Letter 12093

I WANT TO LEARN A LITTLE BIT ABOUT NICKEL PLATING 

I am a 73 year old man that dabbles in stained glass. I would like to know a little bit about how to plate the lead came used in small stained glass projects.

Also, where I could buy the needed items to do the job. I don't sell my work as I donate it to church fund raisers and nursing home fund raisers. I have heard that I would have to plate it first with copper alkaline before plating it with nickel. So far it's all Greek to me.

Your help is very much appreciated, thanks a million.

Neil L. Young
- Wellington, Kansas

Hi Neil, It's true that you would need to preplate the lead or tin/lead soldered surfaces of your plate glass frames with an alkaline copper solution prior to the nickel plating. The bad news is that the necessary copper solution contains a high concentration of sodium cyanide, as well as other complexing agents. For you to attempt to formulate your own "home-brew" would be a risky undertaking. I know that there is at least one metal finishing company in Wellington who could help you out with your projects.

Randall Fowler
Cleveland, TN, USA

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