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Nickel plating on stainless steel ?

November 1, 2011

A question for finishing.com whose insights into plating very helpful.

Im a sculptor in France making decorative pieces in brass plate 1/4 " thick that are than then being silver plated.
Cleaning silver is something that many of my customers would want to avoid and nickel plating is close enough in color to be acceptable ( unlike chrome or stainless steel).
I would like to make my new pieces now in steel and nickel plate them if that is enough for rust protection or make them in stainless steel and nickel plate them (for color preference only at this point since SSteel does not require rust protection )
Is it possible to plate SSteel ?
Is the process the same as on ordinary steel ?

Looking forward to hearing from you

Piotr Sierakowski
metal sculptor - Paris, France

Hi, Piotr.

Nickel plating on steel would probably be sufficient for indoor use, but not for outdoor exposure unless the nickel plating was quite thick and well done.

Yes, stainless steel can be nickel plated, although it does involve an extra step. Good adhesion is possible, but if something goes wrong, blistering of the plating could occur. The extra step is Wood's Nickel Strike (a high-acid, low-nickel plating solution).

One possibility you seem to not want to consider is nickel plating of brass, and I think this is the best solution of the three because you will not have the potential adhesion problems of plating onto stainless steel, and nickel plated brass ages gracefully whereas nickel plated steel does not, but eventually gets rusty pits. Good luck and thanks for the kind words.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
November 1, 2011

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November 4, 2011

Thank you for your answer,

I used to use brass and nickel plating it would be great but my work is a bit lake a lace , my pieces are water jut cut from 1/4 brass plate and there are hundreds of holes in each piece.

Water jet leaves rough sandblast-like surface on the edges and I have to repolish it with hand held Dremel ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] ( dentist-like work except I don't get paid like a dentist...) , so the idea of using SS came when I saw how polished and shiny the laser cut steel edges are.

Unfortunately laser only cuts 1/8th brass plate.

Are you saying that nickel plated SS will not age well ?
Aging is important consideration for me, my pieces are dear to me, and to my clients.

Best regards

Piotr Sierakowski
- Paris, France

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There's no reason to nickel plate stainless steel. The common stainless steel alloys will remain bright and corrosion free in the unplated condition, and the color of stainless is virtually identical to the color of nickel plating.

You cannot tell nickel plated steel from stainless steel visually. Over time, the nickel will slowly tarnish and become dull, and the underlying steel may corrode. Stainless will not suffer either of those problems.

Use a common stainless like 18-8, have it electropolished after fabrication, and it will look good and last longer than you.

Jeffrey Holmes, CEF
Spartanburg, South Carolina
November 7, 2011