The physical equipment required to properly plate anything is expensive
and in some cases difficult to obtain and must be constructed from
scratch. The chemicals required to do the various required cleaning
steps are difficult/expensive to obtain in small quantities and toxic.
The mechanical prep is difficult and again requires polishing equipment
not commonly available. I have looked into this several times and the
result is always the same, high cost - less than desired results as a
DIY project. There are some things you can pull off at home and some you
can not. Gold and nickel plating of used antique parts is not easily
done even if you can successfully get the part properly polished and
cleaned. The smoothness - shine of the final product is determined by
degree of polish of the unplated part.
The electroless nickel process works well for easily polished small
parts such as screws and levers but become prohibitively expensive on
larger pieces but it does work. There are several different formulations
of the plating bath and the ones that plate the best are also the ones
that are difficult to obtain due to the shipping restrictions, and human
- environmental hazards
On 06/26/2013 07:17 AM, Arvin Casas wrote:
Thanks Rich. Have you tried home plating yourself (or consider it at
all)? How did you find it in the end better for you to send it out? How
badly off was/were the piece(s) you that required refinishing?
I'm genuinely interested in understanding how you came to your conclusion.
Was it simply a matter of weighing cost and time or were there other
factors?
I'm not looking to do this for speed of result or cost efficiency. I
recognize that an inherent third in the "iron triangle" is quality which
ideally I'd like to preserve, but if for learning purposes that is
sacrificed I'm willing to do, to a point. Plating in my mind is not
irreparable, as say major woodworking, so I see no harm picking my 2/3 in
learning how a good job is done.
That's how I approach this hobby (as well as all my others). My research
and appreciation of the invention, innovation, and evolution of
phonographs includes exploring the mechanics of their inner workings and
the methods and processes of their manufacture and restoration.
I know one can easily just order one's dinner made, but sometimes it's
beneficial to learn how to cook, even if only to better appreciate a well
prepared meal, at least for me.
On 6/26/13 1:50 AM, "Rich" <[email protected]> wrote:
The easy way to get all of this plated is to ship it off to Steve
Farmer. It will probably be both quicker and cheaper than the DIY boy
chemist approach.
On 06/25/2013 10:46 PM, Arvin Casas wrote:
Yeah, color matching in the graphics design world as well as other
industries is more complicated than most people understand. One man's
gold is another man's trash, to reverse the cliché. Unfortunately I'm
not
aware of any system such as Pantone that can be applied to metal
finishing
- at least for lowly phono plebs. It would be great to match my tonearm
to a standard, get its "code" and have a finish replicated for it
chemically.
I have seen other options via a few cursory and early searches, but my
query to the group was in the hope that someone might have a
recommendation based on experience, even if negative. Of course I'm
always keen to experiment for the sake of continuing the knowledge of
our
hobby (as I know you know Ron from those "funny" posts of mine on
MOCAPS-
laughing at not with me - regarding my trying to grow cactus for needles
here in MA). This last venture out into terra incognita however, was a
little further into hostile territory than I normally prefer to endure.
That's why I was hoping others out there might have had at least some
cursory experience for me to explore further. A few pennies lost or in
vain is one thing, I don't enjoy risking my person.
Speaking of risks to health, are there any chemists out there who could
chime in with any information on what to avoid? While I don't think we
have a hall of martyrs for the preservation and restorations of things
phonographic, I'd hate to be the one to inaugurate its building, lol.
Arvin
On 6/25/13 10:49 PM, "Ron L'Herault" <[email protected]> wrote:
Seems to me Caswell sells/sold a real gold plate kit too. The problem
with
Gold, and nickel too, but not as bad, is that it is hard to match gold
colors. A little difference in karat amount or a few different other
chemicals and you have a different gold color, greener, yellower,
whatever.
Have you tried googling home electroplating kits or brush plating kits?
Ron L
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]
On
Behalf Of Arvin Casas
Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2013 12:50 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Phono-L] Home Plating Recommendations?
Hello All,
I hope your summers have all started off well!
I was wondering if any of you had any recommendations for home plating?
(No, that is not some variation on getting on base on a first date,
but in
regards to metal plate finishing as can be done at home.)
Always the willing guinea pig for our hobby, I tried the Caswell Plug
N'
Plate system and had some success with their Nickel product, but only
so-so
success with their faux Gold. (When I tried contacting their customer
service to troubleshoot, the owner came off as a bit "emotionally
incendiary" in his replies to a newbie, so I decided it's not worth me
continuing to experiment or use their products.)
Are there any other possible approaches or solutions? I have a few
gold
plated pieces that have suffered some damage over the years prior to my
coming into them, and I was hoping, short of sending them out (which I
believe is priced per pound), to see if there was something I could
try at
home on the few pieces that I have that need restoration /
preservation.
I
recall reading about home-brewed tank solutions (mixing gold chloride
etc.,.
using batteries), but can't recall where (or if they worked).
Any recommendations?
Thanks!
Arvin
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