MTFCA Forum

I am making some custom small parts for my 26 speedster that I want to get nickel plated. Does anyone have a line on someone who can do that reasonably?

Reasonably is open to considerable discussion. Any shiny plating job is reliant on the polishing preparation work put in before plating. Any flaw in the finish will NOT disappear in the final job. It is the labour in this preparation that costs money.

Triple chrome plating does not men three coats of chrome. After polishing, the parts should be copper plated. This may reveal scratches/pitting, and may require re-polishing and re-plating with copper.The very best jobs, if your budget goes for BEST, may see this step repeated until the copper fills the flaws.

Second step is a nickel plating. There should be no flaws evident if the previous steps have been taken. Nickel plating has a yellow cast in the finish. Any plating on model T's was nickel plating.

Third step is chrome plating. It has a blue cast in colour and many are of the opinion that it looks out of place on a Model T. There is the triple chrome plating process.

Cheap jobs can mean no copper plate first. You can also chrome plate directly on the copper.

I once had a nice set of brass hubcaps plated at a reputable shop. When I picked them up they looked a bit on the blue side to me. The plater picked up on my concern, and when I told him, he shrugged his shoulders and took them back into the shop. 5 minutes later he came back with them, looking like a million dollar nickel plating job. He had simply de-plated the chrome layer! Even then, back in the early 1970's, very few people specified nickel plating, and he had done what he usually did. It was a lesson for me, and an indicator that he had done a proper job in the first place.

Allan from down under.

For small brass or brass plated parts, I have had good results from one of the Caswell do-it-yourself kits, they make various sizes.

https://caswellplating.com/electroplati ... -kits.html

The parts are brass and relatively small. I do not want an over polished mirror finish, and god forbid chrome. I want them to look like they were made for a T in period.

I will look into the Caswell kits, though it’s hard to get anything hazmat sent to Alaska (often they won’t ship here).

You could also try a less toxic approach by researching nickel plating with vinegar. It worked fine for me with a few small hardware parts, but I ran out of power with my 1A power generator so couldn’t do anything larger

Just a note of caution with nickel plating. The type that goes under chrome is not the same as a finish nickel. It will tarnish very quickly. I found this out with my 1920s Hudson projects. You need to find a plater who knows the difference and is willing to do it properly. Musical instrument platers would be good to check with.

Paul

Caswell plating has the easiest to use chemical but not the least expensive power supply. I'd bet that TexPowers is exactly the same as Caswell & Dragons. Buying from Grainger has more power & easy to deal with when necessary. --
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This video shows "how to" on a budget https://www.ebay.com/itm/372851170400?e ... R9yHgK7IYw
BUT the key is the electrolyte solution & good nickle bars. It doesn't pay to make your own electrolyte solution since it has to be just right.
How much voltage/current do you need?
As little as possible. The lower the voltage and current, the better results you will get. You need a minimum of 0.5V DC to plate with copper. A C or D cell battery will give you pretty decent results. If you don't have access to lower voltages, you can put the electrolyte into a big container and move your electrodes as far away from another as you can - the increase in distance will also increase the resistance of the circuit and decrease the current. More amps only for large pieces Chttps://www.ebay.com/itm/372851170400?epid=2255 ... R9yHgK7IYw
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This is may be the best alternative too for small parts. Note the power supply same as DIY
https://caswellplating.com/electroplati ... -kits.html
Watch the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOXqlLO ... eRefresh=1