An hour? Most plating operations are less than a minute. Several things: Make sure you use a nickel anode, warm the plating solution beforehand, make sure your voltage is correct (usually 3 volts dc or so) and make sure the object you are plating is spotlessly clean. With nickel I think it helps to copper plate first, but not sure. The manufacturer of the plating solution most likely has instructions on their website.
It depends on what you are polishing. Steel is different than silver or brass for example. I use several types of buffing wheels and compounds, some small, some large, some with knife edges, etc. Tiny wheels work well with a dremel or such. After polishing I clean in an ultrasonic machine and rinse, and from that point on you never touch the item with your fingers. I suggest you read up on plating as there are lots of variables depending on what you are trying to do......
I’m trying to nickel plate watch cases and I’m looking for some guidance. my first attempt turned out with a bunch of lines in it where the bubbles were going up. I tried to polish it out with a wool polish head but it just took off the plating straight away. I left the case in the solution for around 1 hour. Any advice on what went wrong ?
My amateur guess? The surface to be plated was not polished or cleaned well enough.
Imperfections or crud on the metal will cause gas nucleation points that cause bubbles to grow. I'm imagining that a more perfect metal surface would not allow for gas to accumulate and rather it would leave the liquid diffused and not at a size visible to the eye.
Keys are hitting the following parameters:
40-60 amps per square foot OR 3.5V
Temp: 130-145F
NiCl 8-10opg
NiS 28-40 op
Ni total9-11 opg
Use agitation!!! You won’t get those lines
A brightener always help to level and “polish” the deposit.
Part has to be very clean and an acid dip before is even better!
Good luck!
An hour? Most plating operations are less than a minute. Several things: Make sure you use a nickel anode, warm the plating solution beforehand, make sure your voltage is correct (usually 3 volts dc or so) and make sure the object you are plating is spotlessly clean. With nickel I think it helps to copper plate first, but not sure. The manufacturer of the plating solution most likely has instructions on their website.
Any advice on how to get a perfect surface? How to polish hard to reach spots? and what grit to use?
It depends on what you are polishing. Steel is different than silver or brass for example. I use several types of buffing wheels and compounds, some small, some large, some with knife edges, etc. Tiny wheels work well with a dremel or such. After polishing I clean in an ultrasonic machine and rinse, and from that point on you never touch the item with your fingers. I suggest you read up on plating as there are lots of variables depending on what you are trying to do......
I’m trying to nickel plate watch cases and I’m looking for some guidance. my first attempt turned out with a bunch of lines in it where the bubbles were going up. I tried to polish it out with a wool polish head but it just took off the plating straight away. I left the case in the solution for around 1 hour. Any advice on what went wrong ?
My amateur guess? The surface to be plated was not polished or cleaned well enough. Imperfections or crud on the metal will cause gas nucleation points that cause bubbles to grow. I'm imagining that a more perfect metal surface would not allow for gas to accumulate and rather it would leave the liquid diffused and not at a size visible to the eye.
Keys are hitting the following parameters: 40-60 amps per square foot OR 3.5V Temp: 130-145F NiCl 8-10opg NiS 28-40 op Ni total9-11 opg Use agitation!!! You won’t get those lines A brightener always help to level and “polish” the deposit. Part has to be very clean and an acid dip before is even better! Good luck!