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Cabinet and Chassis Restoration and Refinishing For help with cabinet or chassis restoration (non-electrical), please leave a message here. |
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14th Aug 2018, 8:03 pm | #1 |
Pentode
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK.
Posts: 149
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Matt nickel plating?
About a year ago I asked on here whether anyone could suggest an individual or organisation which could matt-nickel-plate a Radford amplifier chassis. Unfortunately I've subsequently got absolutely nowhere. It seems that companies are only interested if you want a large production run and no-one's remotely interested in a one-off. So at the risk of being thought tiresome, I thought I'd ask again.
The "chassis" is a piece of mild steel about 280 x 260mm and about 1mm thick. It's been zinc-plated at some stage but this was damaged by a leaky reservoir capacitor. Happily a colleague managed to strip the plating off it, leaving a steel plate in good visual condition. If anyone can suggest a route to getting it plated, I'd be enormously appreciative. |
14th Aug 2018, 9:33 pm | #2 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,934
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Re: Matt nickel plating?
I recall talking to you when you first posted this. One question to begin with; is it essential that it is nickel plated rather than zinc? I think I'm right in saying that both from a health and safety standpoint, and from an environmental standpoint, zinc would be slightly (?) preferred over nickel.
I think it is the case that these days, that you can buy chemicals for less money than you may have to pay to have the waste and any surplus disposed of legally. I used to do occasional nickel plating of some small components at work many years ago, and none of us thought anything about the waste solution going straight down the sink. I wouldn't do that now, even if I thought I could get away with it. All this makes DIY plating in my/your garage or garden shed slightly more of an issue than it was in the past, but maybe not a 'show stopper'. B
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Saturn V had 6 million pounds of fuel. It would take thirty thousand strong men to lift it an inch. Last edited by Bazz4CQJ; 14th Aug 2018 at 9:39 pm. |
15th Aug 2018, 8:41 am | #3 |
No Longer a Member
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia.
Posts: 2,679
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Re: Matt nickel plating?
For this, I would suggest joining a vintage motorcycle restoration group and asking them. They often know of electroplaters set up for one off relatively small sized jobs and they take care of the parts when they have custody of them. Also they normally would do zinc, nickel, copper & chrome.
I was lucky in AU to find a plater that did electro less nickel, it has a matt finish and it plates down holes and into corners because it does not rely on an electric field. There might be someone in the UK who does this for components in the aviation industry. |
6th Sep 2018, 4:35 pm | #4 | |
Pentode
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK.
Posts: 149
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Re: Matt nickel plating?
Quote:
Now to sort out the amplifier power supply. Quite what Mr Radford was smoking when he designed it is open to conjecture ;-) |
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10th Jan 2019, 9:10 pm | #5 | |
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Rosthern, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Posts: 39
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Re: Matt nickel plating?
Quote:
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10th Jan 2019, 10:19 pm | #6 |
No Longer a Member
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia.
Posts: 2,679
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Re: Matt nickel plating?
Can you attach a photo of what they were able to achieve with is ? Was it satisfactory ? I'd be interested to compare this with the ones done here in AU.
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11th Mar 2019, 10:58 pm | #7 |
Nonode
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Cornwall, UK.
Posts: 2,333
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Re: Matt nickel plating?
I'm considering the nickel/vinegar plating method for the head mounting plate for the Ferrograph I have a thread on in the 'tape' section.
I have some nickel pieces for providing the metal, an ancient DC supply and a mask, so I'm just wondering about the scratches left from some dodgy head positioning, and whether I should copper-plate and polish them out first. I understand the plating will not fill any scratches, and actually make them more obvious. The remnant for the process I'm considering is nickel acetate, which is not very nice and I was concerned about disposal. However, after a few calls to Cornwall Council and a long chat with the top brass at waste disposal, they said it was fine to dispose of it in a sealed, labelled container at the household waste recycling centre's chemical shed. I checked, as in this case it will be a jam jar or similar, rather than a pre-bought bottle of chemical, and was told that as long as it's sealed and labelled they don't require a certain type of container. Whether I can be bothered to do the plating as the next task, or would prefer to get the machine back together to see if it works first, remains to be seen. |