Plating on Steel, Pot Metal and Zinc Diecast

Tank Plating

When plating on steel, pot metal or zinc diecast you must first plate the piece with a alkaline solution. An acid based solution such as Dalmar Copper Electroforming solution # C-1 will attack these type of metals and pit them. If you see the work piece starting to fizzle or turn black immediately rinse the piece with water.

If you are tank plating the piece, it should first be plated # C-1A Copper alkaline tank plating solution. If you want a thicker build-up, after rinsing, follow this in a tank of # C-1 Electroforming solution. Copper alkaline does a great job of coating these metals but it does not build-up a lot of thickness. Once there is a layer of copper on the piece from the alkaline solution, the copper electroforming solution will not attack it and you can build it up as thick as you want.

Brush Plating

In brush plating you should first plate the piece with either # PS-2904 Copper alkaline solution, # PS-2802 Nickel alkaline solution or # PS-2800 Special Nickel preplate solution.

If you are Chrome plating the work piece you should plate it with the Copper # PS-2904, followed by Nickel # PS-2802 and then Chrome plate it with PS-2404 Decorative Chrome plating solution. All of the voltage settings are always on the label of the solutions.

For more information on plating check out the book "Everything You Should Know About Plating" available from Dalmar.