Plating Cost

[Carl S.]

I wonder how they are able to do the chromate in bulk. It is real delicate until it dries. That is why I have them hanging individually.

For the zinc, I could make a barrel tumbler to speed up the small parts.

[aturboman]

Here is So Cal most places that do proper plating have a minimum batch price and then charge by the piece.

The expense is in the labor to wire hundreds of tiny piece of hardware together to plate.

Any springs must also be baked afterwards to avoid embrittlement, another added change.

A typical 30lb batch with several hundred fasteners cost about $400 here; that is also by a certified aircraft quality plater which may make a difference.

[Scott72]

We just brought a large batch of mixed parts up to our guy in Hartford, CT. Charged $85 for the batch.

[Carl S.]

That seems like a pretty good deal. It is very time consuming. The results are amazing though. Mine turned out better than a NOS bolt I purchased to try to match.

I am definitely getting to know what bolt goes where by doing it this way. I shall trudge on.

I would recommend to anyone interested in trying it yourself.

[Carl S.]

Thanks,

I will look into having large amounts done professionally as well as it looks to be fairly inexpensive.

I came up with the idea of plating myself at school. I thought it would be a neat thing for my high school students to do.
We built the table last year and then Covid hit. No more school and my plans were shot.

So, fast forward to January 2021. I had everything I needed to get started at school just sitting there. Decided to go get it and give it a try at home.

Thus, here I am with a plating table and supplies. I will take it all back to school when we go back to in-person learning. I will be able to plate at school. Sounds like fun.

[stephers]

I also found that when using the Caswell system at home, the better the piece was before plating, the better it turned out. I have 2 large vibrators that I put all my hardware thru First one is filled with small plastic pyramids pieces with water and a cleaning anti froth solution for a couple of days, whatever does not come out really clean, gets glass beaded and then back to the first vibrator Then the stuff goes into the second vibrator with crushed walnut shells so it now gets polished This may take anywhere from 2 to 5 days

I leave the stuff on overnight so it doesn't drive me crazy thru the day Sometimes , parts come out of the second vibrator so nice that I would like to leave them like that but , unfortunately they have no real protection coating against the elements After the second vibrator, I run thru a wash from Eastwood called Metal wash protects the surface up to 3 months in case stuff does not get done right away to stop rust flashing

I take my hardware very seriously

Thanks, Rick

[Carl S.]

Rick, sounds like you do. Agreed, the better the prep the better it turned out. I only had to redo a few pieces once I figured it out. They came out a little dull. I think I redid 6 parts so far. Not bad for over 100 parts plated.

I think the pieces turned out amazingly well. I will have to post a pic.

I should look into the metal wash as I did have some do some flash rusting due to time in the garage. I put a dehumidifier in there so that helped. I had them in sealed bags as well, not good.

I have an Eastwood vibrator with the green pyramids. I have not tried the crushed walnut shells yet.

I soak in Muriatic acid for 20 min to remove any plating or rust.
Some then get media blasted. 120 mesh granite .. does a sweet job. nice smooth finish.
then wire wheel..
I do another quick acid dip just before degreasing, just in case.

I guess I could save up a bunch of part and throw in to the vibrator. Perhaps I will try that next.

What cleaning solution / anti froth do you use?

[flat6guy]

I also have the caswell system. I've had hit and miss success with it. Would you be willing to share some information to help me improve my success rate?
Are you using the 5-6 gallon buckets?
How do you calculate the amperage needed for the parts?
How much brightener do you add?
When you're done with the plating for the day, how do you care for the anodes?
What are you using as an etch between the zinc and chromate process
Have you done any larger parts yet? I ask as I have a throttle cross shaft that I would like to do. Obviously this won't fit into a bucket. I was thinking about trying a planter box but not sure how to arrange the anodes.

[Carl S.]

I would be more than happy to share my procedure. Really, it took me forever to get all the bugs worked out. I had other issues with it as well... Incorrect plates. Never would work that way.

I now can run in all day, pack it up and begin the next day. No problems.

I will get back tomorrow. I would like to make a video of my process at some point.

[flat6guy]

Wow that was a quick response. I was going to send you a private message with my contact information but apparently because I'm a noobie, I'm not allowed to do this yet. I wanted to share my phone number as I thought it might be a more effective way to answer questions.