http://www.caswellplating.com/pickakit/, there's a link at the bottom that gives properties for all metals. These should help you decide what's what.

The troublesome metals (require extra work and supplies) are pot metal/zinc die cast and aluminum.

Some of those parts are probably aluminum, like the brackets etc. and others are probably steel (like the bolts).

An easy way to plate all of these is with some Zincate (to prep aluminum) and a Flash Copper Kit (to plate onto pretty much everything including pot metal, steel and zincated aluminum). Once you've Flash Coppered, you can plate with anything else we sell.