ANODIZING EQUIPMENTS

Any opinions on holding distance of the gun tip from the part or substrate? Thanks!

First, let me say that I am considering purchasing the brush plating kit in order to create a ring for my husband. I found the perfect ring but it is the wrong finish. With that said…

I would like to plate a titanium ring with Black Krome, is this possible? If not, do you have any other recommendations to achieve a black finish on titanium?

Thank-you,
Melissa

So I can’t afford a good aquarium chiller and it seems the cheap ones on ebay are not worth it so I’m going to do what I always seem to do and build a simple cooling coil.

Now normally I don’t have material restrictions but with the ano bath obviously I need plastic tubing. I could use titanium but don’t have the cash.

All I’m going to do is get a coil of tubing and drop it in the ano bath and run cold water into it from another bucket of ice and water with a pump.

The question I have for all of you is that it seems most tubing at the hardware store is fairly thick walled and acts as an insulator. Does anyone have any suggestions to an inexpensive easy to find tubing I can use for this project. It has to be able to transfer heat through it’s walls.

Going to mix Five Pints of the Caswell EN and I have a few questions.
The brass part to be plated is right at 40 Sq In. The Plating Manual says to "Only add enough replenisher to bring the credits up to 100%" and suggests replenishment every ten minutes (another sentence says five minutes).. Okay, got that..
Plating a 40 Sq In part for 60 minutes will "consume" 2400 Credits. If I plate for ten minutes, I will consume 400 Credits, Replenish with .25 oz Part A and .5 oz Part C adds back 450 Credits putting me 50 credits "over" the 100% at every replenish.
Question #1. Can I plate for 11min 15 seconds instead? This figures out to consume 450 credits. I’ll need to do five of these sessions with the last session being 3 minutes 55 seconds (this will start the next plating session at 1640 credits, 380 credits above the minimum of 1260) Am I being overly critical (anal) with respect to total credits and times?
Question #2. Should the part be removed during the replenishment process? Or is is okay to leave the part "cookin’"?
Question #3. After I mix my primary bath, can I go ahead and mix the total remaining four ounces of Part A with all eight ounces of Part C to make the Replenisher? Or just premix the two parts in an amount that will be used during one plating session?
Lastly, Question #4. What is the approximate "shelf life" of the primary EN Plating solution?
Any and all help appreciated.
Thanks.

hey my friend got his ripper one back today and he wants brown and olive. i have brown, but i’ve heard that olive is hard to get right. does anyone have any input? is caswells olive dye good? if anyone can help me out that would be very appreciated. thanx!

I see Caswell has a product called Mask It. In a brush gold plating situation. Can this product be applied to a chrome piece, resist chrome stripping, resist nickel activation and still give a sharp edge to the gold plate up to the chrome?
I’ve used the nail polish and acetone to remove routine but this is not acceptable due to other paint being in close proximity to the plated item.
I’m looking for something I can apply with a brush or toothpick and peel off.
Has anyone tried this product or have any ideas?
Thanks,
Eric

Hi,

I am using Caswell Black Oxide on a piece of Carbon Steel that I am using to make a piece of jewelry from. The solution works perfectly and turns the Steel jet black.

The problem is that the piece after it has blackened gives off a putrid smell. There is nothing that I can do to get rid of the smell. I have tried to use Carbon Steel from two different vendors but both give off the same smell.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Vikas

I machined an item from 6061 aluminum. basically it is a ring (doughnut) with 6 bolt holes in the face, then counter sunk so the bolt head lays flush with the face.

I shot gloss black on them last night and had poor results. Around the machined edge of the countersink, the powder appeared to flow away…so…in essence, there is a hairline silver ring around each counter sink.

here is how I prepped:

1) scorch brited part
2) used brake cleaner
3) heated part to dry off any residue
4) powdered…cured

question: should I media blast the entire part to ensure the crisp edge of the counter sink gets etched?

Thanks

Anyone know where to buy a good heatsink for a 60a SSR?

I have looked through the Pick a Kit helper and have been following the forum for a while, and now I would appreciate some further advice from the experts.

I need to make some daguerreotype plates. This involves putting 1/2 mil of pure silver on one side of mirror polished flat copper plates ranging in size from about one inch square to up to 4×6 inches. (Thickness around 20 gauge).

My problem is that the complete Caswell silver electroplating kit and a regulated power supply are more than I can afford right now. Since my needs are pretty simple ( no complex shapes, restricted range of size, suitable base metal) could anyone recommend an absolutely base set of equipment and supplies that would allow me get started doing this kind of plating? I particularly wonder if I can using a less expensive power source.

If the complete Caswell kit is the only way to go, I will just continue saving money till I get there, but if there is a way to get going with a smaller up-front investment, that would be really welcome news.

Thanks in advance for any answers.