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  for Metal Finishing since 1989
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How to Set up a Simple Home Electroplating System

Quickstart:
     Electroplating can be done at home, but there are limits to the size of the parts, and the plating metals that can realistically be used. Specifically, while zinc, copper, nickel, or gold plating of very small parts is doable by a dedicated hobbyist, silver, brass, and chrome plating should be avoided, and large parts probably are impractical for a hobbyist.

Be careful about selling plating services or plated parts, because then you may be considered a plating jobshop and subject to a host of regulations. Read on ...

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Q. Can I do some Chrome and Brass plating at home?

I am restoring a 43 ft. 1958 boat. Lots of bright work to cleaned up and some of the parts are hard or impossible to replace. I have sent some things out for professional plating, but the cost can be daunting. I am a chemical engineer, so I appreciate the environmental and other operating costs of the professional shops. I was just wondering if there are any replating kits and instructions that I might use safely at home to do some of the small plating work. Thanks for you help.

Bill Relihan
hobbyist, conservator - Apollo Beach, Florida
March 19, 2009

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Q. Hi my name is matt, I am very much into building cars and motorcycles and just about anything custom. I have never had anything plated and I understand the prices can be pretty high, I am just wondering if there is any type of metal plating I can do at home in my garage for my self, I actually have a set of wheels that are hard to find and would like to try to plate my self, (the chrome is peeling on them) I would also like to plate a lot of other parts under the hood of the Camaro I am building, it's a 1979 Z28 and I am trying to completely restore it, and there is a lot of things I would love to chrome plate and don't want it to cost me a arm and a leg. I don't mind to labor at all I found a kit for 899.00, this is close to the kit I found, the difference is the kit I found is 6 gallon instead of 4.5, I would like to know also how much plating will a 6 gallon kit make and do you have to have any kind of license or permit to buy the kit. I understand it is an art but I do like learning and would really love to learn the trade without spending over a 1000.00 dollars, I would also like to know if there is any kind of newer technology that would make it safer and easier for someone with no experience and the finish I am looking for with the automotive parts. I have always been a quick learner and believe I can do it. There are also a lot of books that say how easy it is to do it at home and I don't believe that and am kind of sketchy about them. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks matt. P.S.: this is the kit I found, like I said it's exactly the same except bigger 6 gallon not 4.5 Gallon Kit

6 x 6 Gal Plating tanks with lids
2 x 6" x 8" Nickel anodes & bandages
2 x 4" x 8 Copper anodes & bandages
2 x 12" x 12" Chrome Anodes
2 x 8" x 8" GP Plates
3 Pack Nickel Crystals w/Brightener (Makes 4.5 Gals)
3 Pack Copper Crystals (Makes 4.5 Gals)
10 x 1.5 oz Copper Brightener A
3 x 4 oz Copper Brightener Part B
3 Cans Chrome Crystals (Makes 4.5 Gallons)
Chrome Activator
1 x 4.5 gal Flash Copper Chemicals (A, B, C)
2 Packs SP Degreaser (Makes 8 Gallons)
4 x 300 W Ceramic Heaters
1 x 200 W Glass Heater
2 x Thermostats
3 x Filter/pumps (For Nickel/Copper & Flash Copper Kit)
Fume Control Balls
2 Pack Pickle #4 (Makes 4 Gals)
Manual and DVD

matt mcdonald
beginner - Greeley, Colorado
March 17, 2009

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Q. I would like to apply precious metals to animal skulls. I am going to use beetles to clean the skull.Now I am currently trying to find a soft, low melting point, easy to work with alloy that will stick to the bone. This alloy would also be the cathode in the electroplating process. I understand your concerns with liability in regards to plating. Any other thoughts?

Matt

Matt Bostwick
- Helix, Oregon
August 7, 2009

Q. Hey, has anyone tried [brand name omitted by editor] Tank Plating and Brush Plating systems?

Joe Soltis
- Scranton, Pennsylvania USA
November 6, 2010

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Q. Greetings Ted.
Looks like a great forum with lots of information.
I apologize for not reading all 50,000 pages, but I just want to permanently solve a corrosion problem in a farm tractor. Two small parts, critical to the operation of the diesel fuel injection & control system in the C.A.V. fuel pump repeatedly corrode & seize, requiring the disassembly, cleaning & polishing, and then reassembly of the C.A.V. pump. Very tedious and time consuming, great opportunity to lose parts when done in the field, etc.
Both of the affected critical parts would fit in a coffee cup at the same time, and, since they rust, appear to be ferrous metal.
After reading the basic tutorial, it appears it would be simple to zinc plate these parts in the farm shop.
Would it be faster to use battery acid ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] electrolyte as the liquid (instead of vinegar ⇦in bulk on eBay or Amazon [affil links] )? or dissolve a zinc anode in the electrolyte, then "dip & wait"? (as mentioned in "solution disposal")?
What would the effect be of raising the current source from a flashlight battery to a 12 volt vehicle battery?
I realize that that depositing material (zinc, copper, chrome, or other) will cause the parts to be a different size afterwards, and I will have to get it back to the correct size in the critical area, either by pre polishing (we've already polished it a lot!) or post polishing.
We don't care what it looks like; I would like not to have to ever see it again, but until we solve the corrosion issue, this machine has way too much unplanned maintenance.
Obviously, to remove the corrosive from the fuel would be step #1. Apparently that hasn't happened so I am looking for additional things to solve the problem without spending large sums of money, preferably things I can do with materials on hand.

#2, "new" parts installed in this equipment also corrode as fast as the old parts.
I understand this process is probably hazardous, I am aware of safety issues, and would like to avoid problems by being aware of them, and being prepared.
Thanks for any advice & assistance you can share.
CE

Chris Edwards
Farm support - Cullman, Alabama, USA
February 14, 2011

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Q. Ted, I want to silver plate some old British Pennies "Victorian" to make some pieces of jewelry for my Granddaughter "Victoria" I think this would require something quite small to do this like maybe a fish tank...What do suggest for equipment John Harvey?? John Harvey Hobbyist - Cambridge Ontario Canada May 18, 2011 A. Hi, John. Please see our FAQ "Silver Plating at Home". The non-electrolytic silver plating from the commercial silvering solutions is very thin, but may be up to what you need, and it's certainly the easy way. Good luck. Regards, Ted Mooney, P.E. Striving to live Aloha finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

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Q. Uh, I don't have a dog in this fight, but I AM curious about a similar process that I have used to remove rust, paint and old finish from motorcycle parts. I use a soap solution, and a AC/DC 12V source. The crap comes off over night and leaves a truly workable surface for painting.

I'm wondering if, should I simply reverse the poles of the DC source----assuming that I have prepped the selected item well enough--- and provided some source of material such as junk silver jewelry for a silver finish, could there be a reasonable plating outcome? Thoughts?

Best Wishes,

Bruce

Bruce Sims
Education - Lindenhurst, Illinois, USA
October 2, 2011

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Q. Hi Ted,

I'm looking to increase my knowledge of the principles and practice of metal finishing, with a view to turning my brush-plating hobby into a more serious business venture. I've successfully plated several small objects and have had many people offer to pay me to plate objects for them, but here in the UK there appears to be a dearth of books/guides aimed at amateurs with an interest in the chemistry. I've already researched the criteria for, and costs involved in, setting up a small garage-based electroplating shop and have been given advice on handling, storage and disposal of hazardous/chemical waste. I now want to do some reading to increase my knowledge of the processes involved and I'm therefore looking to obtain guides from overseas, especially the US, which seems to be the place to get information - I therefore wondered if you could point me towards some decent literature which I could order from US...I'll even forgive you guys for spelling sulfur and aluminium wrong :)

Kind Regards

Damien

Damien Frost
- Lincoln, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
May 19, 2012

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Q. Hi Ted. I admire your advice and wisdom. I wonder, have you heard of Nikola Tesla's statement in one of his lectures that he was able to produce single electrode electrolysis? I am an inventor and experimenter who would like some input into perhaps another method to plating involving DC energy of high voltage.
If you or someone you know has read of this, can you expand upon the process? Also, what is the optimum voltage and amperage for the electrowinning of Gold? Thanks in advance.
Daniel.

Daniel Troy
- Bairnsdale Victoria Australia
April 16, 2013

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Q. Old thread but I have been reading and reading ... and reading ;) Cheers on your patience and openness to the range of questions from rookie to pro.
I have ridiculously fallen in love with cast iron. My first project was an old marine stove that I wired down and polished up.
So as I'm looking at my collection of trinkets I got to thinking about plating. It seems doable after some investment and study. I'm wondering though how you achieve detail in a piece. For example how do do get only the raised letters of a stove plate to be copper plated? I have a very ornate door. It would be neat all copper, it would be better if the copper was mixed with black areas to make it pop.

Cheers,
Brian

brian honky
- the cove, New brunswick, canada
September 29, 2014

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Q. Hi Jim

I have read through your posts on "home plating" and plating kits.

I am in the process of starting up a small one man artisan business and plan to be doing small scale acid copper and acid nickel plating - no cyanide / no chrome just the usual salts of copper and nickel and the associate acids which I buy at 30% and dilute.

I am not going to be offering a plating service, merely plating my own hand made products.

I wondered whether you would offer the same level of caution to these forms of caution as you do to chrome? I am not talking of my safety here as I understand the chemicals more the issues of commercial plating.

I am not in the US and will follow local regulations but I am environmentally aware and would always wish to prevent leaks by secondary containers and also to deal with any disposal issues responsibly ( I hope not to dispose of electrolytes any time soon as I have been informed that with proper care they can last almost indefinitely ).

I have a reasonable background in chemistry handling acids and so on.

I am in the position of a start up and I am trying to keep costs in the thousands rather than tens of thousands but at the same time I do intend to fabricate and buy a decent setup, I would of course be using sensible precautions like secondary containers to safeguard against leaks and appropriate safety measures for myself and rescue/fire although my workshop is ordinarily off limits to everyone except me and family members - no employees.

My largest objects would fit in a two foot cube.

I have been conducting small scale testing on plating miniatures of my product and everything works fine, currently I am not operating at a commercial level, the test pieces are not for sale.

I have specific reasons for needing to keep this process in house, my secondary processes after plating can never be 100% and sometimes I need to repair the surface and go back to the plating stage - I find I need to be able to tune my plating to the requirements of these secondary processes.

So in short are your cautionary views applicable across the board or do you feel some plating methods and chemistries are more suitable for small scale than others?

Kind regards

Jon Light
- Nordjylland, Denmark
November 4, 2014

A. Hello Jon, I am not one to encourage plating at home, but if you must, the Acid Cu and sulphate Ni would be some of the safer chemistries to use. For the Acid Cu you will have to store small amounts of sulfuric acid and a very small amount of HCl. For the Ni bath the chemicals needed are less hazardous, but should also be handled with care. I would recommend a storage cabinet made of a heavy duty plastic that you can lock up for storage of the replenishment chemicals. As far as secondary containment of your plating baths, you are taking the right steps. If you could buy the bath chemistries "ready to use" you will avoid handling the sulfuric and the small amount of HCl for the make up of the bath. Also keep in mind that vapors from the baths must be ventilated. Ni bath vapors (dust) can cause severe respiratory problems. Read and follow MSDS guidelines for each chemical used. Good Luck and take caution. Mark Baker Process Engineer - Phoenix, Arizona USA November 8, 2014 A. I am not in love with plate at home kits. I have only had contact with 1 company. I guess that their prices were fair, but that is debatable depending on your access to chemicals and knowledge. Out of curiosity, I bought that companies manual and was not impressed. Handling of wastes was incomplete and outright wrong in some cases. Their control of chemicals used in plating was minimal. I suspect that a fair percentage of their sales were used a few times and then put away and not used again. Some people have a talent at plating with minimal education. A large portion of the problems will come from the assorted environmental agencies. What one tells you can be opposite of what another tells you. I would not plate in the same building as you live in! A detached garage could be OK, but not guaranteed. 2 foot cube parts will need at least a 3 foot cube tank. You are talking about 100 gallons, not just a couple of liters. If you elect to do it, I would suggest rotationally molded poly ethylene or propylene tanks. Temperature will determine which. You can get appropriate tank support from enamel painted 2 x 4s. This is a huge amount of secondary containment required. An option would be to plate only the smaller parts and send out the rest to a commercial site. You will need a minimal lab to control your chemicals. Cobalt looks a lot like chrome, but is not as hard. It is generally harder than nickel. It is a whole lot safer than chrome to use. James Watts - Navarre, Florida

Q. Thanks James and Mark

Its good to get gut reaction responses.

I am taking a good look at the issues with Nickel. Acids I am familiar with, I have worked professionally in a lab environment with hazardous materials in earlier years and the things that worry me are contamination issues - acids are black and white, you know whether you have had an accident with acid whereas things like the nickel airborne fumes may inflict damage over an extended period of time - personally I feel happier with the exposure issues you can detect easily, the black and white ones.

Do either of you advocate an extracted fume cupboard approach to acid Nickel? It would be easy and cheap for me to weld up an aluminium framed polycarb cupboard ( after checking first for material suitability ) if this is feasible then I would consider it worth the effort, I have also been considering whether it would be easiest to do away with fume balls and simply have a lid that descends into the tank as the workpiece descends - I have the advantage that all my workpieces are revolved spun surfaces (similar for plating tanks) so I do not need to plan for odd shapes, it would be simple enough to have the lid and workpiece moved down as a single unit on a central pole.

If I could I would gladly hand the nickel flash plating over to a professional so that I retain the flexibility of being able to do the copper plate myself but I am concerned with oxidation, I wonder how bonding might be affected with a four day delay between nickel and copper assuming of course that I use a pickle to activate the nickel surface.

I should add that part of my process involves a ceramic coating and the copper plated items are subject to elevated temperatures in a kiln after plating - I have found that copper plate holds up well but only if cleaning procedures are surgical, in my experience plating that seems well bonded at room temperature may not be so at elevated temperatures, it took me a while to achieve the levels of surface preparation required to reliably survive the heat process but now its stable with almost zero rejects.

I am also looking at the possibility of reducing my electrolyte volume by plating sheet metal before it is formed so that I can plate a flat sheet rather than a formed object, this would simply reduce volumes perhaps by as much as a factor of ten although I would lose a degree of flexibility as would need to retouch edges that have to be cleaned up - cut as part of the post forming process, this being unnecessary if the item is plated after forming. I have no idea how the copper plate would stand up to the forming process - shortest route is to suck it and see I think.

Thanks again...

Jon Lightbourne
- Nordjylland, Denmark
November 9, 2014

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Q. Hi! I had had an interest in electroplating for some of my old tools but after reading your very informative comments I have come to realize that I will leave it to the pros and save myself the hassles. Life is complicated enough and I have kids. Rather pay someone and get it done right. I read there may be safer systems of electroplating like zinc and gold is this correct ?

Patrick Morin
Mechanic - Acton Vale, Quebec
March 30, 2015

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How to repair pits in old diecastings

Q. I own a 1988 boat that has two 4" chrome bilge vents. They are very slightly pitted. Mine look much better than this picture from eBay .

I brought them to a shop here in Sacramento and was quoted $500 to chrome both vents. Apparently they are pot metal and pits need to be filled with lead before being plated. I'd like to know more about that process. Is it lead plating?

Don Stocker
Real Estate - Sacramento, California USA
May 13, 2015

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Q. Does solution temperature affect either the quality of plating or the amount of time it takes to acquire a good plating?

Michael Horton
- memphis, Tennessee usa.
July 7, 2015

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Q. Hi,
First of all, thank you for providing your advice.

I have a 50 year old keepsake gold-plated wrist bracelet that has lost so much plating the majority of the chain pieces are down to the brass base metal. I have asked local jewelry repair shops if they can re-plate the item but nothing positive (part of the problem may be small population so no demand) so I queried the manufacturer and got the same response. Would one of the inexpensive online gold plating kits work to keep the green off my wrist?

Thanks again,

Ray

Ray Miller
- Hanapepe, Hawaii USA
September 11, 2016

Q. Thanks for the quick response Ted. I'm afraid I am not at all familiar with 'electroless' plating systems. Can you expound a bit?

Ray

Ray Miller [returning]
- Hanapepe, Hawaii USA

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how do you plate plastic

Kelvin Bellrose
- Fort saskatchewan
December 15, 2018

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Q. I am a amateur trying to plate a number of small items with a home kit.

I have cleaned the work using an anodic method in an alkaline solution, rinsed and then acid bathed and rinsed again before the plating. I have had a few issues with my power source and a very basic resistor. The power supply gave up so I have started to use a car battery as my power source. The work has plated but in some areas there is something on the surface a little like spatter from welding.

What could be causing this?

Tony Brough
Restorer - Birmingham UK
April 18, 2020

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Comment: Very interesting thread, Although I am definitely more informed, it has not helped with my wish to try plating at home. I like being independent and self-reliant which is probably my main motive.
The discussion has left me thinking on the one hand I could do some plating and end up having to send it to a professional to do it properly and on the other end up with a perfectly good end product with minimum fuss. I get so tired of endless "safety" education". As a UK train driver every step I take is governed by a plethora of rules, safety catch phrases and anachronisms, along with a mass of signs barking instructions at me at every turn. In the UK we now have commercial vans blurting out "this vehicle is turning left"....how about natural common sense and letting us humans work it out for ourselves.

John margetts
- oxford, england
May 4, 2020

Q. Hi Ted, yes, I see what you mean. The internet comes into my home and appears like a personal conversation with someone I seem to know, or at least have common interests with and yet in perspective the world is very big and diverse but my computer "world" is very small. So, I take your point. Actually, it got me thinking along the philosophical ramifications of this very situation and the dangers of getting lost in the subjective illusion of the computer matrix. I reckon there must be a film in that!
I read a book on electroplating many years ago after seeing someone plate coins in his bedroom with a car battery charger ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] , kitchen jugs, bits of wire and some small bags of chemicals. This is what made it appear relatively simple and is my only direct experience. To get my motorbike petrol tank plated by a professional is £450 ($560). Do you think I should do it myself or just pay and let someone else do the work?

John margetts
- Oxford, UK





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