Pot Metal Plating

[dencins]

Now that I have a functioning alkaline copper plating process for carbon steel, I decided to see what it would take to plate pot metal such as AE40 Butler Handles and Carry Handles.  I asked some antique car restorers how they restore hood ornaments, etc.  They said the problem with most platers is how the pitting is fixed.  According to them the correct process is:

1.  Strip (sandblast) off the chrome
2.  Strip (chemical) the nickel
3.  Drill out the pits one at a time insuring to remove the "vein" at the bottom of the pit
4.  Clean or sandblast the part
5.  Copper plate (alkaline or cyanide)
6.  Clean or sandblast again to remove copper oxide
7.  Fill the drilled out pits with solder (60/40 or 50/50 rosin core solder)
8.  File and sand the surface
9.  More copper plate (various methods used on this step - some use alkaline copper, others use acid copper and still others use cyanide copper)
10.  Polish surface
11.  Nickel plate
12.  Chrome plate (I stop before this on phone parts)

The problem is many plating shops either simply grind out the pits and ruin the detail of the part or they do not get deep enough into the pit to remove the "vein" going into the pot metal and the plating "bubbles up" after a few days.  Since this is very labor intensive to do correctly, the cost at a professional plating shop can be very high.     

I am stuck on soldering.  The solder is actually applied to the copper plating since solder does not adhere to pot metal.  I have not been able to get the solder to flow on the part so it does not fill the drilled out area.  I need to develop a process to insure the copper oxide is out of the holes drilled to remove the pits.

I have run out of test parts.  I am looking for pot metal parts (AE40 Receiver Plunger Blocks, Carry Handles, etc.) to use for testing - either plated or painted will work.  These can be broken or severely damaged since I will probably destroy them trying to solder anyway.  If anyone has any junk parts please contact me.

Dennis Hallworth

[pieboy977]

I am trying to contact Dennis in hopes to get a few parts plated. Does anyone have his contact info?

[TelePlay]

I am trying to contact Dennis in hopes to get a few parts plated. Does anyone have his contact info?

That's a good question. Dennis had not been on the forum since August 06, 2015 so using a forum PM may not be read for some time. He does not have an email address in his profile. Someone on the forum may be able to help you but not me other than what I just posted.

[19and41]

Did you use any additional flux on your solder application?  Also, you have to make sure the area to be soldered gets thoroughly heated.  Is it not sticking or crystallizing?

[HarrySmith]

I contacted Dennis a few weeks ago and sent him some parts. He had some bad weather damage and was just getting things back up & running. He told me he had about a month's worth of backlog on plating. Here is his email: dph8745@comcast.net