Brightwork electroplating kits

Now having the bike about half apart, there are a lot of small parts like the bracket that held the handlebar, the choke control, the large spacers between parts that connect to the frame, etc. that will need refurbishing for the finish. Have any of you actually bought a kit from say Caswell (they have some hex-chrome substitutes that look ok) and used it for these small bits. I'm afraid if I take them to the platers, aside from the threat of loss, they'll eat me for breakfast on the cost. I'd love to try it for the small stuff that needs protection but doesn't have to have a beautiful smooth surface that is a mile deep.

I used the copy Chrome from Caswell's. It was OK, but a real pain in the butt. Mostly the polishing and cleaning. I used the PNP kit with a power supply as electro plating so could only do what I could fit in an 8 oz. glass or so, that's about all the solution you get, like the nuts and bolts, fork 'nolts', gearbox adjuster, special nuts and bolts that were not UNF. But it's still a nickel plate and does tarnish, but shines up easily. Would I do it again, I don't know. It was plenty cheap enough, but I've seen some of the guys here sending it out for cad plating and it looks pretty good.

If you want to try it, let me know and I can give you some hints, don't even try the rub plating, it will take you forever. For $30 or so, it may be worth a try if you like doing that kind of thing, but it's really time consuming. I'm retired so it doesn't matter to me.



Dave
69S

These are EXACTLY the type of things I want to plate. I'm going to do a bit of looking-into on this. I've got a while before all the bits get put back on!

They now have electroless Krome which is a cobalt plate and a small kit is only about $90. I'm not sure how many sq. inches total it will plate, you may want to look into that, but it can be replenished. You will need a hot plate or camping stove to heat the solution and I doubt if the wife will let you use the kitchen. I'd do it outside or in a garage. The finish is only as good as the polish you put on the item. Follow the instructions to the tee and make sure there is no oil or grease, any variations will mess it up. I'd choose that over the electro plating.

Dave
69S

Yellow Zinc "Cad" Style Plating:

broken link removed

I used the product from Brownells on my 750 bits and they have held up well, even on threads and nuts.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=2478 ... GUN_FINISH

rvich said:

I used the product from Brownells on my 750 bits and they have held up well, even on threads and nuts.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=2478 ... GUN_FINISH

Click to expand...

On what parts are you using this product?

I used the Brownells stuff on my coil mounts, isolastic end plates and bolts, gearbox adjuster, just to name a few, basically all the bits that used to be plated but needed some help. I used a wire brush mounted on a half horse motor to clean them up and washed them in acetone, painted, baked and assembled.

Russ