Caswell Plating

[240260280]

How is your tumbler coming along?  

I just bought some trays and bins to make a flat tray with holes that I will run wires on the bottom  for plating small hardware w/o having to string up.  I may vibrate it or tip it  up and down to act as a pseudo barrel. What are your thoughts on trays with wires on bottom?

[Patcon]

13 minutes ago, 240260280 said:

How is your tumbler coming along? 

Haven't done any more on the barrel for now...need a PS first

 

I just ordered the "Monster" Looked at a bunch of power supplies and just decided I would try this one.

On 2/19/2018 at 7:52 PM, 240260280 said:

24A Made in USA (Lambda...MONSTER): https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lambda-Electronics-LLS8018-Variable-Regulated-DC-Power-Supply-18V-24A/173168387372?epid=720639342&hash=item2851a3e52c:g:DwwAAOSwI~taiyTr

 

15 minutes ago, 240260280 said:

What are your thoughts on trays with wires on bottom?

The wires are gonna add to your plating area. You will have to include them in your calculation. They will also increase your plate useage

[240260280]

I have been reading about zinc plating.

One tip is to use brass wire rather than copper to reduce contamination as it is less reactive.

 

Here is another related to dark patches:

Acid zinc plating solutions are sensitive to certain contamination. As little as 2 ppm of lead, cadmium, or chromium can cause no plating in low CD areas. Copper over 10 ppm can cause dark deposit after bright dipping.

 

[Patcon]

Please forgive if I have already posted these, I lose track...

This is what you want right out of the tank! the shinier the better!

I took a shot at the E-brake cable. I blasted them and degreased them. Then immersed the ends  and plated. Then I folded it in half and plated the center springs.

I also took a shot at some old master cylinder caps.

They turned out pretty good. The corroded cap is similar to what I started with

[Patcon]

This is my first batch out of the barrel plater.

They look ok, but some of them burnt. They could also be shinier. The barrel is so slick inside, the material doesn't rotate. It just slides. So I worked on modifying it yesterday.

I may try another batch on Sunday

[240260280]

Impressive results!

[nix240z]

2 hours ago, Patcon said:

Please forgive if I have already posted these, I lose track...

This is what you want right out of the tank! the shinier the better!

I took a shot at the E-brake cable. I blasted them and degreased them. Then immersed the ends  and plated. Then I folded it in half and plated the center springs.

I also took a shot at some old master cylinder caps.

They turned out pretty good. The corroded cap is similar to what I started with

looking good.... now you know how hard it is to tell someone how to setup for plating. Once you figure out what works for you then keep on doing it the exact same way. 

[Patcon]

11 hours ago, nix240z said:

looking good.... now you know how hard it is to tell someone how to setup for plating. Once you figure out what works for you then keep on doing it the exact same way. 

I totally agree. My biggest thing now is sometimes I get a really shiny plate and sometimes I don't. I have used a lot of brightener, but am not sure if that's the secret or not. Part of it is the way the parts are wired, hung and powered.

Someone else's experience does help narrow the process substantially. Also I have found that other Caswell platers are better at troubleshooting than the Caswell forum or support unfotunately.

[nix240z]

1 hour ago, Patcon said:

I totally agree. My biggest thing now is sometimes I get a really shiny plate and sometimes I don't. I have used a lot of brightener, but am not sure if that's the secret or not. Part of it is the way the parts are wired, hung and powered.

Someone else's experience does help narrow the process substantially. Also I have found that other Caswell platers are better at troubleshooting than the Caswell forum or support unfotunately.

I have found that water circulation on and around the part is the key to shiny parts. I use 3  small pumps, harborfreight is what I use. 

[240260280]

Temperature and current also affect shininess according to some documents I have read.

[Patcon]

10 minutes ago, 240260280 said:

Temperature and current also affect shininess according to some documents I have read.

I believe current plays a major part. I lean towards more current is shinier but I haven't done anything that makes that conclusive.

It would be interesting to know how temperature affects shine. My bath is thermostatically controlled about 117F or so

[Namerow]

There clearly is a correct process.  And one that produces consistent, high-quality results.  If there wasn't, there wouldn't be a plating industry. Our problem is the none of us knows with certainty what that process is, and how whether it scales successfully from industrial-size batches to little, hobby-sized batches.  I've recently been associated with a university-based research project being conducted with a big commercial plating operation located in southwestern Ontario.  Next time I'm visiting that campus, I'll see if I can break out some time to have a chat with the prof who's leading the research team.  It would be interesting to hear what he has to say about do's and don't's for these hobby-scale plating set-ups.  My fear is that he'll start showing me chemistry equations, in which case I'm doomed.