Dull nickel plating vs. electroless nickel

[Knotthed]

I wonder if the "dull" bowl on the left could be buffed to "bright" like the one on the right?

EXERIC's comments about how the part is processed prior to plating seems to make alot of sense. The small pieces like fittings would look different than a cast surface like a carb, as seen on the picture of his machine. Smooth stuff is shiny and cast stuff is dull.

[T. Cotten]

I 'spose, so, Knotthed,...

But it wouldn't be the real thing anymore, would it?

We must ask ourselves: Are we here to preserve, conserve, or.... destroy forever for a moment's glory of "eye-candy bling"?
Hippocratically, I do my best to do no harm. (T'aint always possible.)

Once again, Quality Plating is in our region, and since their methods are as primitive as the original, we may do History a service by paying them a visit, if the weather ever breaks!

....Cotten

[Chris Haynes]

Many years ago an oldtimer told me the plating was Nickel Wash. Whatever that is.

[T. Cotten]

Chris!

My favorite was "nickel pickle".
(I think I read it in Fur, Fish, and Game, as an alternative to bluing leg-hold traps.

....Cotten

[DanM]

IMGP0044.JPGIMGP0045.JPGIMGP0046.JPGIMGP0047.JPGIMGP0048.JPGhere is a series of photos from a JD I am doing. I did the cylinders and other small parts with the Caswell electroless products. You can see the lifter bushing removed was quite grey, but perked up with a soft wire wheel. The appearance of the nickled part is definitely affected by the surface treatment in cluding polishing before plating to give the most mirror like shine. The last 2 show the machined nut against the cylinder- a shinier finish for sure.

[DanM]

IMGP0049.JPGIIMGP0050.JPGIMGP0051.JPGIMGP0052.JPGIMGP0053.jpg

Here I tried to hold the felt retainer which was wire wheeled before plating to the cylinders which are of course much rougher and were abraded with crushed glass. In the view with the valve cover you can compare the shine of the competition dist part to the cylinder. The breather fitting was also quite dull when removed but as with the lifter bushing shied up with a very kight application of the soft wire wheel.

I did recently see a cylinder done as dull nickle and it was much duller and greyer than anything I have produced with the caswell kit, so it must go beyond the surface treatment for dull nickle.

[T. Cotten]

Dan and All!

An alternative to "wire" wheels that I find gentle and effective are impregnated nylon brush wheels, marketed under names like "Nylox" and "Adalox".

The finer the brush, the better, of course.

....Cotten

[exeric]

Your parts look great Dan. I like the Caswell kits because you have so much control over finish, and time. A plater who used to do grey nickel plating for vintage bikes told me that it was a matter of not using brighteners in the solution. He said brighteners came into common use after WW2 because it saved the auto industry from polishing the nickel prior to chrome plating. He said if you can get a plater to do your parts between recycling the bath, he could hold off on the brightener elements and give you grey nickel. However, my experience with NOS Henderson, and Excelsior parts are, the grey comes from oxidation and bit of Mother's polish will restore the brightness. We'll never know what those parts looked like in their day so I just examine period photographs to get my clues.

[T. Cotten]

Eric!

The best brightener for patinated nickel that I have found, and much, much less abrasive than a compound, is a simple baking soda boil. (Still undecided about ultrasonics...)

A light spritz with white vinegar, and a thorough rinse is always in order, of course.
(And then Johnson's Wax for protection!)

...Cotten