Thursday, February 12, 2015

More DIY Nickel plating

After my first Nickel plating experiments I've changed a couple of things. First of all I bought a bigger glass baking dish so I could plate bigger stuff. I also swapped the iron tie wire for pure copper tie wire, it won't rust like the iron tie wire did after a while (contamination of the electrolyte). And I bought 2 meters of copper wire, stripped the insulation and all of a sudden I had 12 meter pure copper tie wire :)
Remember this is quality nickel plating Without buying an expensive kit, just some cheap household products and a nickel welding rod.

Making copper tie wire
Making copper tie wire
Now I had to cook some more electrolyte. I still make it in the smaller jar because that seams to work well. The 100% pure nickel rods are now showing their abuse; pitted and getting thinner.

Wear out nickel rods - nickel plating
Wear out nickel rods

After 5 batches or so I had enough to fill my bigger electroyte bath. I used another pure nickel welding rod as the new Anode. I bent it a bit so it would be over the whole height of the bath and to make it easier to connect it to the pos (+) wire of the phone charger..

Bigger electrolyte bath for nickel plating
Bigger electrolyte bath for nickel plating

After a plating test with an old useless bolt I took the front brake lever of the bike and started the preparation. I think this is the most important step! Clean and smooth objects will give the best most shiny plating results. Always start with a general cleaning, scrubbing and wiping your piece with wax and grease remover. Next I dipped the lever for ca. 5 minutes in Hydrochloric acid (HCL), this will remove all the left over old zinc plating. It will also remove surface rust etc.

Hydrochloric acid for cleaning metal and removing zinc plating
Hydrochloric acid for cleaning metal and removing zinc plating
Best to do this outside because it bubbles like crazy and I think the fumes aren't too healthy...

Dipping zinc plated rear foot peg in Hydrochloric acid

Then I rinsed the to be plated part with water, dipped it for 3-5 minute in Deox-ionize, to prep it for the plating, now rinse again with water and put it in the electrolyte solution straight away before you get flash rust. Connect the copper tie wire withe the metal rod hanging above your bath. The first couple of times I connected the Neg (-) wire  with the rod through a thin copper wire. It worked but later on I connected the Alligator clip directly to the metal rod and this improved the plating results. After 25 minute or so I took the lever out, rinsed it with water and polished it for a couple of minutes. Looking good!

Front brake lever Yamaha LS3 being nickel plated
Front brake lever Yamaha LS3 being nickel plated

Nickel plated front brake lever Yamaha LS3
Nickel plated front brake lever Yamaha LS3

Nickel plated front brake lever Yamaha LS3
Nickel plated front brake lever and polish alu hub Yamaha LS3

The next day I started polishing some stuff after the cleaning/preparation cycle but before plating. After polishing I repeated the whole cleaning and dipping preparation cycle. It made a big difference. It looks better and I've read that the nickel will bond better if the to be plated surface is smooth. It's pretty hard to catch the plating results but believe me it's looking good!

rear foot peg Yamaha LS3 before plating
rear foot peg Yamaha LS3 before plating

Nickel plated rear foot peg Yamaha LS3
Nickel plated rear foot peg Yamaha LS3

Nickel plated rear foot peg Yamaha LS3 1972
Nickel plated rear foot peg Yamaha LS3 1972

Nickel plated rear foot peg Yamaha LS3
Nickel plated rear foot peg Yamaha LS3

Springs and other parts middle - and side stand Yamaha LS3
Springs and other parts middle - and side stand

Nickel plated springs and bolts middle - and side stand
Nickel plated springs and bolts middle - and side stand

Polished and unpolished nickel plated bolts tension bar Yamaha LS3
Polished and unpolished nickel plated bolts tension bar Yamaha LS3

Tension bar Yamaha LS3 before plating
Tension bar Yamaha LS3 before plating

Tension bar Yamaha LS3 1972 before plating
Tension bar Yamaha LS3 before plating

Polished nickel plated bolts and tension bar Yamaha LS3
Polished  nickel plated bolts and tension bar Yamaha LS3

Polished nickel plated bolts and tension bar Yamaha LS3
Polished  nickel plated bolts and tension bar Yamaha LS3

Polished nickel plated bolts and tension bar Yamaha LS3
Polished  nickel plated bolts and tension bar Yamaha LS3
The tension bar I nickel plated didn't fit in my electrolyte bath so I did it in two steps. You absolutely cannot see the overlap. It looks like it has been plated in one go.

Nickel plating in two steps
Nickel plating in two steps
I also nickel plated the wire adjuster of the autolube pump. It was rrrrrrrusty, if you take a closer look you can still see some light pitting.

Rusty Autolube pump wire adjuster Yamaha LS3
Rusty Autolube pump wire adjuster

Nickel plated Autolube pump wire adjuster Yamaha LS3
Nickel plated Autolube pump wire adjuster

Adjusting bolt and nut Yamaha LS3
Adjusting bolt an nut

Nickel plated adjusting bolt and nut Yamaha LS3
Nickel plated adjusting bolt and nut
After a couple of days the metal rod above the electrolyte bath started to discolour, the vinegar acid must have bitten it ;) So I replaced it with a piece of copper pipe which is also better for the current flow.
And because I read that the optimum working temp for a nickel bath is around 55 C I went to a charity bargain market last Saturday morning and bought an old but working stainless steel BBQ plate for 2 dollar.

Heating-the Nickel plating electrolyte DIY
Heating-the Nickel plating electrolyte
Another thing I did was filtering the electrolyte. I used an old plastic coffee filter with a paper filter inside.

Filtered Nickel plating electrolyte
Filtered Nickel plating electrolyte
Before plating I now wet sand the parts with 600/800-1200-1500 grit. I know it's a bit fiddly but if you want good results it's worth the extra couple of minutes work.

The plating results are even better than before. After a light buff it's a mirror finish.


Cover bolt before DIY Nickel plating Yamaha LS3
Pan head screw - engine cover - before DIY Nickel plating

Nickel plated pan head screws engine cover Yamaha LS3
Nickel plated pan head screws engine cover Yamaha LS3

DIY Nickel plated pan head screws engine cover Yamaha LS3
Nickel plated pan head screws engine cover Yamaha LS3

Nickel plated bolt engine
Nickel plated bolt engine 

Mirror finish DIY Nickel plated bolt
Mirror finish DIY Nickel plated bolt

Nickel plated Rear wheel shaft, sprocket shaft, collars Yamaha LS3 1972
Rear wheel shaft, sprocket shaft, collars

Nickel plated Rear wheel shaft, sprocket shaft, collars Yamaha LS3
Nickel plated Rear wheel shaft, sprocket shaft, collars Yamaha LS3

DIY Nickel plated sprocket shaft Yamaha LS3 1972
DIY Nickel plated sprocket shaft Yamaha LS3 1972
Another thing that I plated were a couple of new Yamaha bolts I ordered for the brake and clutch levers. The original chrome bolts were quite rusty and pitted. But when I received the "original" bolts they looked totally different, only the size was right. First of all they weren't chrome plated but zinc plated, secondly there was a number (6 or 9) on top. They call it "superseded" what means that the original part has been replaced by a useable newer/better part, I learned this the hard way... Yuk, they really looked like simple construction bolts from your local hardware store.

So I took one of those superseded bolts, dipped it for a minute in hydrochloric acid and carefully grinded the top smooth. Then I sanded the head with 600-1200-1500 grit sandpaper and nickel plated the bolt.
Looks way better, very close to the original chrome plated bolt.

Superseded, modified,plated and original bolt Yamaha
Superseded, modified and original bolt Yamaha

Superseded, modified and original bolt Yamaha
Superseded, modified and original bolt Yamaha
Same thing with the cable adjuster bolts and nuts. The superseded ones have the same shape as the original ones but were painted black (poor paint job) instead of being zinc or chrome plated.

Superseded cable adjuster nut and bolt Yamaha
Superseded cable adjuster nut and bolt Yamaha
So I dipped them in hydrochloric acid for 10-20 seconds (that was enough to remove all the paint).

Removing the black paint with Hydrochloric acid

20 minutes in a Nickel bath did gave them the finishing original touch.

Nickel plated cable adjuster nut and bolt Yamaha 100 LS3
Plated cable adjuster nut and bolt Yamaha

Nickel plated cable adjuster nut and bolt Yamaha
Nickel plated cable adjuster nut and bolt Yamaha

For more info about preparation see: http://yamaha-ls3.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/preparation-motorcycle-parts-before-diy.html

6 comments:

  1. Hello.
    I like your nickel plating tutorial you have. I am currently trying to nickel plate some hardware for a old 1930's walker turner bandsaw. I am using a nickel acetate that I make with vinegar, nickel electrode and dc power supply. The parts to be plated I descaled with vinegar, tumbled in walnut shells then cleaned with a wax and grease remover. I am getting some good plates on smaller parts like washers, but larger parts like knobs and handwheels I am getting adhesion issues and cant seem to figure out what is causing it. I am doing a water break test and not seeing any water beading. I am so frustrated cause the good plates will look so good on the saw.

    Thanks for any help
    Ian

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Ian, what kind of metal are you trying to plate, is it just bare steel or something else? If it is steel, try a pickle bath (hydrochloric acid). After cleaning with wax and grease remover, dip the part in it for a couple of minutes, rinse with clean water and start plating. Your object has to be absolutely clean, paint and rust free. Also check the copper wire connections, you can use more than one if it's a bigger object.
    Good luck with your project!

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  3. Thank you for the input. The bolts are all steel. would sulfuric acid be ok instead of hydrochloric?

    Ian

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  4. Hi Ian, Should be ok, just rinse it well with water. Looking forward to some pics of the results

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  5. Everything looks brand new! You have a great process in cleaning those metal pieces. There are a lot of other metal cleanser out on the market, but this one is off the hook. And it’s great that one could do this with just a few household materials. Thank you for sharing this with us. All the best!


    Bernice Parsons @ Badger Anodising

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  6. Great results.How did your parts hold up over the past 3 years to corrosion? I read that any scratch to the nickel would speed corrosion.

    ReplyDelete