I need some nickel plating done.
 

As you know, the CA version of the EPA is spelled differently. It's the EPPA or Environmental Pollution Prevention Agency. Kidding. However, we can't even buy a brass faucet that hasn't been cleared for CA sale.

The what I need to do for a customer is get some lavatory faucet parts redone in polished nickel. So easy to ship anywhere. Places around here either won't touch it or they are 4 X the cost of new. This happens to be a 20 year old and obsolete part. So, I get what I can from eBay in any finish I can and then have the desired finish done.

In this case, the NOS parts are gold finished and need the gold stripped and done back in PN. Anyone personally acquainted with a class operation? My customer is extremely picky about this sort of thing, so it needs to be perfect.

I used to do a lot of nickel plating for nuclear work, nothing I saw looked remotely thick enough to polish. Maybe it needs more soak time to put a thicker plating on?

I can see this being a time consuming and expensive repair. Do they still do bumpers? Or only in Mexico now?

I just did that with a piece of brass and got talking to the owner. They all come back within a year or less due to the sihtty chemicals. Yep, I had to take it back within three months. With tail between my legs to break the bad news to my client. If you want it done right, drive to vegas.

How about I mail it to Vegas?

Reno/Sparks had a place to that a lot of Nor Cal folks shipped their stuff off to

Hey Milt, I can recommend a call to both of these businesses.
I have personal experience with Sihilling and have seen/handled quite a bit of plating out of Christensen.

Both shops do plating for Pebble Beach Concours clientele. Christensen seems to be slightly more preferable... but I have had Great experiences with Sihilling. (Chrome plating only in that case)

I would at least give each a call and see what they say.

Christensen Plating Works Inc.
2455 52nd St. Vernon CA
(323) 585-8730

Sihilling Polishing
1702 Newport Cir. Unit D
Santa Ana, CA
(714) 543-7051

You can try Bricker Plating in Bryan Ohio. I don't know if they do what you're looking for but the guy was almost ridiculously reasonable on my fan strap, pully, fan hub, nut and spacer. Cost me all of $40 which is more than he billed me for.

Have you considered ENC? ENC is more durable than regular nickel plating however is more of a satin finish. We did both for some electrical slip rings where oxidation was an issue.

The ENC stood up whereas the plating did not. The plating looked beautiful.

If you want to ship it to Canada, I can recommend a few places.

ENC = electroless nickel coating

UB, the finish needs to match the res of the trim, e.g., polished.

I'm surprised there are a couple places still in CA. There is one that has done a lot of work for Chip Foose and all of the rich and famous 4 miles from me, but they have their head up their ass so far they look like the cartoon. They wouldn't be there at all but since they are on the 2nd or 3rd generation they are 'grandfathered'.

I was quoted $500 to do the typical parts on an old tricycle. About 8 simple parts in all with the handlebars being the only large item. That was 10 years ago.