Electroplating Project

[Nessism]

Bought a Copy Cad & Zinc Plating kit from Caswell's Plating and tried it out this weekend. http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/zinc.htm Cleaned the pieces by bead blasting followed by sanding/polishing the visible surfaces with sandpaper. Each piece takes about 20 minute to plate. The finished plating is coming out a little dull and requires a brief polishing with Mothers to bring out the shine. I think, hope, that once a proper power supply can be sourced that the finish will improve.

The kit was about $150 plus I bought extra stuff to make the yellow chromate look and black. The hardware should have good corrosion resistance since zinc is pretty resistant. Been playing around with using a motorcycle battery and/or a couple of trickle charges to push the ions. To set the current I'm using a GS550 IP harness with a series of light bulbs - more bulbs in the circuit makes the system draw more current.

So far so good.

[tlg1100]

thats cool,

[Dreef1999]

Hey Ed. I got a cheapo computer power supply that is collecting some dust. It can definitely pump 12v DC for you but it would take a little extra to get the amperage where you wanted it.

Just a thought. Looks pretty cool though.

[salty_monk]

The yellow passivate (if it's the same as commercial plating) greatly increases corrosion resistance. Takes it from about a 20hr salt spray rating to a 90hr one from memory.

The black is not quite as resistant as the "bright" if I remember correctly.

Dan

[rapidray]

Bike is looking good Ed. Ray.

[chef1366]

I'm sending you everything!

[Nessism]

I'm sending you everything!

Only if you come down and do all the polishing.

I'm going to look for a computer power supply to try; from what I've read the plating works best with voltages in the 1 volt range. A computer power supply has a 3 volt rail that may work better than the 6/12 I've been using. The goal is to find a way to brighten up the finish without having to do a post plating polishing. Once I figure it out, I'll be open for business.

[chef1366]

Only if you come down and do all the polishing.

I'm going to look for a computer power supply to try; from what I've read the plating works best with voltages in the 1 volt range. A computer power supply has a 3 volt rail that may work better than the 6/12 I've been using. The goal is to find a way to brighten up the finish without having to do a post plating polishing. Once I figure it out, I'll be open for business.

I've got a box full of old computer power packs.

[Nessism]

I've got a box full of old computer power packs.

I used to too...but cleaned out the storage area to make room for GS parts. Now I have to scramble.

[Dogma]

I used to too...but cleaned out the storage area to make room for GS parts. Now I have to scramble.

Time to turn in your pack-rat merit badge... tsk tsk.

[Griffin]

Careful. With that setup, one of your neighbors might turn you in to the DEA on suspicion of "home brewing" something that isn't legal.

Bike's looking great, be the way.

[posplayr]

Ed,
Very Cool ; I have browsed the Casewell site and they obviously had a lot of stuff going on there. Great you are figuring this stuff out. The Gs1000 is looking great.
Jim

[alke46]

sweet looking engine

Bought a Copy Cad & Zinc Plating kit from Caswell's Plating and tried it out this weekend. http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/zinc.htm Cleaned the pieces by bead blasting followed by sanding/polishing the visible surfaces with 320 grit sandpaper. Each piece takes about 20 minute to plate; it could be done faster but I don't have a proper power supply yet. The finished plating is coming out dull and requires a brief polishing with Mothers to bring out the shine. I think, hope, that once a proper power supply can be sourced that the finish will improve.

The kit was about $150 plus I bought extra stuff to make the yellow cad/zinc look and black. The hardware should have good corrosion resistance since zinc is pretty resistant. I'm using a couple of trickle chargers running in 6 volt mode to drive the juice. To set the current I'm using a GS550 IP harness with a series of light bulbs - more bulbs in the circuit makes the system draw more current.

So far so good.

Ed, just how did you get that engine looking so much like a brand new one? Is this something that we could all do to our own GS's?
That picture just blew my mind when I saw it and would love to get mine to look even close to that nice.

[Matchless]

Ed,
Outstanding! That frame and engine looks like new!! Well done!

[Calvin Blackmore]

beautiful work Nessim.............
the plating vat soes resemble a hybrid Beer and plating setup.....