The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Eastwood Tin-Zinc plating kit

I suppose this is a "tool". I have been wanting some way to finish small parts and paint isn't always the most durable. I read on Laroke's site about the Eastwood kit and decided to give it a try. So far I think this thing is GREAT!!

Years ago I had many small pieces cadmium plated and they look exactly like what comes out of the Tin-Zinc kit. I'll try to post a picture of the manifold clamps that I did. All but two of these were done by a commercial cad plater - the other two were done with the Eastwood kit in about 10 minutes (3 minute plate time).

Durable? I don't know. They say you should use their polish to protect the piece. I am leaving these pieces "as plated" just to see what happens. Since this truck will not see the light of day for many moons I will plate something and leave it out in the weather. Laroke - how's yours holding up (plated parts that is! :-) )?

The starter linkage is commercial cad verses the coil bracket done with the Eastwood kit.

Anybody else using or doing this?

[img]http://www.whcinc.com/images/CoilBrkt.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.whcinc.com/images/EXClamps.jpg[/img]

Paul, looking good. What all is involved in the plating process? Is it a lot of tedious work? ( I hate tedium!) :mad: Not enough patience unless it gives fantastic results. . .

Paul,

So far, most of my plating has been on chassis bolts and they take a beating from water (not as bad as up north 'tho). Since BillyBob is being rebuilt bit-by-bit, newly plated connectors are often screwed into rusty, unrestored parts. They begin to look ratty again after a few months. Part of the problem may be rust stains from surrounding parts. I clean them again and sometimes re-plate them. BTW, those manifold clamps look good, paul. I'll probably follow your lead when I get to mine.

Ken, It is tejus. You've got to hold each part in solution three, five, minutes or more. When I first started, I would stand there and watch the clock. Now I use long pliers with a rubber band to hold the part in solution, set an egg timer with a bell, and go do something else while the part plates.

Ken, I think it's a piece of cake. I just cut a piece of copper wire (14/2 ground wire works great) and hang the part in the plastic jar with the chemicals. The electrical clip is clamped to the wire for 3 or four minutes then lift the part out. I then rinse it off in water and check the plating. Plating seems to be thick in just 3-4 minutes.

Durability is my only concern and I will be testing that starting tonight. One thing I have going for good results is that I have a bead blaster cabinet so can get the parts absolutely clean. ANYTHING like rust, paint, oil, grease on the part will not plate.

Of course my blast cabinet is my FAVORITE tool - used every day. Nothing like a shiny part ready for paint to perk me up!

Laroke, have you sprayed clear coat on any of your plated parts? If so, does that help?

PRW

Yeah Paul,

I've used Eastwood's "Diamond Clear" with some success but it degrades after several months too. That may be my fault 'tho. I'm getting better at prepping all the time.

I've ordered POR15 "Pelucid" and "Glisten PC" products and will be experimenting with them in the near future - POR15 Clearcoats Page

I've been using a similar kit from Caswell plating for some= time now and can say without a doubt prep is the key to durability. Every single little spec of rust or dirt must be removed. At first I thought I had the parts clean only to have rust spots show up months later. My drill now starts with degreasing,wire brushing,followed by blasting,a dip in Oxy-solve for a few minutes,more wire brushing,then a cleaning in acetone. It sounds tedious and it is but the nuts and bolts seem to be holding up well.