What's new
What's new

Electroless Nickel Plating

Ed P

Aluminum
Joined
Aug 9, 2004
Location
South Carolina
I'm getting ready to make the ball handles for my Universal Pillar Tool out of 12L14
and was thinking of plating them. Can anyone give me advise on the electroless nickel plating process sold by Brownell's?

Thanks,
Ed P
 
Ed:
Do nickel plating of small brass parts for telegraph key and explained it best I could on forum. Just search Nickel plating--home rig and you should find lots of suggestions. Never tried it on 12L14.
Good luck
 
I send parts out for electroless nickel plating and I think that is much cheaper and less trouble than trying to do it myself. I would imagine the Brownell's process will put down a very thin coating, probably 0.0002" or less. A plating house can put it down 0.001" thick with a fairly small charge.
 
The Brownells or Caswell E-nickel stuff supposedly plates at a half-thou per 30 minutes soak time.

I just did some parts that included a small "leaded steel" shaft, using the Caswell materials- which are several years old now, I wasn't sure they'd still work- and they turned out fine. I'm sure it won't be as tough a finish as the chrome on a Craftsman wrench, but I think it does just fine.

Doc.
 
.0002 is considered to be a "Flash Plate"
and will work well for most situations, like handles.
.0005 is good for normal plate protection, providing Rust prevention and wear capabilities.
.001 is a very heavy plate, and not needed for handles.
It would be for those areas experiencing wear , like tailstock rams etc.
When you plate, stick two small pieces of drill rod ( CLEANED !) into the bath.
Mike them to the tenth ! ( say .1251 )
When your part is in the bath 10 minutes, pull one of them out and mike it. it will read at 2X plate thickness ( 2 sides!)
This will give you an idea of how long the part can stay in .
When you get near time that you think is right, pull the second one and measure
Once you remove the part, it does not go back in !

Rich
 








 
Back
Top