Coloring Nickel Plating

A. Hi Shaun.

See Goran Budija's & Khair Shishani's postings on this page regarding coloring of nickel plating. But since you are doing Cerakote on top of it anyway, I'd suggest just tinting the Cerakote. I think that will be easier and better.

Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

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A. Hello, Brandon. If metal dyes / alcohol inks ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] don't prove long lasting enough, electrophoretic lacquer is commonly applied to nickel plating to simulate brass, and it is available in many other translucent colors as well (although it probably isn't something you can do yourself). Good luck.

A. Hi, Brandon. Electrophoretic lacquer can be applied much thinner than that, say 3-5 microns.

It has reasonable flexibility ... it's paint, but applied in a way that allows very thin and even coatings.

Regards,

A.
copper sulphate ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] 10-12 g/l
lead acetate ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] or lead nitrate ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] 10-12 g/l
sodium thiosulphate ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] 100-180 g/l
rachel salt ^ ^{rochelle salt} ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] 15-20 g/l
temperature 18-25 °C
immersion: 5 min-yellow/ 7 min-brown/ 10 min-red/ 13 min-violet/ 17 min-blue/ 20 min-green.

I believe you should acid activate your parts. I tried this solution on newly deposited nickel and it was O.K .

Good luck

A. I got dark blue similar to gun blue, brightness as the base metal.

Good luck

A. I think the spelling in the USA is Rochelle salts ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] . Jason Deible Plating - Grand Rapids, Michigan A. Try looking for Rochelle Salt ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] . One source said that it was a sodium and potassium soluble tartrate. Did not find the precise formula and it is not in my Fisher catalogue. James Watts - Navarre, Florida A. Mr Brandon Hello, It is potassium sodium tartrate, you can prepare by mixing tartaric acid ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] with sodium and potassium carbonate NaKC4H4O6. REGARDING OTHER SALT CAN BE PREPARED BY ADDING METALLIC LEAD TO NITRIC ACID AND COPPER ADDING TO SULFURIC ACID WITH A SMALL AMOUNT OF NITRIC (BE CAREFUL OF NITROGEN OXIDE FUMES, VENTILATION REQUIRED). REGARDING SODIUM THIOsulphate IT IS A BIT COMPLICATED BUT YOU CAN TRY SODIUM SULFIDE OR POLYsulfide BY DISSOLVING sulfur ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] IN 200-400 G/L NaOH WHILE BOILING. Please be careful and ask help from a chemist and please read the material safety data sheets MSDS. Wish you good luck, God blessing. Please send feedback if possible! Khair Shishani aircraft maintenance - Al Ain, UAE

A. Lead citrate-free recipe, for different colours:
copper acetate [affil links].......25 gms
sodium thiosulphate ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] ......240 gms
citric acid ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] ..............30 gms
16 °C temp, 20-300 min., according to Fishlock's Metal Colouring Handbook [on AbeBooks & Amazon affil links] . Can be used on nickel or nickel plate.

A. Hi, Syed. Electrophoretic lacquering is done in an electrified tank, rather similar to electroplating. The electricity converts the components that are in the solution into lacquer on the surface of the parts.

A. Drew,
My first recommendation would be Cerakote.
It has a high abrasion resistance, comes in many colors, as with any coating preparation is key. Follow the instructions provided by Cerakote, or if you're not equipped to do it on your own, send it out to a coater to have it done.

--Rama

A. Hello Drew,
How about making the part undersize a hair to allow for paint?

A. Very interesting Expired patent:

Hope it helps and good luck!

A. Hi Matteo, we will try to advise Matt and Brandon of your posting, but e-mail addresses from 18 years ago very rarely work.

Metals are not red -- copper is orange-ish, brass & gold are yellow-ish, and most other metals including nickel are silver-ish. Copper & brass, and even silver, can generate salts that put beautiful patinas on them, but I personally don't know of any decorative patinas for nickel or nickel plating. But in addition to electrocoating or painting, you might consider powder coating, metal dyes ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] , or coatings applied by PVD. Transparent lacquers can be tinted to translucent colors. Titanium is readily interference colored (a partial wavelength transparent coating of the right thickness to amplify/suppress specific colors) and stainless steel can be anodized similarly although with more difficulty and not quite as pleasing results, I suppose it's vaguely possible that results could be obtained with nickel with enough experimentation.

I think the key to moving forward is for you to detail as carefully as you can exactly what you are trying to accomplish and on what sort of nickel plated parts because some processes like PVD may only be practical at large volume, some processes such as dyes and tinted lacquers may not be nearly durable enough, some may not be aesthetic enough, some like powder coating may be too thick, most will affect conductivity. A special potion you can just dip nickel into and turn it into a robust, attractive, red color sounds unlikely ... a red-tinted translucent dye, lacquer, or clear coat sounds the closest though. Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Try expired US patent US6391181B1. Hope it helps and good luck!

A. Hi Shad. As brass and bronze plating became more expensive or more of a challenge because they are based on highly poisonous cyanide, it became commonplace to do a tinted electrophoretic lacquer (e-coat) on top of nickel plating to simulate the brass/bronze look. Lots of 'brass' lamps are actually tinted e-coat over nickel plating. Considering that the components are already nickel plated, it sounds like an ideal application.

Luck & Regards,

A. Hi again Shad. We don't post brand or sourcing recommendations (huh? why?) but proposed suppliers can contact you privately.

However, for a study conducted by finishing.com for IZA / ILZRO a few years ago, Molecular Technology Limited in Wolverhampton, England (acquired by Coventya, acquired in turn by Macdermid-Enthone), and PMA Photometals of Arizona (photometals.com) were generous enough to supply electrocoated samples for corrosion testing, so we're pleased to mention them as potential sources :-)

Luck & Regards,

Color Coded Socket Set

on eBay or Amazon

(affil link)

A. Hi Matthew. I've seen socket wrench sets done that way, but they probably weren't done in the USA. They look good in the store, and it's surely helpful to know that the 1/2" socket is color A, the 9/16" is color B, the 5/8" is color C, etc. The color probably gets scratches in the tough environment that tools live in.

If you are a hobbyist doing one or two alligator clips, regular wet paint may be as practical. But electrophoretic lacquer does sound good for alligator clips, as long as the teeth don't get coated since the lacquer is not conductive like nickel plating.

Luck & Regards,