DIY Nickel plating

[Perry Owens]

I need to nickel plate some 44-40 cartridge cases so I can leave them in my belt without them going green like brass does. Has anyone experience of any of the kits on offer or can I just purchase the chemicals and make my own tank etc?

 

[500e]

http://www.caswelleurope.co.uk/electroplating/

 

[rikrobson]

I'm pretty sure that nickel plating need to be done after copper plating. Therefore you will need a copper kit and a nickel kit. Then Copper plate the items and then nickel plate them. You could continu to chrome aswell.

This is why you see copper where Nickel Plating has worn off on old items.

 

[ronan]

I'm pretty sure the nickel would take well to the brass cases. CBC do nickel or chrome plated ammo, i have a few spent .357 magnum cases here on the shelf above my computer.

 

[Perry Owens]

Nickel 44-40 cases are made but nobody in the UK seems to stock them. US suppliers no longer ship them overseas because of the need for an export licence. I want to try nickel direct on brass as it seems to be how commercial nickel cases are done - if I scratch a nickel .357 case in a carbide die I can only see brass underneath.

 

[ronan]

Did you try frankonia in germany ?

http://www.frankonia.de/

 

[atomant48]

I used a DIY kit from gateros plating. Mixed results. That was more of the yellow/gold zinc finish but the process might be similar.

Good fun for a few nights in the garage anyway.

 

[ronan]

One point to ponder is if the build up of nickle in the primer pocket will make seating a primer difficult ?

 

[Pete.]

What about asking a chroming company. There's a place down Old Kent Road been there for years.

 

[Perry Owens]

One point to ponder is if the build up of nickle in the primer pocket will make seating a primer difficult ?

What about asking a chroming company. There's a place down Old Kent Road been there for years.

I would plate them with spent primers in place then pop them out to reload. I could get them done commercially but I like to try to learn new techniques and if it works I'm sure I could find lots of other things to plate.

 

[ronan]

Well perry, the caswell kit has a good reputation in the classic bike world. I'd give it a whirl.

 

[penfold]

I used a DIY kit from gateros plating. Mixed results. That was more of the yellow/gold zinc finish but the process might be similar.

Good fun for a few nights in the garage anyway.

Nickel does have a yellow tint to it compared to chrome, which is a very bright almost blue finish.

 

[lchris21]

What about asking a chroming company. There's a place down Old Kent Road been there for years.

I'll second that......I bought a kit last year, but got side tracked getting it all set up. Just took my stuff down the local platers, few weeks later, job done perfect finish, and no nasty waste to store/get rid of. I'm all for doing as much as i can and love the job satisfaction, but glad I did it this way....

 

[Fergus]

I've got a one of the SPA Plating kits, not cheap but quite effective once it is all set up.