New Off Topic RC Project - Nickel Plating turnbuckles

[JosephS]

I noticed that all of the steel parts on my cars are getting surface rust. I tried bluing in the past and it's not enough.
I am going to try DIY Nickel electroplating. It looks reasonable to try. The main goal is to make it so that my steel parts can sit on a shelf and not rust.


I'm looking specifically at turn buckles and MIP drive shafts on my rc10t2 basher.


I'm going to use CRC rust restorer to de-rust the parts.
I'll use my Zep de-greaser to de-grease the parts.
(2x) clean water bath to remove residue and chemicals.

Then I'll plate them, starting here
https://www.instructables.com/High-Quality-and-safe-Nickel-Plating/

Some things I am going to keep in mind

Troubleshooting Nickel plating


For electroplating, the deposition is directly proportional to amp-hours applied (per Faraday's Law), and nothing else (including temperature) matters in that theory.


according to ChatGPT plating threaded parts benefit to longer plating times and lower current. This allows a more even distributed deposition in groves.

Gears can be plated

There is a Type I finish which is Dull and a type II that is bright

https://www.sharrettsplating.com/blog/electroplating-defects-issues/
https://finishingandcoating.com/index.php/plating/1107-electroless-nickel-problems-and-corrective-action

[juicedcoupe]

Where the hell is your shelf?

All of my cars are kept inside my house, in my "office".

But even in a garage, something like Corrosion X or Corrosion Block should be sufficient to keep rust at bay.

[Dangeruss]

I've had black oxide screws rust inside a sealed bag. Cold bluing, black oxide coating, etc. is a decorative treatment so, without oiling or waxing the parts are still bare steel and prone to corrosion. DIY nickel plating is cool but delicate. Better protection than black oxide and unique in appearance but... about equal in resilience to vacuum metallization... pretty finish though.

Not to derail, but there's also friction plating... stainless wire wheel, wire the part down slowly, the wheel will decrease in diameter as heat causes the stainless to build up on the part. Big in the DIY brass plating community, but with brass wheels, obviously.

Really looking forward to your progress.

[JosephS]

Where the hell is your shelf?

All of my cars are kept inside my house, in my "office".

But even in a garage, something like Corrosion X or Corrosion Block should be sufficient to keep rust at bay.

My shelf is outside. Just don’t have space in the house for more than 2 cars.

I was thinking about a rust inhibitor. That seems needlessly straightforward and effective.

This is replacing my carbon fiber rc project this year. I think it’s achievable and I’ll learn something new.

[JosephS]

DIY nickel plating is cool but delicate. Better protection than black oxide and unique in appearance but... about equal in resilience to vacuum metallization... pretty finish though.

That sounds like what I am aiming for. Anything that I need sturdier I would just buy titanium hardware for.

Friction surfacing sounds interesting. Not much is popping up on a web search. Do you have anything written you can point me to?

[Dangeruss]

Friction surfing sounds interesting. Not much is popping up on a web search. Do you have anything written you can point me to?

You can google "Brass Plating With A Wire Wheel" and find some forum posts or the same term in Youtube and get videos like these:








I stumbled onto the process by accident, I was cleaning hardware and noticed bolts cleaned with acid rusted quickly but those hit with a stainless wheel didn't rust. Though, I've never used a torch, just a lot of time and elbow grease. But a torch, or even a heat gun, would definitely speed things up.

[JosephS]

You can google "Brass Plating With A Wire Wheel" and find so same term in Youtube
and get videos like these:





I stumbled onto the process by accident, I was cleaning hardware and noticed bolts cleaned with acid rusted quickly but those hit with a stainless wheel didn't rust. Though, I've never used a torch, just a lot of time and elbow grease. But a torch, or even a heat gun, would definitely speed things up.

I wonder if it can work on aluminum. I’ve wanted to plate a chassis but aluminum isn’t great for taking a plate without a layer on it first. That process would simplify it.

[JosephS]

Starting on the process today.
I had less vinegar than I thought so I’m just making a small batch.


It’s supposed to take a few hours for the solution to saturate so I am de-rusting and making the plating solution at the same time.

This is the simple setup. Vinegar with salt added in a plastic tub. I bought 2 nickel strips off Amazon.

At 3.0v and .1 amps the process seems to be working

This is what I’m hoping to skip in the future. The titanium turnbuckles are great and the steel are rusty.

Here is the turnbuckle removed from the truck.

Here it is soaking in a bag of crc rust remover.

After only a few minutes it looks like some of the solution is turning green.

[JosephS]

A progress picture

IMG_6809.jpeg (18.55 KiB) Viewed 129 times

IMG_6809.jpeg (18.55 KiB) Viewed 129 times

Seems to be working nicely.
It doesn’t look shiny in the picture but it’s obviously getting plated.

[Dangeruss]

I wonder if it can work on aluminum. I’ve wanted to plate a chassis but aluminum isn’t great for taking a plate without a layer on it first. That process would simplify it.

I've never tried a brass wheel on aluminum, but stainless wheels tear aluminum up.

[JosephS]

In progress picture. I didn’t clean the thread well enough. Photographs don’t at all capture the in person appearance.

[JosephS]

I upped the voltage to around 6 v and noticed some contaminants forming.

Knocked it back down.

[JosephS]

Relevant post from a decade ago by some users who knew what they were doing

https://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=113&p=467243#p467243

[Lowgear]

I'm very interested in this topic as I got into researching it like you have but around 4 years ago. Then around a year ago I got into it again but still never did anything. It all started due to wanting to re-plate old control line airplane fuel tanks. I have a nickel plating kit on eBay saved to my watch list that I'd like to eventually get.

[JosephS]

I'm very interested in this topic as I got into researching it like you have but around 4 years ago. Then around a year ago I got into it again but still never did anything. It all started due to wanting to re-plate old control line airplane fuel tanks. I have a nickel plating kit on eBay saved to my watch list that I'd like to eventually get.

From my initial testing today it seems to be a very DIY friendly process. The chemistry seems straight forward and diy friendly. Most everything you could need would be possible in a home except for the pure nickel. The add-ons to the process are

• salt (small amount of sodium chloride) to improve conductivity — start with 1 g per 100 mL
• boric acid – acts as a buffer (about 2–3 g per 100 mL)
• saccharin (for brightening) – 1 crushed tablet per 500 mL
• a drop of dish soap – acts as a wetting agent

It runs off 2-3v DC