Zinc services?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

So at one time I did work at a gun store. I help prep and hot salt re-blue hundreds of firearms. Final finish always starts with the preparations. It needs to be cleaned. polished, and cleaned again. Some with high nickel content turned purple not blue/black chemistry is the rule.

I have seen nice pic's of people doing their own plating here, maybe you should see what they used.
 
Caswell works great however it’s all in the prep. All parts I’ve had done were using the caswell, so I’d recommend revisiting your prep. Trick is using phosphoric acid after cleaning parts, usually twice dip, rinse.

See photos using caswell. I’d recommend finding a good local shop otherwise you’re stuck shipping…I can think of one or two in California and another in SLC.

IMG_8853.webp


IMG_8862.webp
 
Caswell works great however it’s all in the prep. All parts I’ve had done were using the caswell, so I’d recommend revisiting your prep. Trick is using phosphoric acid after cleaning parts, usually twice dip, rinse.

See photos using caswell. I’d recommend finding a good local shop otherwise you’re stuck shipping…I can think of one or two in California and another in SLC.

View attachment 4179430

View attachment 4179431
Yes, I use the Caswell system. Sometimes I get great results too. However, about 30% of the time I do not get good results. I do not have the experience or time to mess with this process. That is why I am looking at services that do this proffesionally.

IMG_7127.webp
 
I have used Parker metal finishing in Greensboro and vaporhone.com both with very good results.

View attachment 4180169
I looked into Parker Metal Finishing and they seemed like a good fit for me. I talked to Brian and he walked me through the process. I got to say, I've been talking to mouth breathers up to now and it was a breath of fresh air to talk to someone that form a coherent sentence.
With that said, I am going to be sending them my hardware. I will post up pictures once I get them back on this thread along with What have you done to your Land Cruiser this week? - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/what-have-you-done-to-your-land-cruiser-this-week.255593/post-16353946 .
Thank you for the recommendation.
 
It is important to be sure all paint is removed before you send. Also, springs and high strength fasteners are generally not good to zinc plate unless you bake them afterwards to get the Hydrogen out. You may already know this, just offering info from experience.
I have a couple of bolts that are under some stress. Brake caliper bolts come to mind. When you say bake, how did you do yours? Would a gas grill work? And what temp?
 
I have a couple of bolts that are under some stress. Brake caliper bolts come to mind. When you say bake, how did you do yours? Would a gas grill work? And what temp?
It's not really that easy
 
I sent all of my stuff to Van Nuys Plating is Socal

I second Van Nuys Plating. Very nice people. Family business that's been there a long time.

They do small-batch mail order. They do work for TLC4x4 and Corsetti Cruisers.

They recommended some high-heat Nickle plating for the below bits. After 5 years, not a mark on them. They even repaired one of the air rails where the small tube on the end was loose.

( those ain't my nails holding the business card, btw 🏳️‍🌈 )

1784746232214.webp


1784746282677.webp
 
Last edited:
I second Van Nuys Plating. Very nice people. Family business that's been there a long time.

They do small-batch mail order. They do work for TLC4x4 and Corsetti Cruisers.

They recommended some high-heat Nickle plating for the below bits. After 5 years, not a mark on them. They even repaired one of the air rails where the small tube on the end was loose.

( those ain't my nails holding the business card, btw 🏳️‍🌈 )

View attachment 4181167

View attachment 4181168
I will keep them in mind.
Don’t be ashamed of your nails. They are gorgeous.
 
I second Van Nuys Plating. Very nice people. Family business that's been there a long time.

They do small-batch mail order. They do work for TLC4x4 and Corsetti Cruisers.

They recommended some high-heat Nickle plating for the below bits. After 5 years, not a mark on them. They even repaired one of the air rails where the small tube on the end was loose.

( those ain't my nails holding the business card, btw 🏳️‍🌈 )

View attachment 4181167

View attachment 4181168
I do have a question though. Did you have to do any polishing before hand to get that shine? Or did you send out your items simply sandblasted?
 
I do have a question though. Did you have to do any polishing before hand to get that shine? Or did you send out your items simply sandblasted?

The parts that needed de-greasing I cleaned first, but didn't do any rust removal.

The bits shown above were given as-is. That's a high-temp Nickle plating, not zinc. They have a $100 min (or it was last time I was in there), but prices are very reasonable, I think. Or were... It's been a couple years since I took anything to them.
 
Back
Top Bottom