Activation of Japan steel

I have some thin steel from Japan that will not allow electroless plating after stripping off of the shipping enamel. The steel has a 2% Nickel, and 0.8% Carbon content and a shows no chrome, Mo, or any other content except iron. Does anyone have any idea what the steel type is? We have tried 50% HCl, and Enthone's Actane 342, What else to try?

Dear David , Assuming you have cleaned the steel properly & you are still getting failures , then Many steels with high carbon contents such as yours will not plate in an electroless Nickel bath , and when they do the deposit is very porous , porosity has been shown to be caused by the carbon at the surface . This is overcome By using what is called a "Wood's Nickel strike" Sorry No relation The formulation for making this bath is given in the Metal Finishing Guidebook available from Metal Finishing Magazine.

regards

David I am not quitely sure by that but for high carbon steal it is recommended to try a solution cosist of the follow: Sodium Hydroxide - 50 grams per lIter potassium permanganate ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] - 100 grams per liter This solution works at 200 degrees Farenheite , dip the part for 10 minutes , then rinse and dip the part in diluted Hydrochloric Acid Solution or any other Acidic Solution. It worth trying