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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Eastwood zinc electroplating system
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Message started by carguyz on 05/19/12 at 01:18:11

Title: Eastwood zinc electroplating system
Post by carguyz on 05/19/12 at 01:18:11

Like the title sez, I'm interested in some of your experiences with this product. I have heard good and bad things about it. Is there some special prep rust dissolver solution that you recommend, acid etch, or whatever?

I'm looking to plate a number of small parts like nuts bolts, washers, brackets etc. that are commonly rusty or just discolored on older motorcycles. This seems to be better than just wire brushing and then trying to keep the parts from rusting all over again.

I'm trying to get the Honda 350 Scrambler cleaned up and sold so we can start on our Ryca style street Tracker. Got the Savage, just have to make room to work on it.

John and Mikey in Kalifornia

Title: Re: Eastwood zinc electroplating system
Post by Dave on 05/19/12 at 03:58:22

I have the kit.....and it works OK. The few parts that I have plated have never been used outside so I can't comment about durability. When the parts come out of the plater they must be hand polished as the finish is flat. Then after that you clear coat them with paint. I am going to do some handles for a drill press vice today....I will post some pictures.

What I prefer to do is get a bunch of nuts and bolts and take them to a plater. They can do a whole 5 gallone bucket full of nuts and bolts in a process they call barrel plating - and since they just dump the whole bucket into the process it is cheap. The last time I did it the 5 gallon bucket was only about half full, and it cost $ 30.

Title: Re: Eastwood zinc electroplating system
Post by Dave on 05/19/12 at 06:31:55

I don't yet have a place to store photos......sorry but I will post 4 photos in seperate posts.

Here are the handles that I want to plate. I have already spent about 1/2 hour cleaning the surface rust off. I first sanded or steel wooled the pieces, then put them in some acid/etching solution used to prep metal for painting, then I scrubbed them with Purple Power to remove any traces of oil.

Title: Re: Eastwood zinc electroplating system
Post by Dave on 05/19/12 at 06:33:13

This is what the handle looks like after about 6 minutes in the plater sitting next to the shiny one that is not plated. The zinc deposited is dull gray and fuzzy.

Title: Re: Eastwood zinc electroplating system
Post by Dave on 05/19/12 at 06:33:48

This is the second handle in the plater as supplied by Eastwood.

Title: Re: Eastwood zinc electroplating system
Post by Dave on 05/19/12 at 06:36:04

And this is what the plated handles look like after spraying with a clear coat. I have also included a bolt that I had barrel plated in the picture. The Eastwood plated handles end up being a little hazy and gray colored compared to the professional plated bolt. It took about an hour of labor to plate these 2 handles......too much time if you have a number of pieces to do. Removing the rust and corrosion is very time consuming - if there is any trace or speck of rust it will not plate over the rust.

Title: Re: Eastwood zinc electroplating system
Post by ero4444 on 05/19/12 at 11:59:31

This is really cool - thanks for posting the before/after pics.

Title: Re: Eastwood zinc electroplating system
Post by MotoBuddha on 05/19/12 at 16:59:01

I've used a brass wire wheel on fasteners and such. It cleans, rubs off rust and flakes and sometimes restores the shine. It should work well enough for something you plan to sell. If I was doing it for something I wanted to keep, I'd get new fasteners.