Jump to content
Military Firearm Restoration Corner

Nickel Plate


scott63

Recommended Posts

Well I bought a nickel plating kit(electroless) to plate a receiver in a matte finish to match a stainless matte barrel. I knew it would not be an exact match, but I was looking for a nice subdued matte nickel, like the top of a 1970 series Colt 1911. I bead blasted the parts to be plated with fine glass beads and it did have a nice matte sheen to it.

The plating process went smoothly and came out with a nice uniform plating. However, it is so shiny, I'm sure that it would be the perfect thing for a pimp on T.J. Hooker or Starskey & Hutch. I'm thinking of trying to bead blast it and hold the blaster farther away than usual to try to not destroy the plating itself. Has anyone tried this? Thanks for any ideas......Scott

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let's see a pic.

 

I'm sure bead blasting would work. Just keep the nozzle far enough away from your peice,,,,and go slow.

 

Well I tried it and really would not recommend it. The plate should be a solid 5mils and just about the time it looks right is when the plate begins peeling off.

I ended up stripping off the plate from the bolt and recoil lug and then blasting it with a coarse grit glass and replating. I am waiting to see how they turn out before I strip down the receiver and other parts.

I was able to blast the receiver and cocking piece pretty aggressively and it didn't go through so we'll see. Bottom line is, don't try this unless you are prepared to do it all over as you will most likely go through the plate. I'll post more pics as they become available, this pick is the receiver after blasting, still too bright in my opinion. The areas that look rough are an illusion, it is all smooth, just came out weird in the pic.

I'm hoping I can find some combo that works as I am wanting to use arem 700 stainless barrel on a turk action.......................Scott

post-472-1170296351_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, you can always use it at parades and funerals with the VFW...

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!That is a good one. Seriously, if anyone knows of a chemical that will dull nickel let me know. I'm calling the company that sold me the kit tomorrow to see if they have any ideas....Scott

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.pfonline.com/articles/040102.html

 

"Other Types of Nickel. To obtain other types of finishes such as satin nickel, organic additives are used and deposition conditions are altered. Deposits from a Watts bath are usually 7-10 mm thick, with the appearance dependent on the temperature and/or pH. At higher temperatures and a pH of 4.5-5.0, nickel deposits are matte. At 122F and a pH of 2.5-3.5, deposits are bright."

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.pfonline.com/articles/040102.html

 

"Other Types of Nickel. To obtain other types of finishes such as satin nickel, organic additives are used and deposition conditions are altered. Deposits from a Watts bath are usually 7-10 mm thick, with the appearance dependent on the temperature and/or pH. At higher temperatures and a pH of 4.5-5.0, nickel deposits are matte. At 122F and a pH of 2.5-3.5, deposits are bright."

Thank you for the info, I'm wondering what "...organic additives..." are? Maybe filtering through charcoal? I called the company that produced my kit and they told me that basically I need to bead blast it more aggressively. I'm trying for the matte nickel look like on the top of a slide of a nickeled 70 series .45 auto. I'm going to buy some stripping chemical, strip it, and blast it some more and re-plate it. We'll see what happens. On the parts I re-blasted/plated, they are closer to what I want so I think that is the ticket.....Scott

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Based on the article:

 

A "Watts-bath" is a nickel-sulfate solution.

 

For the Watts bath, a ph of 4.5-5.0 and higher temperatures gives a matte finish. The table included ran the Watts bath to 160.

 

If you're using a sulfate solution and the kit gives ranges for ph and temp, I'd try the extremes on each and see what gives. I've never nickel plated something. I've seen it done for increasing diameters for tolerancing (worn shaft sleeves, bearing areas, etc). The area was copper plated first then nickeled. Doing a full nickel is neat but new to me. The copper first stuff had a tendency to peel.

 

I have a "nickeled" 45 Gvt. frame done by Metaloy and am very happy with it. A darker, matted nickel. I had talked to the guy on the phone about doing a rifle, but he said they only did smaller stuff. I guess a stripped receiver would be small. Dunno...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Based on the article:

 

A "Watts-bath" is a nickel-sulfate solution.

 

For the Watts bath, a ph of 4.5-5.0 and higher temperatures gives a matte finish. The table included ran the Watts bath to 160.

 

If you're using a sulfate solution and the kit gives ranges for ph and temp, I'd try the extremes on each and see what gives. I've never nickel plated something. I've seen it done for increasing diameters for tolerancing (worn shaft sleeves, bearing areas, etc). The area was copper plated first then nickeled. Doing a full nickel is neat but new to me. The copper first stuff had a tendency to peel.

 

I have a "nickeled" 45 Gvt. frame done by Metaloy and am very happy with it. A darker, matted nickel. I had talked to the guy on the phone about doing a rifle, but he said they only did smaller stuff. I guess a stripped receiver would be small. Dunno...

 

I was looking at Brown Precisions website today, cause they are relativley close to where I live, and I saw that they offer an electroless nickel finish on their rifles. I've never seen one of their rifles finished this way, and didn't see one on their site, but they must be dulled down. Now I'm waiting for chemical stripper to retry mine with some vigorous beadblasting.....Scott

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...