DIY Nickel Plating

R

rhodesbennett

New member
Hi All, I need to do some DIY electroplating with nickel for a few gun parts and I have seen youtube videos that show using an old phone charger that is less than 1 amp which worked well. I have a battery tender junior with an output of 6VDC @ 750mA. Just wanted to check with those who have experience if I can use this battery tender in place of getting an old phone charger? Thanks!
 
When it comes to electricity

An old phone charger may feature better short circuit protection.
There are but three considerations when electricity is the subject.
Alternating or direct current IE: AC or DC
Amperage or wattage. The current. Wattage is voltage multiplied by amperage
Voltage. Lower voltages are always used for electroplating.
Please do not trash our environment when doing home electroplating, thank you very much.
 
6 volts may be a little much for nickel-It tends to blacken with higher voltages, but you can try it. Don't let it plate for a long time. If you see the plating getting "smutty," clean it with a paste of baking soda and a few drops of water. Scrub the part thoroughly with your thumb, and use a stiff toothbrush for textured parts. Then, resume plating.
 
You can do electro plating (and its reverse) using batteries, even flashlight batteries. Not ideal, but it can be set up to work for small things.

The important part to remember is that when you are plating parts, you are changing their thickness. Not a lot, but it can be enough so that the parts will no longer fit or function properly.

If you plate gun parts, you can easily apply too thick a plating and have to hand fit the parts to get them back into the gun. An extreme case, for sure, but not an impossible one.
 
I am reminded

Pay attention to 44 amp above. Many years ago I was part of a project in which we reverse engineered a complex and costly product.
Measuring plated parts became a real challenge. Esp. stuff that was plated in bulk. There is or was a finish known as Barrel Nickel, a batch process routinely used on small parts.
Sometimes you really get your moneys worth from the plating shop! It's easy to do at home IE: Get much more plating than you planned on.
 
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