Zinc Plating at Home

[tkaz]

Does anyone here do small scale zinc plating at home?  I just bought a kit from Caswell Plating but I curious to know some more info as to what type of power supply/rectifier I might need and some other tips/tricks. 

[MaineT]

Let us know how it goes. I saw that for sale and was wondering about it.

[jholmgren]

I have a buddy that does some small bits (mostly nuts and bolts sized stuff) for British cars.  Neat process.  If I recall correctly it is a pretty low amperage power adapter, but I can reach out to him and see if he has any words of wisdom.

[BeaYoung]

Please post after you have used it- would love to know how it works!

[tkaz]

Well I finally got a chance to test out the plating kit that I bought, I picked up a lab power supply off Ebay for $40 which lets me vary the amperage going to the part.  I am excited to say the least at how things are coming out, it takes a little work to prep the parts, grease is not your friend.  I do wish I still had my old sandblast cabinet, but carb cleaner and muriatic acid are doing a fine job so far.

I have done a few parts so far, I had just cleaned up my coin box holder for my V-90 a while back, so I gave that a run through and it came out great.  My primary goal is to start plating the carburetors that I make lamps out of, so the last set of pics is the base that I did an hour ago.

I went with the Copy Cad kit from Caswell: http://www.caswellplating.com/electroplating-anodizing/zinc-plating-kits.html

[tkaz]

And a couple more of the carburetor base before and after

[cokecolaman]

Wow!

[sc1101]

At first glance I thought you were starting a meth lab.  That thing works great. What an amazing difference. Good Job!

[Slider-Bob]

Great results Tom!  Way to go!

[tkaz]

At first glance I thought you were starting a meth lab.  That thing works great. What an amazing difference. Good Job!

Hm, now that I think about it the neighbors might get suspicious, maybe I need to keep the garage door shut!  Between that setup, the respirator, goggles and gloves it looks like an episode of Breaking Bad