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Plating electroless nickel to repair oversize bore

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Hello;

I have done some nickel electro plating on steel but I would like to try electroless plating of nickel on bronze. Unless it is easier to electro plate it in witch case I don't now how. The plating I'm doing is primarily for size such as a worn bore on an impeller.

Tim Hogan
machine shop - Chalmette, Louisiana

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Hello Tim,

I am not sure if electroless nickel plating is the way to go in restoring the diameter of the impeller shaft. A process that I can recommend is Brush Electroplating. Brush electroplating is a portable process that can selectively deposit material such as nickel onto this diameter for dimensional restoration. Brush electroplating is an easy process to learn and the systems are very inexpensive when compared to most other metal deposition processes. In many cases, parts can be plated into size with out the need of post plate processing. However, a deposit of brush plated material, such as nickel can be easily ground to meet size and surface finish requirements

Chris Helwig
- Valencia, California

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February 24, 2009

Currently,on a daily basis, I plate with electroless nickel for salvage of parts. To plate a bore from .0001- .005 thick is a requested range of plating. If the coating is pre treated properly there is no reason why electroless nickel should be overlooked.

Gene Bianco
plating shop - Saegertown, Pennsylvania