After looking at your bolt some more I am not sure you are seeing rough plate but roughness from the rust being removed, maybe?

2 hours ago, Patcon said:

. Preferably North American made and with a warranty. I spent all day looking yesterday but didn't have very good luck. I found one promising industrial 10 amper but it may not make financial sense.

 

  Please jump on my bandwagon!  I just bought a made in Canada bench vise to replace the cheap-Chines- crap-8"-pot-metal-piece-of-$^!# called a "vise".   I think one of the PS I have is made in Japan. I picked it up at the equivalent of a Goodwill for $10 mixed up with all the hi-fi stuff.

Big thanks Charles!  I'm now doing the manifold studs and dialed back the current to match 0.18A/in-sq.  It works much better so I am dialing back further with each successive stud. Less cloudy deposition.

FYI I did an experiment and put the stud close to the plate and could see a gradient of deposition. Powdery near the plate and shiny furthest away.  The tank I have is a 5 gallon bucket with a full sheet of zinc around the circumference.

For even deposition, it may be good to have the part farthest from the plate and simply rotate it to address shadowing. The chap in this video seems to have that architecture:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmn94B5UUuU    Maybe the purpose of the zinc plate is simply to replace what is already in solution so it does not need to be too close to the part... just in the mix.

That is an excellent video! I tried to ask him some questions but never got a response. I have been doing a lot of reading and the distance between the anode and cathode effect how well concave items are plated. The further away the better...So in his case having the plates a long way away would make the irregular 4 barrel plate more evenly.

If a dished area is 2" deep and the plate is only 4" away the dished area will evidently not plate well. It's a ratio thing.

47 minutes ago, 240260280 said:

Big thanks Charles!  I'm now doing the manifold studs and dialed back the current to match 0.18A/in-sq.  It works much better so I am dialing back further with each successive stud. Less cloudy deposition

That's good. Too high of a current does weird things. Turns your plates black, rough plate, dark spots on your plate, etc.

 

1 hour ago, 240260280 said:

Please jump on my bandwagon! 

I have bought many things made in China that has served well but these cheap electronic PS just aren't made for what I need. They are really disposable, and I question how accurate and consistent they are. Sort of like a cheap MIG welder. I want a tank of a PS!!

One of the ones I found was all sealed and potted so the electronics would be impervious to the corrosive fumes from the tanks.

Edited February 20, 20187 yr by Patcon

Some interesting info here. A little more industrial but still good stuff

https://www.pfonline.com/articles/plating-rectifiers

Especially "Ripple" and "Switch mode" which are the PS's that I keep destroying

Here is he PS I found that might have potential

http://www.hendor-pe.com/products.php

5A Made in USA: https://www.ebay.com/itm/SCIENCE-KIT-BOREAL-LABORATORIES-LOW-VOLTAGE-POWER-SUPPLY-64250-15-MADE-IN-USA/162906681501?hash=item25edfeb09d:g:AwcAAOSwecJadz~4

7A Made in USA (Lambda): https://www.ebay.com/itm/LAMBDA-LA-300-VARIABLE-REGULATED-DUAL-METERED-BENCH-DC-POWER-SUPPLY-USA/122812145739?hash=item1c982ca04b:g:N-cAAOSwhpZaDbrZ

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

http://www.electroplatehomekit.com/zinc-kit-sizes.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctL6Oc0STUU

 

1 hour ago, 240260280 said:

http://www.electroplatehomekit.com/zinc-kit-sizes.html

It looks like a North American site, but what is the currency?

Edit: SA Rand; I wonder what freight would run you? Seems like it would be really high. Could just buy a few chemicals and be good to go...

Edited February 23, 20187 yr by Patcon

The available equipment is what I found interesting.  I spent nearly all of July in SA last year, I could have brought back 210lbs of non-hazardous plating hardware in my luggage if I knew. 

13 hours ago, 240260280 said:

The available equipment is what I found interesting.  I spent nearly all of July in SA last year, I could have brought back 210lbs of non-hazardous plating hardware in my luggage if I knew. 

When you going back..?