Re-plating...what are the risks

Hi all,

Has anyone been brave enough to get a lanterns plating re-done. If so was it successful. What are the risks in doing something like this. I have concerns when they strip off the old plating on brass parts that the process may damage the brass or the soldered joints etc.

 

I just had the plating re-done on a heat shield for an Optimus 11 stove.
I took off the old peeling plating and rust with glass beads in a sand-blaster. When I brought it in, he said it would not come out perfect. To do that would call for copper plating prior to the nickel-chrome. That would be several hundred dollars, USD.
So, I have a (pits showing) nickle-chrome heat shield. It will be okay for me, not a shelf-queen.
That's the extent of my experience in that realm.

Ken in NC

 

I have had a primus heater done and the nickel plating was excellent. There is one area to be very careful with though. I just handed in the old items and they did everything. The problem is that when the old nickel is removed the brass has to be polished, as the new nickel is only as shiny as the brass it goes on. They did this too well and half the stamping on the tank disappeared with the polishing. I would recommend that you get them to remove the old nickel then polish the items yourself before getting the new plating done.

 

I once heard a person working in a plating plant saying that a mayor fault people do is to sand blast before they turn in the part for plating.

Michael

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a go on a less important lantern first to test the guys capability

 

Michael,
I did blast, but I used a 30-70 grit glass bead. Not sand.

Ken in NC

 

I do vehicle restoration , the most important thing with plating is the finish of the item before the plating process starts ,so polishing to a high standard is number one ,the second thing is that in many cases, pits can be filled by copper plating the item first them re polishing. The finish then is often spectacular !

 

I tried a home plating kit and while it's certainly possible to get good results yourself the key as others have said is the surface prep. What you see before plating is what you will see after plating.

 

I had several quotes for this work all of which are too much to bother with on anything other than rare lamps where a replacement tank isn't likely to turn up.