nickel plating

[Dave Lehnert]

Anyone ever have nickle plating redone on something tool related like a Stanley sliding bevel or small levels?

Was it worth the time, effort and cost?

What did it cost to have done?

[Mike Brady]

I don't recall anyone who has done it commenting on price. There are some who priced it and backed away. You can probably find clean examples of what you are looking for as parts or part of a complete tool, cheaper. I think you would be surprised at the cost of a quality nickel plate job. It has to be stripped, prepped, copper-plated and then nickel-plated. Even then, one person said the plating was frosted looking.

[Jim Koepke]

For a short time I worked in a circuit board plating shop.

Mike pretty much has the process nailed.

It would likely be cheaper to do it yourself if you new how.

It might make a tool shine for a while, but it likely wouldn't be worth the cost. If it was a collectable tool, a replating would likely lower the value.

As to the frosted look, the plating should be applied thick enough to buff to a shine. That adds to the cost.

jtk

[Lonnie Gallaher]

It is a fairly simple process. Check with a gun smiting shop.

[Jim Koepke]

It is a fairly simple process. Check with a gun smiting shop.

Yes it is a simple process. It is the chemical disposal that can run up the cost.

jtk

[Moses Yoder]

Lantern collectors have this done all the time. I have not done any of mine yet. I seem to remember a cost of about $60 for a lantern fount. It is definitely a luxury and not a necessity, so budget accordingly. I mean some guys like to drive a nice car, I would rather have a nice tool. I hear guys say something is expensive all the time while they are making a $300 car payment and the "expensive" thing only costs a hunnerd bucks.

[george wilson]

I do smallish nickel plating with my plating outfit. But,it takes me all day to get a NEW object smooth enough to plate. The slightest scratches shine forth in the plated object,highly visible. This applies to ANY plated surface. The object must be VERY smooth and perfect.

I don't enjoy plating very much because in spite of wearing nitrile gloves and being very clean about everyhing,I get a nasty metallic taste in my mouth(that can't be good!),that lasts for several hours.

So,I'm not looking to do any plating.

[Jim Koepke]

I don't enjoy plating very much because in spite of wearing nitrile gloves and being very clean about everyhing,I get a nasty metallic taste in my mouth(that can't be good!),that lasts for several hours.

So,I'm not looking to do any plating.

My experience with the lingering chemical taste was with mixing the stop and fixing baths for the photography in a print shop. Fortunately it wasn't often it needed mixing.

jtk

[ian maybury]

I'm no expert, but there's a bit of complexity to nickel plating to get it exactly right. As George the base metal surface needs to be well polished (as in chrome plating - you get whatever finish was present before plating) if you want a bright finish. (which tends also to develop a very slightly yellowish tinge compared to chrome) There's also some additives used in the bath to determine how the nickel deposits - bright/shiny or more matt. There's also some additional plating steps/precautions required if the corrosion resistance is to be maximised - something to do with avoiding the entrapment of contaminants. Coating thickness potentially matters too.

There's other types of nickel plating as well, for example electroless (a chemical process that applies a wear resistant coating) and hard nickel plating which uses a different bath composition - so it's important to find a service provider offering the right type

Decorative bright nickel plating is widely used in the custom building and restoration of old motorcycles and cars, and seems likely to be the type used on most tools - it was especially popular on vintage stuff, and has a very attractive slightly mellow look of its own. There's places all over offering polishing and plating services to DIY bike and car restorers. It's not expensive, way below $100 for a smallish item i'd imagine unless something has changed big time. (it's quite a few years since i had plating done) Here's a UK based example: http://www.ashfordchroming.com/nickel-plating if nothing else a company of that sort of profile should be able to advise of what's needed in a given tool application...

[george wilson]

chrome has a cold bluish look to it. Nickel has a nice warmth to it,being slightly yellowish. I much prefer the look of nickel,but,unlike chrome,it will tarnish over time. Nickel plating is very hard to machine through,I can personally attest to that. Chrome is,of course,also very hard to machine through. When I made banjos with chrome plated resonator rings,I'd have to re sharpen a HSS drill a few times just to drill a 1/8" hole through it.

[Eric Brown]

I do some nickel plating at home (No I don't want to do yours. My tools have priority) The basic setup will cost about $1000 to have a reasonable sized setup. The initial setup is what costs the most. The only things you need to replace is the sacrificial anode (nickel in this case) and some distilled water. Occasionally some replenishment chemicals. Nickel will plate directly to most iron or steel but the best adhesion requires a copper plate first. The advantage of the copper plate is that it is soft enough to sand back off easily, allowing you to fill in scratches. This step requires another tank and copper anodes. Not a high cost but things do add up. For more information you can look at Caswell's website. There are others but they are who I use with good support. See them here: http://www.caswellplating.com/

A typical tool, depending on the size of your power supply, will take from 30 to 60 minutes to plate.
Note: Chrome requires much stronger chemicals and power supplies and probably is not practical for the home.

Good luck. Eric

[george wilson]

For a nickel anode I order a piece of nickel 200 from MSC.