BigBill
Absent Comrade
Can the electroless nickel plating be polished to a bright nickel finish? The electroless nickel finish looks similar to bead blasting.
Electroless nickel plating?..
- Thread starter BigBill
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stansdds
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I would say that it would have to depend upon the thickness of the plating. Firearms generally do not have really thick plating, so polishing a satin nickel to a bright finish might result in exposing the underlying steel. Firearms that have brightly finished nickel or hard chrome finishes start with highly polished steel.
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Electroless plating is typically a very thin but uniform coating, and is usually below .001" in thickness. It can be polished, but is normally applied over a glass beaded or silica textured substrate. This texturing of the metal substrate actually helps the deposition and adherence of the nickel. I would say if your gun is satin or bead blasted underneath the plating, then it would have to be stripped and polished, and the plated finish be re-applied in order for it to have a bright finish. Any attempt to polish it "as is" would likely damage the existing plating.
I applied electroless nickel plating for approx. 20 years, primarily as an attempt at stopping or preventing oxidation on duty firearms, magazines, and other carbon steel parts. It is very resistant to corrosion, but still requires regular maintenance.
The best company for applying this material in my opinion, is Robar.
Photograph of my old model 34, (originally blued) which was the only handgun I attempted to electroless plate after buffing to a "bright" finish. Not bad.....but I take my hat off to the people in the buffing rooms at S&W, who did most of the work. I just plated over the work they had already done.
I applied electroless nickel plating for approx. 20 years, primarily as an attempt at stopping or preventing oxidation on duty firearms, magazines, and other carbon steel parts. It is very resistant to corrosion, but still requires regular maintenance.
The best company for applying this material in my opinion, is Robar.
Photograph of my old model 34, (originally blued) which was the only handgun I attempted to electroless plate after buffing to a "bright" finish. Not bad.....but I take my hat off to the people in the buffing rooms at S&W, who did most of the work. I just plated over the work they had already done.
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I’d air on the side of caution and say it is likely that the previous plating will have to be stripped. Definitely ask Robar or even CCR... used both and I know both will give you an awesome final product.
I do know that the anodizing had to be chemically stripped off my 642-1 prior to NP3 Plus.
If a refinisher says it doesn’t need to be stripped, especially without looking at it... I’d find another refinisher.
I do know that the anodizing had to be chemically stripped off my 642-1 prior to NP3 Plus.
If a refinisher says it doesn’t need to be stripped, especially without looking at it... I’d find another refinisher.
I degree of brilliance of the plated finish is generally whatever the degree of brilliance the base metal is underneath.
No different that bluing really.
Electro Plated or Electroless plated,,it really makes no difference.
If the steel base metal has been brought up to say a 280 grit polish,,then that's about as bright as the plated finish will appear as the grit lines in the metal won't allow the mirror like shine..
a 1000grit underneath,,then that's about as bright as the plating will be able to be buffed after it's applied. A bit brighter than the undersurface finish, but thats just the plating itself. The scratches that represent the grit of the polish of the base metal will still show as just that.
Plating isn't a filler, it's a coating and you get on top what you have underneath it.
(There are some processes to build plating up to fill depressions and build tollerances but that's not what general firearms plating does.)
You can buff up a plated surface and get it to shine even over a reletively rough base metal,,but that rough surface will still show itself.
A bead blasted surface is no different,, the matted surface is still there and buffing the plating applied over it won't smooth it down and result in a mirror surface. It will shine up some however from the buffing application.
Metal polishing, especially to the high degree necessary for the brilliant mirror finish necessary for bright plating is difficult to do to say the least.
Extremely difficult on the multiple contours and sharp edges of a gun part,,and to keep them looking that way.
It's easy to press a part into a buffing wheel charged with white compound and back away and admire the mirror shine. But near impossible to do it on gun parts when you need to keep flats flat, straight lines straight and contours just as they should be.
Hand polishing won't get the high shine needed, you need high speed contact. That's where the skill of the polisher comes in and that comes with nothing more than experience and the familiarity of his/her equipment no matter how basic it may be..
No different that bluing really.
Electro Plated or Electroless plated,,it really makes no difference.
If the steel base metal has been brought up to say a 280 grit polish,,then that's about as bright as the plated finish will appear as the grit lines in the metal won't allow the mirror like shine..
a 1000grit underneath,,then that's about as bright as the plating will be able to be buffed after it's applied. A bit brighter than the undersurface finish, but thats just the plating itself. The scratches that represent the grit of the polish of the base metal will still show as just that.
Plating isn't a filler, it's a coating and you get on top what you have underneath it.
(There are some processes to build plating up to fill depressions and build tollerances but that's not what general firearms plating does.)
You can buff up a plated surface and get it to shine even over a reletively rough base metal,,but that rough surface will still show itself.
A bead blasted surface is no different,, the matted surface is still there and buffing the plating applied over it won't smooth it down and result in a mirror surface. It will shine up some however from the buffing application.
Metal polishing, especially to the high degree necessary for the brilliant mirror finish necessary for bright plating is difficult to do to say the least.
Extremely difficult on the multiple contours and sharp edges of a gun part,,and to keep them looking that way.
It's easy to press a part into a buffing wheel charged with white compound and back away and admire the mirror shine. But near impossible to do it on gun parts when you need to keep flats flat, straight lines straight and contours just as they should be.
Hand polishing won't get the high shine needed, you need high speed contact. That's where the skill of the polisher comes in and that comes with nothing more than experience and the familiarity of his/her equipment no matter how basic it may be..
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