I used to use the Texas Platers Supply brush plating setup years back. About as basic as you could get, but the same idea.
I first used a drycell battery for power then got a motorcycle battery charger and set it at 6v and used that.
Worked just fine and in fact still pull it out once in a while and plate some small parts with it like a Win21 trigger for a restoration.
About the largest parts I ever did were Colt SAA back straps and trigger guards ,,some cylinders and bbls too.
Gold, silver and nickel for final finish.
I have copper and brass also.
I did a Browning 25auto in gold once after I engraved it. They all came out just fine.
The plating will build up as heavy as you want it too,,just keep applying it with the brush and in the Texas Plating kit the stuff was a gel that you dipped the brush in and applied it with.
I remember doing a Remington 41 derringer with nickle using it to fill the pitting. Plating then polishing it back off to leave the pits filled.
A repetitive slow process but it worked.
The final product was engraved and silver plated.
Sounds like the Caswell is more of a liquid but the same idea.
Nickel plate needed an under coat of copper in my case,,just a quick flash coating and then polish that copper up nice and brite. Then plate with the nickle.
The nickle when first applied came out very dull, milky colored and uneven in coloration . But as in commercial plating it needed to be buffed to bring out it's nice brite luster. That I did with simichrome on a rag or even a toothbrush on small uneven parts. A small buffing wheel with simichrome rubbed onto the surface and let dry worked perfect for larger surfaces.
The gold and silver also used a copper flash plating underneath (I used a brass plating sometimes if I didn't have any copper avail and it worked fine).
Polishing the gold or silver plate was needed also after the work was done to bring up the luster but that was always done with simple hand polishing as the gold and silver are much softer than nickle and polish up easier and quicker.
I used the brass plating soln to touch up damage done to brass framed guns and other objects. The damage first filled and fixed with the new silver bearing soft solder (tin/silver) low temp of 400F allows simple soldering fix.
The tin/silver solder allows the plating to take just as if it was any other nonferrous metal and the area could be repaired quite nicely w/o resorting to high heat techniques like brazing and hard soldering.
Medallions and initial plates like those on shotgun toe lines that were orig gold or silver plated and worn could first polished carefully. Next masked off to protect the wood around them from the soln.
Then replated. I would use a common needle with the neg lead clamped to it to touch the medalion of plate while the + lead was attached to the brush with the plating compound did the work . Some careful maneuvering completed the work w/o any marks on the surface from the neg contact being clamped to it while in place.
That little set got quite a workout over the years. I think I first started using it in the mid 70's.
The little jars of '24kGold compound' were pretty cheap then compared to what they want now for them, if they're even still around..
