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How to Copper plate parts!


bajango

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Alright boys and girls, the post alot of you have been waiting for.

 

TA-daaaaaaaaa the new Ferd Fteenthousand....just kidding

 

So how do you copper/gold/silver/zinc/nickel plate my car parts you ask? Here is how you can AT home----- Electroplating

"Brittan", you ask. "What does that mean? I don't science". To which I'll reply "Sit down, young grasshopper. I'll show you way"

 

Electroplating is very simple, but a long proccess that requires a lot of prep work. Not a lot-a lot, like bodywork and paint, but a lot.

Here is a very good video on how to, which is also where I got my info from.

 


 

An even easier trick (which I used)-

 


 


You want to keep the voltage and current low because you will get "burn" spots on the plated material from too much buildup too quickly. AA batteries, 6V lantern battery/car battery, and 9v batteries would probably be your best friends because from what I've read lower voltages produce even more amazing results. You can use a wall wart (big AC/DC converter wall plug in) and find your + and - leads. You can use a 12v car charger/maintainer, but I would recommend keeping your anode (+) and cathode (-) very far apart from eachother to keep the current low.

 

Some metals don't play well with others, so here's a handy-dandy chart. The larger the number from zero, the more it dislikes it. No matter if its neg or positive

 

image%201_zpsekdptkqf.gif

 

You will ALWAYS put the plating material on the positive lead and the material to be plated on the negative lead.

 

Now for what *I* did to copper plate my valve cover, there are a few ways to do it, but this is what I did.

 

Materials-

Two copper pipe fittings from a home improvent store

Copper wire from any parts store

DC power supply

Big *PLASTIC* tub (Must use platic or another non-conducting material)

water

Root kill by ZEP

Non-conducting mixing tool (I used a plastic fork... its what I had laying around)

Aluminum Valve cover

vinegar

 

Procedure-

I had my valve cover sit in vinegar for a while to clean it, you can see the difference in the pics. After vinegar bath, pour HOOOTTTTT water into your empty tub as it will help with mixing your soluble. You don't really need it boiling though. Then add your Copper soluble into your bath and mix well until the crystals are all gone. I don't know the exact mix ratio, but for my project I just dumped half the bottle in. Remove any paint, dirt, grease, oxidation (big one) etc of your aluminum parts. COPPER WILL NOT PLATE DIRTY ALUMINUM. IT BARELY PLATES WHEN IT IS CLEAN AS IT IS. SO CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN. Submerge into your solution and connect your positive and negative leads to your parts AND THENNNN you can turn on your power source. Its always safe to complete your circuit before juicing it. Keep your current lower than one amp at all times. I kept mine around half an amp with lower voltage (less than 9). You can change your amperage by changing the distances of your + and - parts. Remember, too much voltage will give you uneven build up and too much current will leave "burn" spots. If you cannot control high voltage (i.e. car charger) control your amperage to less than 500mA (.5A) They say to agitate (stir) the solution near constantly, but I didn't mostly because I was busy doing other things. Your solution may turn green and your wires may.. melt away.. for the lack of a better term. Don't be alarmed. The green is air trapped in the water oxidizing (rusting) your soluble. Your plating should be about done by that time. For your wires, just strip more and retie.

 

That's about it. I can answer any questions on stuff I forgot to mention. Also... I CALL DIBS ON COPPER PLATING SOME 17" TITAN WHEELS YOU SICK RATS. MINE!!!! ALL MINE!!!

 

Nickel plating is much the same, but I found it hard to get the soluble from a local store. If you like shiny things, do that. Zinc plating is good for anti corrosion.

 

nickel video-


 

I haven't found a zinc video I like yet. Some videos recommend using head and shoulders because it has zinc in it... but that doesn't seem like a good idea to me. Idk, just seems funny.

 

I haven't looked at silver and gold plating. Too rich for my blood haha.

Pics!!

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Prep work is easy and fast if you have the right chemicals.need a caustic etch, nitric/sulfuric/sodium bicarbonate mixture, and a nitric desmutt,and prep takes all of 5 minutes.

 

 

I'd be very careful with anything caustic on aluminium. We sometimes (very rarely) put aluminium parts in the hot tank at work to clean them but they can only be in there for like 2-5 sec. Aluminium starts to bubble vigorously (dissolving ) right away and needs to be pressure washed clean and neutralized with acid. It does have a very bright finish when its done though.

 

 

 

It all depends on the concentrations. Probably couldn't be done on mated gasket surfaces because of pitting.

 

 

In the directions to this product it says, " Immerse the sample in this etchant for 5 to 15 minutes and rinse."

Must be much weaker concentration than I work with

http://www.etchantstore.com/Caustic-Etching-Solution-250-mL-210.htm?gclid=CM2gl6m22ssCFUdlfgodgFoLag

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I'd be very careful with anything caustic on aluminium. We sometimes (very rarely) put aluminium parts in the hot tank at work to clean them but they can only be in there for like 2-5 sec. Aluminium starts to bubble vigorously (dissolving ) right away and needs to be pressure washed clean and neutralized with acid. It does have a very bright finish when its done though.

 

 

 

It all depends on the concentrations. Probably couldn't be done on mated gasket surfaces because of pitting.

 

 

In the directions to this product it says, " Immerse the sample in this etchant for 5 to 15 minutes and rinse."[/size]

Must be much weaker concentration than I work with

http://www.etchantstore.com/Caustic-Etching-Solution-250-mL-210.htm?gclid=CM2gl6m22ssCFUdlfgodgFoLag

I worked as a nickel plater for three years. We used a caustic soda/water etch mixture. Aluminum got 30 seconds, then into a rinse tank. No pressure washing needed. Then into the tri acid (sulfuric, nitric, sodium bicarbonate) for a minute, another rinse, nitric for a minute, rinse, zincate to help adhesion, rinse, back to nitric, rinse, back to zincate, rinse, and then generally a strike tank. Entire prep took me less than 20 minutes from first etch to going into the nickel tank,and 10 of that was sitting in the strike. If you have pitting you over plated it, or left it in the etch for a few minutes. If you're prep isn't done right though, it will flake off due to poor adhesion. I've only once seen a piece not plate at all in spots, turned out it was rubbing the side of the tank. It'll still plate without proper prep, but you'll be disappointed with the results and it will most likely flake off
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