A few plating questions....

[Greg L.]

I've been thinking of getting the Caswell copy cad kit for some time now and after reading all the recent posts about it I have decided to get it. From those of you who have the Caswell kit, what size would you recommend I get? I'm thinking the 1.5 Gal kit would be enough seeing as the largest item I will plate is a headlight actuator. I also read someplace that the solution can be replenished with water as it evaporates...is that true?

For restoring my q-jet I was going to get some of the yellow chromate solution. To use it is all I have to do is just bead blast the housing and dip it or is it more complicated than that?

In regards to phosphating do I have to get the solution to boil or is say 200F good enough(that's all my old crock pot will do)?

Thanks again.

Greg

[Donald T.]

Re: A few plating questions....

Greg,

I use the Caswell kit and have been very pleased with the results (see gas cap before and after pic). I'm not sure the 1.5 gallon kit will be big enough. I have the 3.5 gallon kit and it's just big enough for parts like hood latches. You have to keep in mind, that there will be a other things in the tank besides the part you are plating - 2 ceramic heaters, thermostat, 2 anodes and agitation.

The solution will evaporate during the plating process, so you do need to add distilled water to replace what evaporates. This does not cause a problem. The supplies provided will plate many many parts. The brightner is the only thing that you need to replace frequently.

The dichromate will work on zinc die cast (pot metal), zinc plating, or cad plating. So steel parts will need to be zinc plated prior to dipping in the chromate solution. Jerry is the carb plating expert so he may be able to provide more info.

Good luck with your plating!

[Gerard F.]

Re: A few plating questions....

Greg,

A 1.5 gallon kit is good enough for starters with the Caswell Zinc and Copy Cad kit. You can plate anything that you can fit into a 2 gallon bucket and still have 4" clearance to the side.

I originally got a 3 gallon kit from Caswell which is double the chemicals and anode plates for the 1.5 gallon kit, but I usually plate in only a 2 gallon buckets. You can get the 2 and 3.5 high density plastic buckets at any hardware store that sells paint. One thing to also get is a DC lab power supply, 0 to 3 or 6 volts, 0 to 3 (minimum) amps. The Caswell kit power supply is a piece of junk, get their extra power supply.

There is a lot of extra stuff that you have to buy locally with the basic kit.
But they have an excellent manual with the starter kit which shows how to do all kinds of plating (with their products). Get lots of jugs of distilled water which is used for dilution or replenishing with all their chemicals.

On the carb pot metal, you don't need to zinc plate. Just beadblast, dunk in SP degreaser, flush with distilled water and the dip it in the dichromate. The object is to get it down to bare zinc. If there are spot of aluminum in the pot metal try their zincate solution which is an aluminum primer for zinc plating.

For phosphate and SP degreasing, or general degreasing with Simple Green, or TSP, or Jasco Metal Etch, crock pots work the best, 180 to 200 degrees for phosphating. The 6 quart ones from the dump or Salvation Army work the best and are cheap.

Pretty soon you will have the corner of your garage filled with 2 and 3 1/2 gallon jugs (among the crock pots) full of chemicals. But it is interesting, and it is fun for us Corvette fanatics.

Jerry Fuccillo
#42179

[Mac Peppers]

Re: A few plating questions....

Jerry, do you think the 1.5 gal kit is large enough for a wiper door actuator and headlight actuators?
thanks,
mac

[Gerard F.]

Re: A few plating questions....

Mac,

I haven't done one of those, but I'm sure others have. (I'm a C2 guy).
But if you can submerge the part in 1 1/2 gallons of solution and keep a minimum of 3" (9" max) between the part and the anode plate, you can plate it.

Also you are not limited to circular buckets. For long parts you can use these rectangular heavy duty plastic storage containers. For zinc plating, you are plating at 110 degrees with a light acid solution. However, if your part is more then 9" away from the anode plate then you should use multiple anodes.

The 3 gallon kit comes with two anodes and twice the solution as the 1 1/2 gallon kit, and gives you better flexibility for large or small parts. Also get a digital or analog power supply to adjust amps and volts, it's a world of difference in plating over the kit power supply or a battery charger.

Jerry Fuccillo

[Jeffrey S.]

Re: A few plating questions....

Mac:
I did both headlamp actuators and my wiper door actuator in the 1.5 gallon Caswell kit. They came out great. You need to get the Copy-Cad plating as shiny as possible by using the brightener and then lightly buffing the part with a wire wheel or Nyloc wheel before dipping in the yellow chromate solution. Be sure you use enough current to get a good plate on the part or the Yellow won't work. I purchased the digital power supply ($100) from Caswell and it is terrific) Also, use small corks (available at the hardware store to plug up the vacuume ports so the solution doesn't get inside. Once you plug up the ports you have to force the part under the solution and rig up something to hold it there. Once plated I dipped the part for 20 seconds in the heated yellow di-chromate and rinsed and set it in front of a fan to dry. If it is too light you can always re-dip for 15 seconds or whatever gets to the right depth of color you want. Good luck!
Jeff

[Dick W.]

Re: A few plating questions....

I have used a heavy piece of steel attached to the rods to hold the cannisters submerged

[Gerard F.]

Re: A few plating questions....

Mac,

To add to Jeff's good advice, I use an aquarium heater in the dichromate tank. It keeps the mix at a constant 80 degrees. After you dip the part for the right color, if you want to bring out some red and green tones, dry it with the wife's hair dryer. (If she'll let you use it.)

Jerry Fuccillo

[Mac Peppers]

Re: A few plating questions....

thanks Jeff, i think i'll order the 1.5 gal kit. how did you close up the opening where the rods come out? do the solutions have a pretty good shelf life?

[Jeffrey S.]

Re: A few plating questions....

Mac:
The openings for the rods should be air tight in order to hold a vacuum therefore the solution cannot get in. The shelf life of these products seems to be forever. Only the black oxide seems to have a 6 month life. After this the results are a muddy brown. I forgot to mention that I plated half of each unit at a time using the joining seems as a measure of half. Overlapping Copy-Cad plating is no problem. The yellow di-chromate process was done all at once. heating the yellow to at least 90 degrees is very important. I hung the rinsed part in front of a stand alone window fan to dry for an hour or so. Don't touch the part until completely dry!
Jeff

[Mac Peppers]

Thanks *NM*

[Gerard F.]

Thanks, Jeff

You know, you're the one who got me started on the Caswell system.
My wife says something else, when she sees all the buckets of chemicals taking up the corner of the garage.

Jerry Fuccillo

[Jeffrey S.]

Re: Thanks, Jeff

Jerry:
Tell your wife I take full responsibility and remind her that if you weren't out in the garage plating you would be in the kitchen in her way. Seriously though, isn't it rewarding to complete a plating job without having pieces lost and get results like you have shown us all?
Jeff

[Donald Brunswick]

Re: A few plating questions....

Jeff,
What did you use to remove the orginal coat, acid bath?

donald

[Jack H.]

Re: A few plating questions....

Etching works! But, you can easily 'choke' on the fumes created this way unless you control the surrounding ventillation and the acid concentration of your etching solution.

Media blasting is another popular way of removing the original plate and getting down to clean/fresh base metal. But, you need a blast cabinet and have to control your media, pressure, and distance from the nozzle so you don't wind up with a 'lunar' surface to plate over...