I got some dry Nickel Acetate from eBay, and tried applying it to this:
http://www.instructables.com/id/High-Quality-and-safe-Nickel-Plating/?ALLSTEPS
I mixed a small amount of it with clean, filtered water and some sea salt, gave it time to dissolve, and attempted to plate my flare-tip Superspeed with it. At first, I only got black marks around where the alligator clip contacted the razor, using a variable-voltage wall wart. I cleaned it with Barkeeper's Friend, added a little more salt, this time seeing somewhat more even results across the razor, but it's still mostly in the form of it turning black in some areas (particularly edges or anywhere that there's a pit or indentation.) The knurling on the handle seems to be particularly affected. I must've given it a good 20 minutes with me rearranging the razor and clip every 30 seconds or so, and I still see a lot of brass, and a lot of what is plated, turned black.
When I added the salt, I did a test with nickel plates at both ends, with the voltage cranked up, and it quickly started dropping black flakes off the cathode, which are still floating around the solution. That may be an indicator that there's too much salt in the mix now, but I feel like there wasn't enough when I started.
Where did I go wrong? Should I have just tried to make my own solution using the plates I got? Too much salt? Should I have mixed it using vinegar instead of water to make the solution?
The pictures make it look like the razor did plate, but it still looks like brass in person. The iPhone camera washed out the color entirely in some of them.
http://www.instructables.com/id/High-Quality-and-safe-Nickel-Plating/?ALLSTEPS
I mixed a small amount of it with clean, filtered water and some sea salt, gave it time to dissolve, and attempted to plate my flare-tip Superspeed with it. At first, I only got black marks around where the alligator clip contacted the razor, using a variable-voltage wall wart. I cleaned it with Barkeeper's Friend, added a little more salt, this time seeing somewhat more even results across the razor, but it's still mostly in the form of it turning black in some areas (particularly edges or anywhere that there's a pit or indentation.) The knurling on the handle seems to be particularly affected. I must've given it a good 20 minutes with me rearranging the razor and clip every 30 seconds or so, and I still see a lot of brass, and a lot of what is plated, turned black.
When I added the salt, I did a test with nickel plates at both ends, with the voltage cranked up, and it quickly started dropping black flakes off the cathode, which are still floating around the solution. That may be an indicator that there's too much salt in the mix now, but I feel like there wasn't enough when I started.
Where did I go wrong? Should I have just tried to make my own solution using the plates I got? Too much salt? Should I have mixed it using vinegar instead of water to make the solution?
The pictures make it look like the razor did plate, but it still looks like brass in person. The iPhone camera washed out the color entirely in some of them.
