Zinc services?

[jjenloe]

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.

I called Van Nuys Plating today. They said that the minumum was $150 and would cover about 6 lbs of material. I thought it was reasonable. I shot them an email with pictures of what I have and they will give me a more accurate quote
Thank you all that gave good recommendations. I feel that I found 2 vendors that could do the job.
Oddly enough, each of them are on opposite ends of the country.

 

[vfrer]

Would you share who you thought was good on the east coast?

 

[GA Architect]

east coast?

From 2021: Quality Plating @ 615-251-3515 (Nashville, TN)

For photos; < click here > post #6.

 

[Engineer8000]

vaporhone.com did a good job on my winch parts. He is in NJ.

East Tennessee chrome plating did a great job on the chrome pieces.

 

[jjenloe]

Would you share who you thought was good on the east coast?

I talked to Brian at Parker Metal Finishing. Super nice guys. He talked me through the process and was very detailed.

 

[jjenloe]

I got my hardware back. I’m not saying it was bad, but I was expecting something that looked like the front shock stud I did with the Caswell plating in the center.
I reached back out and they said I should get different results if I would have done yellow zinc instead of cadmium. I will try that on my next batch.

 

[Engineer8000]

The yellow zinc is much brighter than that.

 

[charliemeyer007]

I'm amazed they still do cadmium plating. Then again Chrome 6 isn't all that wonderful for your health either.

 

[brian]

Iirc the cadmium plating process today, is different from that of days past.

 

[White Stripe]

From what I've read a zinc and cad combination is longer lasting than just one or the other. However cad plating is toxic so a zinc and nickel combination is the way to go now. I was looking into nickel only coating but I've read its not the most durable.

 

[igotta40]

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

Jewelry!

 

[vfrer]

Looks great! Cadmium plating process is still very hazardous but it is still the best corrosion protection for unpainted steel. The military doesn't like cadmium but they still accept cad hardware cause it does work the best. The scratched surfaces are still protected by a galvanic action from the cadmium. If you see white powder on anything cad plated that is what you want to avoid touching/breathing. Read about cad bloom if interested.