Joe wrote: Oh. Sounds less than optimal. So, maybe what I really need to know is: can one, with diligence and care in preparation and only a modest expenditure of money for the solution and any necessary levelers and brighteners, do really beautiful nickel plating with this method, or should the potential closet pseudo-alchemists among us leave the nickel plating to the experts? And, if it can realistically be done by us, is it reasonably safe for our health? In short NO. You may be thinking of chrome-nickel plating which uses a bright nickel process. This is an electrolytic process which can be done at home if you have the setup and chemicals. As for helath impact, usually plating solutions are corrosive and hazardous to your health. Hope it helps. Marc small piano PIANO LANCO Marc Lanthier 514-770-7438 info at pianolanco.com www.pianolanco.com From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Joe DeFazio Sent: October-14-10 2:20 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Electroless Nickel Plating? From: "Marc Lanthier / Piano Lanco" <info at pianolanco.com> Date: October 13, 2010 9:29:05 AM EDT Hi Joe, I have quite a bit of experience with Electroless Nickel. Hi Marc - thanks for responding. I'm not surprised that someone on this list has lots of experience with this, or with practically anything, for that matter; what a diverse and inquisitive bunch of folks! I would guess that if I asked the list if any list members had experience with the diet of a certain rarely-encountered snail (or Worms 1521, or X-ray binary black hole partners), someone would say yes. In this case, Nickel plating is certainly relevant to our industry, and I appreciate your volunteering to share your experience, Marc. I have slightly reordered your reply with comments/questions interspersed below: The key is to properly clean and activate your base metal. You might have adhesion problems if you do these steps incorrectly. I had gathered that, as in most finishing we do, preparation is the most critical step in this process. It says that you can throw it down the sewer ??? If I read it properly, it comes with a chemical that you mix with the remaining solution, causing a chemical reaction that renders the remaining solution disposable via drain. What do you want to plate? I was thinking piano hardware such as pedals, pedal plate, hinges, and the like (as on an older Steinway). Also, it is a very slow process. Do you want to plate for wear resistance or corrosion resistance? I guess for wear resistance, given those two choices (for pedals, for example), but I was really thinking for cosmetics. Nickel looks soooo nice when properly done. Finally, it usually produces a dull gariny finish unless chemical levelers / brighteners are added. Oh. Sounds less than optimal. So, maybe what I really need to know is: can one, with diligence and care in preparation and only a modest expenditure of money for the solution and any necessary levelers and brighteners, do really beautiful nickel plating with this method, or should the potential closet pseudo-alchemists among us leave the nickel plating to the experts? And, if it can realistically be done by us, is it reasonably safe for our health? Thanks, Joe DeFazio Pittsburgh No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.862 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3196 - Release Date: 10/14/10 02:34:00 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20101014/76387b2d/attachment.htm> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 1911 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20101014/76387b2d/attachment.jpeg>
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