Nickle plating room

[Bobby Thompson]

Progress has been slow due to some health related problems and the hospitalization or my wife's sister. She past away last weekend and her funeral was on Tuesday. She was a wonderful person and deserved all the time we spent with her. I am making some slow progress.

Getting all the circulation pumps running. Exhaust hood is functioning. Just above the bench are two copper pipes that will carry the necessary current to the tanks. I decided I had better cover it or I would probably drop something on them and short them out. The power supply is on the bottom right shelf. I still have to build the all the doors.



Sink and bench on opposite wall. I still have to build the upper cabinets and install all the electrical for copper plating over here.



This corner is tiled to the ceiling for an emergency shower and eyewash



The necessary cooling.


 
Still need to build a wall to separate the storage room.

[jasfrank]

So sorry to hear of your loss Bobby. That really looks like a first class plating setup! I hope you will do some custom work.

[Bobby Thompson]

So sorry to hear of your loss Bobby. That really looks like a first class plating setup! I hope you will do some custom work.

Thanks, We will miss Jo. She was the only one who visited my wife who is disabled. I am almost ready to order all the chemicals. Tomorrow is a bust. My son, grandson, and I are headed to Barksdale AFB for the air show. I am an old AF veteran. I would like to interest my grandsons in a military tour so they can learn a trade on Uncle sams dollar.

[Dumb_Polack]

I'll ask the obvious question

What is a nickel plating room used for??

[packerguy®]

I'll ask the obvious question

What is a nickel plating room used for??

Generally when plating your have to lay down a layer of nickle before the finished plate of something like copper, chrome, gold, etc. I wasnt a plating guy but it has to do with how metals react and how metals will stick to each other (pretty vanilla explanation which I am sure I butchered 
)

[ajkoontz]

Generally when plating your have to lay down a layer of nickle before the finished plate of something like copper, chrome, gold, etc. I wasnt a plating guy but it has to do with how metals react and how metals will stick to each other (pretty vanilla explanation which I am sure I butchered 
)

I think he meant more along the lines of 'what sort of things are you going to be nickle plating in your house?' than 'what is nickle plating?'. If he wasn't asking that, then I am- Whatcha plan on plating in there?

[ajkoontz]

I think he meant more along the lines of 'what sort of things are you going to be nickle plating in your house?' than 'what is nickle plating?'. If he wasn't asking that, then I am- Whatcha plan on plating in there?

I didn't finish my thought. I should have added, because a nickel plated stanley #3 would be pretty cool.

[Bobby Thompson]

Generally when plating your have to lay down a layer of nickle before the finished plate of something like copper, chrome, gold, etc. I wasnt a plating guy but it has to do with how metals react and how metals will stick to each other (pretty vanilla explanation which I am sure I butchered 
)

Nickle can be applied directly over steel. As with anything the work done before plating is critical. The first tank (bucket) will have a de-plating solution. A lot of lever caps will have some flaking but some that is adhered well. I have tried blasting it off and it won't budge so I will need to remove that stuff. The second tank from the right will have a rinse of distilled water. Then comes the hardest part. The part will be sandblasted and polished. The next tank is a degreaser ( absolutely critical). This is the only thing that puts off any fumes so the vent hood will vent the room when it is in use. Then comes another rinse tank. The plating tank is next with final rinse tank. Each tank has a circulation pump (12 volt aquarium pump). The de-plating tank, degreaser tank, and nickle tank has a 800 watt heater with a temperature probe and controller. I did everything in pvc because it is non conductive. The only thing that had to be grounded was the hood. Also everything is on a ground fault breaker. I haven't gotten started on the opposite side of the room. This will hold the flash copper which is needed before copper plating. The copper tank will also be on that side. Copper can be used to fill small pits (less than 1/16 deep). Nickle can be plated over copper. I have a Sargent plane that is nickle over copper. That is the only one I have seen this way. Chemicals should arrive next week.

[Bobby Thompson]

I'll ask the obvious question

What is a nickel plating room used for??

nickle plating

[packerguy®]

Pretty cool. 

My only comment, based on 6 years working in a circuit shop and seeing what the plating areas looked like, are you concerned with how long that wood is gonna last? The muriatic just makes the environment so caustic. Again a smaller setup like yours vs a pro shop running baths 24 hours a day 6 days a week might be a far different monster. 

Funny story, I remember the floors were completely re done twice with the industrial epoxy coating that are advertised to have a lifetime warranty. Nope. 18 months and they started to go. It was shocking to see the walls when they put up new plastic panels......the bottoms of the studs were half gone and rusted from the liquid on the floors that ate through the epoxy. There was ventilation issues with the air exchangers rotting out, etc. Never seen anything that unbelievable.