Cadmium plating

[chopperTony]

Anybody that knows how to cadmium plate a part? That i want to know is what i need for doing it and how i do it? Best regards Tony

[james]

Tony
You take the parts you want to cad plate, bead blast them perfectly clean, soak them in a muratic acid and water solution, stay away from the poison gas it gives off, rinse them in a baking soda and water solution, dry them, put them in a clean box and send them to someone who can cad coat metal parts.

not trying to be smart see...

[chopperTony]

Thanks james. I will look for someone in sweden that can do this. Best regards Tony

[james]

Tony
Are you telling me they only have hot blonde chicks in Sweden and no place to get cad plating done?

[chopperTony]

Yes james! There is a lot of girls in sweden but it is hard to find a cadmium plating company.

[oldbob]

I don't know anything about do it your self at home kits but they are out there.
http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/zinc.htm

Bob

[chopperTony]

Thanks oldbob, that s the kit i mean. I will order one. best regards Tony

[mbskeam]

a friend of mine has this kit and it works, kinda cool that it makes parts look brand new...
using it to restore a 67 427 vette.

[FlatHeadSix]

Yes, the Caswell kits work great.

here's some WL parts I plated a few years ago, they still look good today.

If it will fit in the tank you can plate it. The CopyCad is not nearly as dangerous as the real cadmium process and the parts look just like they should if you do it right.

mike

[chopperTony]

The result is looking good. Thanks Flatheadsix, i will order that kit. Best regards Tony

[panpered]

Eastwood also has a zinc kit that I have been using. I have re-plated many parts on my 61 restoration and I have other parts from Colony that are Cad plated and I honestly can't tell the difference as long as I am careful with the buffing of the part when it comes out of the zinc.

[51Hog]

Here is a link to an article about plating with zinc.
This is the way I will do it.
You can buy zinc at any boat supply places.
http://cb750k2.tripod.com/Technical/plating.html
Dale

[Ohio-Rider]

FlatHeadSix, What did you use for a power supply? Did you use the light bulb method to control the amp's? Also, could you share the amp's per sq.inch that you used? Those parts are larger than I thought a Casswell's kit could do. Glad to see I will be able to do larger parts as well when I finnally get around to setting up my kit. -Steve

[FlatHeadSix]

Steve,
I went dumpster diving for the power supply, the metal box to the left of the bucket in the first photo is a discarded emergency exit light that had a 6 volt charging system inside it. An automotive battery charger works just as well. I also used the 6 volt spot lights that were attached to the top of the emergency lighting system as my ballast resistance (biege plastic thing in upper left of photo). For additional control I power the whole unit with a 600 watt dimmer rheostat, I'll see if I can find a photo of how I rigged it up.

There are several important factors to good plating:
1. The parts must be absolutely grease and oil free
2. The surface of the parts must be consistent with what you want for the finished piece; if you want the dull matte finish then you should start with a surface that has been lightly to moderately bead blasted, if you want it nearly as shiny as chrome you should buff the parts until they almost look like chrome before you start plating. You get the idea.
3. Slower is better, if you plate too fast the stuff will look like a bucket that was cold galvinized.
4. Do not EVER start the process without ballast resistance in the circuit. The plating solution is extremely electrolytic and will produce a dead short if connected directly to the power supply, you will peg the amp meter and instantly burn up your power supply.
5. use the ceramic heaters and keep the solution at the correct temp
6. use a fish aquarium air bubbler to keep the solution agitated while plating.

The first few times I did it I carefully calculated the surface area I was going to plate and tried to add the required resistance and match the current according to the formulas they provide, it was a real headache, literally. Now I just dial up my power supply until I get what looks like the right amount of bubbles fizzing off of the parts, start the air bubbler, set the timer for 15 minutes and let 'er go.

mike

[Ohio-Rider]

Thanks for the info Mike. I've been avoiding setting my system up because of the old dog new trick thing, but now I've reached the point in this winters project that I can't put it aside any longer. I've got a few days off work so I'll take my first shot real soon now. -Steve