Plating At Home

Hi All, I ran another test with the most important correct ingredient that I was missing.

This one was 5L tap water, 250 ml white vinegar and about 1 cup of zinc sulphate (10 pounds from amazon / Earthworks) is like 13 bucks.

I did not have the Epsons salt to complete the proper equation so I ran it anyway. This situation I blasted the parts clean and chucked them in 50/50 napa degreaser / water followed by a rinse and into 50/50 muratic / tap water. After 10 minutes I put them into my tumbler machine. Then I got side tracked with some visitors and let the machine run all night:

These parts came out and I did different tests on them with Caswell's black and yellow chromate.

Side note, my 50 / 50 dilluted muratic acid is a great tool. If you have a part that flash rusts or is not plated properly, chuck it in the bucket for 20 minutes and it will come out 100% pristine raw steel ready for plating.
Generally, blasting bare, de-greasing and a dip in acid is crucial for even plating.
No oils from your hands or dirt etc can touch your parts or contaminate your solution.

First pic, items left to right. Random linkage part was completely coated inside the U channel and out but the extended time in the plating resulted in a chunky thick but quite hard coating. Upper portion is shiny because I buffed it with that brass brush for 15 seconds.

Next to the right is a bolt which I buffed for 5 minutes with the brush.

Next bolt I pulled from the tumbler, dipped in water and let air dry for 30 seconds, then straight into black chromate. It was dull grey then turned dull black. Next bolt I buffed with brush for 10 seconds and into the black chromate, same results.

Rocker hold down, I buffed a bit better then into yellow chromate for 20 seconds.

Washers I pulled from tumbler and straight into yellow chromate, dull brown results.

Then the yellow bolt was the one I dry buffed nicely, I dipped in the detergent, rinsed in water and into the yellow chromate for 10 seconds, pulled it let it dry a few seconds then into yellow again for 20 seconds. Then let it air dry.

Now, I will try running the setup with the Epsons salt and kayro syrup and shorter period to eliminate some of the chunky surface. The Epson should help transfer zinc from my annodes, the kayro syrup supposedly helps line up the plating for a smoother and brighter finish.

Oh, and here are my new annodes 8"x8"x1/2" 99.5% pure zinc, from amazon for 9 bucks each.. YES!