Find the Right Nickel Plating Kit
It's important to choose the right nickel plating kit for your needs. While there are professional nickel plating companies you can take your old and vintage car parts, motorcycle restoration parts and bicycle parts, these businesses will always work to make the most money possible for their nickel plating services. There is nothing wrong with a business trying to make money but there may also be a better way for the weekend plater to get the most for their money.
A smart move is to buy a nickel plating kit from an online or local dealer. Isn't working with your own material what a hobby is all about? Why take a motorcycle part into a plating shop when this is something that can be done inside one's own garage or at-home workshop? One thing to keep in mind is that there are chemicals involved in the kits but modern plating kits are said to be safer and more accessible than kits in the past.
Nickel is a very wear resistant material once it is plated properly. Its durability, anti-corrosion qualities, weather resistant nature and ability to stave of wear and tear makes nickel a very desirable plating material. Nickel also reduces friction and can be used to augment undersized auto or motorcycle parts for salvage purposed. This makes nickel plating kits desirable for the home or hobbyist user. Kits that are available include a brush plating kit, tank or bucket kit and a electroless nickel plating kit. To work on automotive restoration the tank kit is a viable type to use.
Many of these kits use a tank, or even a specially lined bucket as the dipping medium. Once the tank is filled with the metal salt solution, or proper chemical solution, the anode and cathode can then be hooked up to the proper power source, either battery or 12 volt power unit, and submerged in the available solution. The longer the part is submerged in the solution the thicker the nickel plating will turn out to be. Some of the parts that can be plated this way by the home plater include motorcycle axles, brake hose ends, footpegs and chain adjusters.
Those interested in plating their own items and parts should do some research and learn about the process. The affordability and ease of use of many of the kits available will make nickel plating a viable and realistic option for the pro-active hobbyist who wants to save money without sacrificing quality for their projects.