Electroplating at home?

[terriphill]

I have a lot of smaller pieces that would look better and cleaner with a nice shiny coat....I hate to spray paint and having them chromed is EXPENSIVE. I have a basic understanding of chemistry and one of my students did this as a science fair project at home (he coated pennies) anyway, has anyone ever tried this? does it really work?

Home electroplating kit....

 

[jlaird]

Yes of course, check Cadwell one of our vendors here.

I did all the nuts and bolts and stuff for Miss Agatha, worked well. also long thread in the tools section.

 

[Sarastro]

I do bright nickel plating at home. Also anodizing (https://www.nonlintec.com/anodizing/). I use materials from Caswell, https://www.caswellplating.com. Plating and anodizing are not terribly difficult but require some care, attention to cleanliness, and some work getting the process just right. I wouldn't do it with the idea of just knocking something off to save a few bucks, but if you are genuinely interested in the work, it could be a lot of fun.

Keep in mind that real chrome plating, if that's what you want, is really three processes: copper, nickel, then a thin chrome flash. Doing this at home becomes a major effort. On the other hand, though, a lot of so-called "chrome plating" is really just bright nickel plating, which is quite a bit more practical.

Also, if you want a good, shiny surface, you need to do a lot of buffing. essentially, the shininess comes from the well polished substrate, not simply the plating itself. So, there's a lot of hand labor involved, too.

If all this appeals to you, you might start with the Caswell "copy chrome" setup, which is simply nickel with some cobalt thrown in to give it a slightly bluish tinge, like chrome. This is not too expensive, easy to use, and should give good results with a minimum of effort in getting started.

Good luck--!

 

[fmichaels]

i just bought the eastwood system but have not used it yet.