Electroplating items for canister Damascus?

[Leon Husock]

I love the way nickel plated items look in canister Damascus where they get that cool, silver halo around them. So I was thinking I could electroplated items like ball bearings, pins, screws, etc. to achieve that effect in my canisters without searching for nickel plated stuff already out there. Would this work? Or would the plating be too thin/hard to achieve?

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Ball bearings are not nickel plated.
Can you tell the difference between nickel and chrome plating? Cadmium? Cobalt?

 

[Leon Husock]

Ball bearings are not nickel plated.
Can you tell the difference between nickel and chrome plating? Cadmium? Cobalt?

I know they aren’t. What I mean is if you nickel plate ball bearings, you get a really cool pattern (I’ve seen some pictures). So I would take unplated ball bearings and electroplate them with nickel.

 

[allenkey]

Check out these guys:

https://www.caswellplating.com/elec...-plating-kits/nickel-electroplating-kits.html

They've got some cool stuff. I've been waiting for an excuse to try out their black krome kit

 

[Leon Husock]

Check out these guys:

https://www.caswellplating.com/elec...-plating-kits/nickel-electroplating-kits.html

They've got some cool stuff. I've been waiting for an excuse to try out their black krome kit

Oh that’s way more fancy and official than I had in mind! I was just gonna use a car battery and electrodes and some nickel acetate solution. Maybe not as good, but a heck of a lot cheaper.

 

[12345678910]

You can just put pure nickle sheet or shims inside

 

[Nick Dunham]

I wonder if it would work to "shake n bake" by wetting the parts with alcohol or kerosene, then dredging them in nickel powder before adding to the canister.

Alternately, perhaps they could be dipped in a powder slurry and dried.

 

[Leon Husock]

I wonder if it would work to "shake n bake" by wetting the parts with alcohol or kerosene, then dredging them in nickel powder before adding to the canister.

Alternately, perhaps they could be dipped in a powder slurry and dried.

Hmm now that’s an interesting idea. And a lot simpler than electroplating. Maybe I’ll try that first, though I hear nickel powder is nasty stuff.

 

[Nick Dunham]

Hmm now that’s an interesting idea. And a lot simpler than electroplating. Maybe I’ll try that first, though I hear nickel powder is nasty stuff.

Do you think that 4600 nickel steel powder might be bright enough?

 

[Leon Husock]

Do you think that 4600 nickel steel powder might be bright enough?

I think it might work for something like ball bearings because they etch super dark, but for other stuff I feel like you want that real pure nickel pop.