Nickel plating Pinball parts

[beaky]

I have started Nickle plating all the corroded parts on my next gen.
I am doing this my self at home
I have put a brand new factory zinc plated part with the 1st part i have nickle plated.
you judge which looks better
there is a bit of dust on the parts
also the before photo

the  resto of the pin these parts came from is here http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=4853.0

[Redback]

Looks great,

How are you nickle plating at home?

What do we need so we can do this ourselves too?

Thanks,

Red

[Steevsee]

Wow! Looks brilliant Beaky.
Hard to believe its the same part. Looks better than brand new!
Very professional result.
You are a legend!

[beaky]

Looks great,

How are you nickle plating at home?

What do we need so we can do this ourselves too?

Thanks,

Red

I use diluted Hydrochloric acid to remove the old plaiting for a start.
Then I used a bench ginder with a wire brush on it to remove as many scratches as i could.
here is the link where i buy my stuff from http://www.janekits.com.au/mainframe.php

there is quite a  bit to it of course.

I will be doing more today.

[beaky]

Wow! Looks brilliant Beaky.
Hard to believe its the same part. Looks better than brand new!
Very professional result.
You are a legend!

thanks Steevsee

[Strangeways]

Maybe merge the two ST TNG threads into one thread and you could author a guide as to the Nickel process as a "tips" thread ?

This is really interesting and deserves its own thread.

[beaky]

Maybe merge the two ST TNG threads into one thread and you could author a guide as to the Nickel process as a "tips" thread ?

This is really interesting and deserves its own thread.

You are the second person that has mentioned this so i think i will.
I have changed the title were i can, please change the rest of the headings if you can / want & move this thread to the correct place.

And to the first person who mentioned it   you know who you are, you were right THIS TIME.  
LOL

[beaky]

B.T.W.
I will be happy to Plate other members parts for a reasonable fee of course.
I haven't worked out prices yet.
I decided against taking the parts to commercial place as there was a chance they could have lost some parts.

At the momement i am not set up for long pieces like legs and lockdown bar mechs but eventually I will be.
I intend doing the lockdown bar mech for this pin so it shouldn't be to long.

The part i have done in the above picture took a lot of prep work due to the shape of it.
paint was out of the question for 2 reasons.
1: it will wear off were the ball runs across it in no time and 2: Nickle plating will get into places were paint can't.

[deadlydave]

Thats awesome Beaky, 
Is nickel plating the same as chrome?
if you were to start plating as a service, I would be keen to get some parts done down the track.

Cheers
Dave

[Caveoftreasures]

Maybe merge the two ST TNG threads into one thread and you could author a guide as to the Nickel process as a "tips" thread ?

This is really interesting and deserves its own thread.

You are the second person that has mentioned this so i think i will.
I have changed the title were i can, please change the rest of the headings if you can / want & move this thread to the correct place.

And to the first person who mentioned it   you know who you are, you were right THIS TIME.  
LOL

Ha Ha. I told ya to keep it on the STNG thread, and to do a seperate nickle plating thread ! Ya must hate it when the Caveman is right again ! lol lol  
P.S - the plating looks good. I will be loading up my boot with parts to plate ! lol

[wonder]

Nothing worse than taking ten item to get plated but only receiving eight when you pick them up.

Looks very nice and i will be ordering a kit, as this will solve my problems of lost parts.

Well done Beaky

[beaky]

Thats awesome Beaky,  
Is nickel plating the same as chrome?
if you were to start plating as a service, I would be keen to get some parts done down the track.

Cheers
Dave

nickle is the closest to chrome you will get (other than chrome itself)

I have done some more parts and have come up just as good.
but just like any plating if there are any dints or scratches or pits in the metal it will show.

and yes i do intend starting a plating service.

[63wizz]

Those nickle plated parts look awesome, i cant believe how good they look, the kit would be a very good investment for a pinball restorer.

Ian

[beaky]

Those nickle plated parts look awesome, i cant believe how good they look, the kit would be a very good investment for a pinball restorer.

Ian

it is worth it.
but some people don't like the messing around with chemicals or some people just need one or two pieces done so the rest of us who buy them can help the others out.

also the problem with my pin is every piece had corrosion so even though i polished / tumbled the parts it's only a matter of time before the corrode again.

plus when it comes to a lot of the metal posts on top of the playfield they arn't cheap to replace ( when you need to replace 10 or 15 at more than $5 a piece it adds up)

I even stripped all the zinc plating off the parts that came in the flipper kit i bought and nickle coated them. it looked funny with 2 different coloured parts

[63wizz]

Got any more pictures.

ian