Tin-Zinc Plating

[Frank M.]

Recently there was some discussion on Tin-Zinc Plating, and two vendors were mentioned. One was Eastwoods and I can't recall the other. Can anyone help me out with a name, phone number, or web-site. Also will this plating system work on mid year tire carrier bolts. The container you plate in with this system doesn't look very big. Finally, am I wasting my time with this system to do what I want to do. I've tried to get them re-plated locally, but I was told it would be cheaper to buy new, then to have cadmium plated. Any help would be appreciated.

[John M.]

Re: Tin-Zinc Plating

Frank, the other vendor is Caswell Plating and they have a system they call copycad.I have used it for about 2 years and have had very good results, but to get set up with the 3.5 gallon system it will set you back about $170 if memory serves me right. You could get the 3/4 gallon system to save money but will limit the size of the parts you could plate. If you are only doing a couple of parts it would probably be cheaper to send them out to someone else. I have plated everything from nuts and bolts to my instrument cases and have paid for the system many times over.There is a learning curve, but the people at Caswell are very helpfull. John Mc Graw

[Andy Anderson]

Re: Tin-Zinc Plating

I have Eastwood Tin Zinc Plating sys. and I couldn't get a long with out it. It is as good as any professional plating. You get a 2 qts of solution. You can put it in any size plastic tray. 1"x2"x 24" and you can do a piece in sections. It takes about 5 min for the time I get it out untill I am finished. Here are two places to get the kit. Eastwood 1-800-345-1178 or The auto Shop at sears 1-800-557-3277 Hope this Helps.

http://www.eastwoodcompany.com

[Joe L.]

Re: Tin-Zinc Plating

Frank-----

The secret to getting parts plated economically at a plating shop is to get together ALL of the parts that you need to have plated and do them all at once. Usually, plating shops have a minimum charge. So, if you have only a few pieces or if you have a hundred, the charge is the same. Usually, the minimum charge is around $100 to $150. However, very often they will apply different finishes to different parts so you don't need to have everything done in the same finish and you'll still get the work done within the minimum charge.

Of course, there is a maximum amount that they'll do within the "minimum charge", but I've never even come close to reaching it. If you knew others that needed to have parts plated, you could probably take all of your work in together and get by for the "minimum charge" and then share it.

However, if you have only several parts to be plated you're definitely better off using the Eastwood or Caswell systems.

Also, as far as cadmium is concerned, many plating shops don't use it anymore for environmental reasons. About the only ones that do are those that do mil-spec work and it's even being phased out of that due to USEPA pressure. Beyond that, many of the original Corvette parts that folks think are cadmium plated are really zinc plated. GM had phased most cadmium plating out by the mid-60s and had gone to zinc. Actually, there is very little appearance difference between clear zinc and clear cadmium and either can receive the irridite (gold-colored) "bright dip".

Lastly, if you do use the home-plating kits, make sure that you don't discard the spent plating solutions down the drain. Because of the high concentrations of heavy metals in these solutions, even the small volume that the home-kits contain can cause MEASURABLE environmental damage. For instance, a wastewater treatment plant serving an industrialized city of 125,000, or so, generally discharges approximately 8 ounces of soluble cadmium and perhaps 16-32 ounces of soluble zinc PER DAY to it's receiving waters. The plating soulution in one of these kits can contain 1-5 ounces, OR MORE, of the solublized heavy metal being plated, so that should give you an idea of the potential impact of this seemingly innocuous material. Have spent plating solutions disposed of as hazardous waste (which it DEFINITELY IS). Many communities have free or low cost drop-off sites for this type of material. Bear in mind that if this material is not handled responsibly or if the USEPA even THINKS that it could be a water-quality problem, we would probably find its sale and use banned in the future.