DIY Yellow Cadmium Plating - works amazing!

[brasch]

I had a bunch of stuff completed locally, but still needed to buy a bunch a new bolts and other things. So I bought a DIY kit from Caswell and it works amazing on any fresh zinc plated parts! After a little testing out of various ways to do the plating, I found that using a metal kitchen strainer and jiggling the bolts in the water/plating solution works the best. I then Chicago as much liquid as I could spread it was some distilled water and then put it on our shop rags to dry jiggling it every once in a while. They look as good as the ones I had played professionally, and it allows me to replace bolts that I forgot about and make them look just as good.

[Catorce]

Really cool, I use the Caswell stuff but just the zinc. What's the step after zincing them? Just dump them in that yellow chromate?

[brasch]

Yes, any zinc plated item you dip in the solution for 1-4 minutes then let dry for 4 hours... looks great then

[Slanski62]

Do you have to boil the solution or does it work cold? I guess the pot you use gets plated too, right?😀 How durable is it? Thanks for your post!

[brasch]

I just mixed it and leave it in a bucket, I use it room temperature, its as durable as normal yellow zinc! Cool

[sc_rufctr]

Nice work but how durable is the yellow finish?

[tirwin]

BTW that yellow chromate solution is pretty toxic stuff if I remember correctly. Make sure you wear the appropriate air filter mask.

[mb911]

Pretty cool. I have had all of my 914 hardware replated locally but this would help for the stuff i forgot about..

[jamesjedi]

Hexavalent chromium is a suspected carcinogen. I think it is what gives yellow chromate the yellow color.

Perhaps the new yellow chromates are hex free.

[brasch]

Yes wear gloves, chemical mask and eye protection, plus usually outside. The finish is the same hardness as the yellow zinc the platers do, after about 2 days it's hard as a rock

[RichardNew]

I used the black chromate on some steel lug nuts a few years back. They looked beautiful for a while.

Lug nuts do get a lot of abuse though.

Richard Newton
Useless Tech Stuff

[1979-930]

I am doing the same thing with hardware. The bolts match the professional zinc parts exactly.
I picked up a mini crockpot at WalMart for $9.00 and set it on low to warm the solution. I just leave the extra solution in it with the lid on.
Not wearing safety gear explains the extra finger I grew.

[Dpmulvan]

It's plating with zinc then dipping in sodium dichromate. You can buy sodium dichromate and other ingredients off eBay for a fraction of the price that caswell charges. It won't last like cadmium but looks good for awhile.

[Tremelune]

This is mainly a cosmetic procedure to make the parts look yellow. This procedure only takes effect on a part that is already plated in zinc, and adds marginal protection in concert with that initial plating.

https://www.finishing.com/385/52.shtml

Yellow chromate of olde was hexavalent, and it's now somewhat illegal. These days it is trivalent and more or less harmless.

https://www.epi.com/media/1695/trivalent-chromates-faq.pdf

[Ferrino]

Would this solution be harmful to rubber hoses? It looks like they are only immersed for a a minute, so probably not? I have a new set of cam oil lines that come with the hoses pre-crimped and I'm a little OCD about yellow zinc :-)

[T77911S]

are the bolts new

[Barrpete]

Originally Posted by jamesjedi

Hexavalent chromium is a suspected carcinogen. I think it is what gives yellow chromate the yellow color.

Perhaps the new yellow chromates are hex free.

Googled the SDS and this is hexavalent chrome (chromic acid and sodium dichromate) so handle with care. When it's time to dispose of it take it to a household hazardous waste disposal event if you have them in your area.

[Evan K.]

Chromium 6 is what the movie "Erin Brockovich" centers around. Bad stuff. Be careful.

[Trackrash]

I've been doing this for a while as well. Good tip that this is available on ebay.

I was surprised that they would ship it to Kalifornia. I guess the geniuses in Sakramento haven't figured out it is toxic yet. Thank goodness.

BTW, after a day a coating of Gibbs will help keep it shiny.

[sithot]

Originally Posted by Ferrino

Would this solution be harmful to rubber hoses? It looks like they are only immersed for a a minute, so probably not? I have a new set of cam oil lines that come with the hoses pre-crimped and I'm a little OCD about yellow zinc :-)

I don't believe rubber will mind. Ideally you would plate and assemble. Of course, a $1,500 Cohline crimp tool is needed.
Yellow Zinc has gone away as it will soon be banned in the EU.
It's the best for corrosion. The parts you now get are "clear" or "white" because of the upcoming ban.

On September 21st 2017 the EU will enact legislation banning the use of hexavalent chrome solutions to plate decorative components as outlined in Annex XIV. This is because trivalent chromium solutions are deemed a viable alternative. This will impact all finishers in Europe along with all who export finished goods into the EU using hexavalent chromium finishes.

Good luck.