I seen a few electro plating kits, to plate with nickel, zinc, e-chrome, and etc. They seem reasonable to buy, and I figured it would be handy to plate bolts and etc without the $$$ cost normally associated.

Anyone tried it, comments?

-Rob

There is always this mob http://www.eplate.com.au/ that advertise in Unique Cars. Their chroming kit starts at $500. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has used one of these kits.



Cheers

Steve

Its some bad stuff isn't it? I guess its ok in small doses, but from what i know, this stuff aint good for ya. Plus, there are alot of bad chroming jobs, on a car exposed to outdoor elements maybe it wouldn't work to well.

Im just talking out of my butt though, would be interested to hear if others had experience with the kit and if the results were succesful/long lasting.

The quality of electroplating, AFAIK, depends on:
- the appropriate material and cleaning of the target parts
- the polishing of the target parts
- appropriate undercoats for the target parts
- controlled, multiple coats applied
- how many people die in the process due to noxious chemicals

The net result is the difference between a Taiwanese trinket and a 1950's Jaguar bumper.

For a small amount of items it would seem to me that you should be willing to pay an established craftsman for his art. The home kits are likely to produce a similar quality result to moulding your own woman out of rubber.

p.s. sincere apologies to any Taiwanese chinese/women/men/lesbians/lebanese/artesans/chrome platers offended by this opinion.

hth

yes you would need a good ventilated area to do this job and a good power supply as well

From what I read, they say the chemicals are pretty safe, compared to the traditional stuff. It is not true chroming, but similar results are claimed.

I have had experience with a few of the DIY plating kits. and the best by far is a company called caswell australia, they have both copy chrome which is what it says and real chrome plating kits. The support you get from them is 2nd to none. I have tried the cheaper kits onthe marked 1st and was very disapointed with the quailty and support. Caswell Australia also stock all metal polishing products and repair items for seats and windows ect. I only found this out when i called them up in relation to a plating question. The results i got were exacly the same as a profesional one and im not very technical at all. the kits were easy to use and had everything explained.

have a look at http://australia.caswellplating.com 

as for paying some one to do it i needed 20 bolds done in nickel cobolt how ever its spelt and i was quoted near $1000 to have them done the kit from caswell a few years ago only cost me about $150 + p&h

I can ceramic coat thm for $5 each you just send em greasy and rusty and i'll give them back to you really shinny!They are also corosion resistant unlike chrome which is porus and will eventually rust thru from below.there is a thread in the drag racing forum with contact details if your intrested.

That was my concern with my bolts but the guy at caswell plating australia knew all about it and got me the right kit. I'm now thinking I'll chrome plate my dash inserts. Used the polishing kit on my exhaust it came up to a mirror finish.

I can not recomend enough the guys at caswell Australia

Http://australia.caswellplating.com.  Or
Www.caswellplating.com.au