rocketbob

rocketbob

Well Known Member
I want to nickel plate the rollbar in my Rocket. The nickel plating on my Ruger LCP has a nice dull finish and that's what I'm looking for. Durable and not reflective.

Not too long ago I ran across a youtube video on how to do nickel plating, and so I bought a couple of pounds of nickel acetate powder. Its pretty simple to plate something with this process, but I'm thinking the rollbar would be a good candidate for electroless nickel plating.

Caswell makes an electroless nickel plating kit that includes three different powders. One of them looks like the green nickel acetate powder I have. Would anyone happen to know what the two other powders are?
 
Part A & Part B. Just kidding, I don't know what they are. I have used them for firearm plating though. It lays down a gorgeous plate that I like quite a bit better than chrome. Surface reflectivity is real dependent on pre-plate finish. Takes around a 1500 finish to see yourself in it.
 
Can't answer your specific question about which powders, but I can let you know how to achieve the dull or matte finish. I have all ferrous pieces including exterior engine pieces electroless nickel plated on my Rocket. I was after the same finish as that on a micrometer spindle; a matte nickel (or "chrome") finish. All I have done is glass bead blast everything before plating. Make sure you do a very thorough and consistent job with the bead blast, and plate to 0.00075" to 0.0012" thickness. Looks great, is lightweight, provides good corrosion protection, and does not hide underlying problems with the structure (cracking).
 
Can't give you feedback on the Caswell system, but I've had many parts in my 8 nickle plated at a plating shop. Its easy to break the gloss off the finish. Two ways:

- Prepare the surface with a light bead blasting prior to plating.
- Give it a "brushed look" by lightly rubbing it with medium Scotch Brite pads after plating.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.