Nickel Electroplating at home

I am seriously thinking about buying a Nickel Electroplating kit , with some parts of the SV getting a bit shabby it has given me food for thought . I can send some bits away but looking at the cost of it I could buy a kit for home .

The triangle shaped bits on the chain adjuster are going to be my first test candidates . I am replacing certain bolts with stainless ones but there are just some parts you can`t replace like the pins that hold the rear pillion pegs onto the hangers and that top hat shaped thingy that goes into the rubber on the Exhaust hanger . If it is successful I might be offering it as an Org service for a nominal fee as well .

From the looks of it you can have a dull finish or an almost Chrome-like finish dependant on time and solution and the original finish of the parts . I have seen kits for about £80 as a starter kit which you can build upon with better stuff as you go along and learn more , does anyone from the Org have any experience of this or an opinion ?

[yorkie_chris]

Cool. Get it done, I've never done it but it seems good kit. The problem is having buckets of solution stood about.

Also see home anodising kits though you can do these yourself.

See www.5bears.com for some results and cool little engines!

[yorkie_chris]

[Lissa]

I used to work for a metal plating company and had a rear sprocket cadmium plated. It lasted for ages!

You are right about having either dull or bright finish. Did you know all the metal fittings in the cockpit of the Eurofighter are dull nickle plated to prevent glare from sunlight. Yep, our company did them!

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Cool. Get it done, I've never done it but it seems good kit. The problem is having buckets of solution stood about.

They would be in my little powered workshop out the back and the solutions are not Haz-Mat once spent and can be poured down drains with no Ill-effect to the Environment ...... I will research that a bit more to be honest as if there is ANY way of doing harm with it then it will have to be disposed of in a different manner

Originally Posted by Lissa

I used to work for a metal plating company and had a rear sprocket cadmium plated. It lasted for ages!

You are right about having either dull or bright finish. Did you know all the metal fittings in the cockpit of the Eurofighter are dull nickle plated to prevent glare from sunlight. Yep, our company did them!

Interesting stuff there Lissa . I am an engineer by trade so will also be doing research on what can and can`t be plated and what prep work needs to be done , these kits can do various different styles of plating and if they do anodising as well then that would be even better for expanding the use of the kit ......... and NO I will not be riding around with a totally plated/chromed SV like that Hayabusa from the Crossbow Calenders

[yorkie_chris]

Anodising is basically the same power supply just different chemicals

Anodising is ok in small amounts on a bike and let`s face facts , you can buy stuff already Anodised nowadays .... If I remember rightly it`s best to start off with a totally clean and freshly machined bit of Ally anyway before any serious Oxidising takes effect ..... so Anodising old scruffy parts could be a recipe for disaster , I may be wrong though ........ that needs researching




Would be nice to be able to anodise massive things like frames and wheels but there is probably a massive problem with doing it as not many do

[Dave20046]

Badger I'm afraid I've loads of crap to send you

[yorkie_chris]

You can dip in caustic soda to take old corrosion and stuff off alloy.