Adventures In Nickel Plating - Part Two

Nickel plating some model steam engine parts and also testing the process on different metals.

[@claretbuck1882]

Awesome 👍🏻

[@andrewdolinskiatcarpathian]

Hi Alan. Thank you for showing and sharing the results of your interesting experiment. I can see the huge value in being able to nickel plate items when restoring things. Well done. 👏👏👍😀

[@RetroSteamTech]

Hi Andrew. Thanks for watching. In part three I explore the use of alternative voltage supplies. I realised that not everyone will have a bench power supply so I have a go with an old mobile phone charger and some AA batteries. Cheers, Alan.

[@matthewhibbs9602]

Very interesting Alan. Thanks for sharing 👍

[@RetroSteamTech]

Glad you found it interesting. There will be a few more videos, as I said in this one, I want to try and plate something larger. Also I want to show the process using a different source of electricity as not everyone will have a bench supply.

[@MrFactotum]

great experiment Alan very helpful.👍👍👍👍🚂🚂🚂🚂 see you next time Kev

[@RetroSteamTech]

Thanks Kev. Hope the videos help anyone thinking of giving it a go. Cheers, Alan.

[@Xynudu]

Great result Alan. I particularly like the way it uniformly coated the brazed up part. I may use this to "colourise" the small brazed conrods on my built up model engines. Thanks for putting this up. Cheers Rob

[@RetroSteamTech]

Yes, it did a really good job on the brazed part. I've got a couple more videos on the subject. In part three I show the process using different voltage sources, batteries and an old mobile phone charger. I figured not everyone will have a bench power supply. Cheers, Alan.

[@RichardW-III]

Thank you for these videos, I have been wanting to get a kit together and to the same! There are so many little parts of my Empires I'd like to get re-plated.

[@RetroSteamTech]

Hi Richard. It is going to be particularly useful with American model steam engines, Empires, Weedens and Jensens all use a lot of nickel plated parts and over time and use it does wear. Cheers, Alan.

[@SteamEngines-Jim]

Works really well doesn't it Alan, the only thing that scares me when I nickel plate is the nickel acetate....I'm really REALLY cautious with it and take every safety precaution that I can (and I'm not really that type of guy usually) pretty handy being able to plate small parts! - Cheers Jim

[@RetroSteamTech]

Yes it does Jim. I know, I really should wear gloves but at my age I'm not too worried about the health side effects 😱🤣 It will be really useful when restoring American model steam engines as they tend to use a lot of nickel plated parts. Cheers, Alan.

[@myfordboy]

looks like a sucess Al. My understanding is to plate steel it should first be copper plated but yours came out good. I wonder how hard wearing it is without the copper.

[@RetroSteamTech]

Yes, I think it was fairly successful. I haven't tried polishing any of the test pieces yet but will do and report back. I will be doing at least a couple more videos. As not everyone will have a bench supply, I've tried it using AA batteries and an old mobile phone charger. Then I have a little 4" adjustable spanner which I will try and plate. All good fun and hopefully useful. Cheers, Alan.

[@RetroSteamTech]

Just tried polishing the mild steel test piece with some metal polish and paper towels. Comes up nice but doesn't seem to wear the plating at all. Then I tried some fairly coarse steel wool, again, no apparent affect on the plating. So hopefully it be fairly hard wearing.

[@myfordboy]

@@RetroSteamTech Sounds good. I must try some steel.

[@nobbysworkshop]

A very useful experiment for the future Alan. Something I would like to be able to do is anodising aluminium. In my early career I did get a lot of aluminium parts anodised commercially for my boss. Have you tried this process? Cheers Nobby

[@RetroSteamTech]

Thanks Nobby. Not tried anodising, it was done where I used to work but I'm really familiar with the process. Now you've got me thinking 😉 Cheers, Alan.