zinc plating

[mike209]

There is a lot of zinc coated parts on a cbx and as I am preparing for nut and bolt restoration I have decided to try this process at home.
I am very happy with the result, process is super easy and inexpensive.
I found most ingredients in local grocery store and pharmacy.

pic of some engine bolts after plating and polishing plus two bolts to show how they looked before,
they all are from the same motor

[tevan]

I am all ears... What did you use? Eastwoods kit. Did you use a power supply?

[mike209]

for the solution I used following:
- 1gal of vinagre 5-6% (grocery store)
- 1/2 cup of EPSOM SALT (pharmacy)
- 1/3 bottle of KARO corn syrup (grocery store), fructose free
- 100 grams (3 oz) of ZINC SULFATE (ebay)

heat it up so it is warm (not hot),mix it and it's done, drop in anode(s) (zinc)

I have used 0-15v / 0-2A power supply from ebay

for best result parts can be blasted with media (wire brush is good too but time consuming)

dip part in muriatic acid for 2-3 sec (gloves, safety glasses, caution!!!!, strong stuff)
dip part in distilled water to rinse acid
dip part in solution (3-4V, 1-1.5A, zinc anode is positive, part to be plated is negative)

plated parts have grey deposit on the surface, it can be removed with soft wire brush (I used dremel) for nice shiny finish

[SteveG]

I also just got into the fun of zinc plating. The case bolts on my '79 CB750F project came out almost as nice as the pics above. I used this website:

http://home.comcast.net/~rt66tbird/webs ... ating.html

which has a great write up as well as pictures to guide you.

Steve

[tevan]

Power supply is the big question for me. How many amps would I need for the rear 14" bolts or the carb brackets? Would a 10 amp be enough?

[mike209]

I don't think you need 10 A, I had mine set to 3.5v and .9A and was plating 5 bolts at the time, enough for carb brackets and if you go for something bigger than that it will take more time but result should be the same, you may need more amps when you make more solution (I made 1 gal)

[SteveG]

I used a 6v/12v 1 amp trickle charger. I tried it on both 6v and 12v, I couldn't tell any difference.

Steve

[tevan]

I have a 2 amp charger. Do you think that would work?

[mike209]

Yes, 2A is good enough

[tevan]

Thanks for all the information guys. I have been reading about this in the last couple months and the cost of the power supply was holding me back. I am going to get the supplies together and try my 2 amp charger and give it a go.