Nickel plating?

[buzzboy]

Now that I am feeling some milling coming on I feel that I need to step up the coloration. Most people it seems like flashy colors and I am a little bit differnet. I would really like to get electro nickel plating. I have done a little bit of research but I have not found any sites that offer pricing without sending in a quote. I also have a few small questions.

How durrable is this kind of finish?
How much would it cost?
Where could I get it done?
Is this the finish on the "finger print nightmares"?

[MANN]

pm jay(rrfireblade) a few years ago he did a chrome/nickel plated emag. It was/is

[minimag03]

Contact PPS, they do a lot of nickel plating. I think it isn't too cheap, but is fairly durable if you don't abuse it. Their matte nickel finishes are to kill for.

[MANN]

not mine, but beautiful

[rx2]

I have a few nickel-plated firearms, as well as a nickel-plated y-frame. The finish on all of them is durable. The color, especially on the y-frame, tends to have more of a yellowish hue. They do print easily, however. One thing I have noticed, though, is that the y-frame tends to hold prints more than my firearms. That is, on my y-frame, the prints require a damp cloth to really get all of the print off. My firearms, however, simply need to be wiped with a dry cloth. I have been told that this is due to the specific alloy used for plating. As such, some plating seems to be more industrially oriented than others. Regardless, it is still relatively durable.

[Chaos_Theory!]

That Emag is chrome plated. There was also an Xmag that had been chrome plated.

Anyway, nickel is pretty durable. The main thing you need to worry about is chipping and/or flaking. This can usually be avoided if the person doing the plating does a good job.

Nickel plating has more of a roesy tint to it where chrome has a bluish tint (not very noticable with either).

Chrome will scratch pretty easy as well.

[athomas]

A good hard-chrome finish is hard and shouldn't scratch. A hardchome finish resists finger printing a bit more than nickel.

Standard nickel finishes have a yellow hue. A cobalt nickel finish has a more blue tint and is a bit harder than a standard nickel finish. Nickel does react with the acids in your fingers and will show finger prints so it will need to be polished more often.

[turbo chicken]

Which is cheaper chrome or nickel plating?

Edit ... corrected spelling.

[Chaos_Theory!]

Nickel

[PumpPlayer]

Nickel plate is going to be a dull to gray shade of silver.
It is shiny but nowhere near as "bling" as chrome. It's nice but it offers very few advantages over anodizing when you're talking about finishing aluminum.

PPS uses "electroless" nickel plating which uses a catalyst instead of impressed current. It's less expensive and with modern processes, actually comes out smoother and more uniform than with the impressed current method (because there are no electrical resistance losses).

However, nickel plating on aluminum is going to change your tolerances on your parts. With a 'Mag, you may run into clearance issues. Anodizing does not have as much of a problem unless this is the second or third re-anodizing. Also, nickel plating is going to scratch a little easier than a hard-anodized finish. Nickel is a great finish choice for brass which is why PPS uses it but there's no significant advantage for Al finishing.


Chrome is a different story altogether. A chromium and aluminum couple forms a galvanic circuit which will pit and corrode the chrome over time. You have to use an insulative 'intermediate' plating that gets sandwiched between the Al base and the chrome plating and prevents corrosion. This makes the process twice as long and significantly more complicated - thus, much more expensive. That is, to do it correctly at least.



I still want to see someone make a barrel with a teflon-impregnated anodized bore finish. Talk about easily shooting through breaks...

[turbo chicken]

Guess it's back to polishing everything and going to a clearcoat of something for me then ...

[Chaos_Theory!]

I still want to see someone make a barrel with a teflon-impregnated anodized bore finish. Talk about easily shooting through breaks...

Thats actually been done but the company that did it no longers works with paintball stuff.

[buzzboy]

Well then it seems that their problems with getting a gun nickeled outweigh the pro's. Is there any other cool finish that would be metalic and polished shiny but not anno. How about brass.

Are there any ways to get this look with anno.

[athomas]

Zincate is the chemical bond needed to plate aluminum with nickel or chrome. You apply a layer of zincate to the aluminum and then plate the nickel/chrome over that. Otherwise the oxide layer that builds up on the aluminum will eventually cause the chrome/nickel to come off.

Chrome is more expensive to do because it requires a layer of nickel before the chrome is put on.