Some guys have asked for a more detailed explanation of the plating process so here are some pics and what happens. I use The Caswell Kit. There are other plating methods and easy homemade recipes out there that probably work just as well, this is just what I use. Anyway you do it the prep work is what will determine if you have a good finished product.
Here are some upper case bolts as they came off the bike.
First stop is sand blasting. I use sand and glass sometimes but for bolts that have corrosion on them the sand works better.
Next step is the wire wheel. This will give you a smooth finish and that is one thing that makes a bright finish bolt.
The bolts are then put on Copper wires for the process. I use 18 GA thermostat wire stripped for the wire.
It's then to the degreasing pot. This pot is a porcelain lined pot, you don't want a metal pot as it can contaminate the process. The degreasing powder is from Caswell but I have used Tri-sodium Phosphate from the hardware store with fine results. The solution is heated to 200 degrees on a hot plate and the parts sit for 15 minutes.
All of the water used in the process is distilled water.
After the degreasing step the parts are sprayed off with distilled water. They are then attached to the copper hanger rod and dipped in the tank. The tank has 2 Zinc plates positioned on both sides of the parts. There is an aquarium air pump attached to an aquarium air stone that serves as an agitator for the solution. The solution is heated to 110 degrees by a submersible heater.
This is the power supply I have had forever and use. The gauges are burnt out but it keeps on going. You don't need this and can rig up a car battery system to control the power. Negative is to the parts and positive to the Zinc plates. For these bolts they stay in the solution plating for 30 minutes.
This is a key component for bright parts. I put in a couple of tablespoons with each plating batch.
Then it is out of tank and rinsed off. If your stuff comes out Gray you can brighten them up on a wire wheel but after a few years they will Whiten a bit which is normal. The Brightener helps prolong the bright look. I wire wheel all the bolt threads to clean them up after plating. On nuts I run them through a tap to clean up the threads. This helps parts to go together smoother. Hope that explains it a bit but I can't emphasize enough how important the prep and cleanliness is to the process for good results.
