Metal finishing Q&As since 1989
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Making your own lead anodes for chrome plating?
Q. Hi. I live in an area where everything has to be shipped in and am starting to self teach chrome plating with my young kids, I actually found a fantastic 50 amp power supply, have the tanks, the chromic acid sulfuric and distilled water.
One question, can I melt pure lead, pour it into a form and create my own anodes as long as I correctly peroxide them striving for a 1/16 thickness? I downloaded a manual on plating from a hobby plating site and have culled other sources as well. I created 5 gallon plating tanks suspended inside 55 gallon water filled tanks to prevent mishaps and have created a system to route the fumes into a water spray in another sealed drum. striving for zero emissions. Any theories on the anodes?
Henry WilliamsMachine shop owner - Eagle River, Wisconsin
2007
A. Hi Henry. Yes, you can probably cast them that way although they are usually alloyed with about 6% tin or antimony because lead is so very soft.
But I hope you started your research with the permitting process for electroplating installations, Henry. Chromic acid is carcinogenic, so you are required to do frequent testing of emissions, have your employees under medical surveillance, etc. I would suggest that you plan on attending some local AESF/NASF meetings and interacting with other people doing these things to help acquire a feel for what is important. Good luck!
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
October 2007
? Did Ted check out this guy? Is he writing us from India or China? Putting in your own chrome tank and now he's talking about pouring molten lead for anodes. And to top it off, he's doing it with his kids around -- maybe he's home schooling! I would suggest that he invites over his neighbors and he demonstrate for their amazement the great cottage industry he's establishing. Bottom line: why does anyone need to be doing chrome plating in their basement?
Milt Stevenson, Jr.
Syracuse, New York
2007
A. Yes, the posting was from the USA, Milt. There is a larger "hobby plating" industry in this country than most of us realize; Yes, it can be scary that people are working with this carcinogen without hands-on training. I'm not sure why we are never able to get hobbyists to come to an AESF meeting where they can learn the safety, environmental, and regulatory issues ... but we keep trying :-)
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2007
Q. Well I can answer this in detail, 1st of all nothing has been done yet, This is why I'm asking questions and gathering information before starting. The 1st place I called was our local EPA to get information. It's being done in a 20,000 sq. foot industrial building, not a basement.
Lead is poured constantly to make fishing jigs and is sold to join copper pipe still. This isn't beyond my scope, just a matter of doing the homework and being safety and environmentally conscious. And, yes, people do it at home a lot. It's interesting, I have a specific need for this as I'm rebuilding some equipment, and have in the past used shops who have lost parts and haven't taken responsibility, which is why I decided to take it on as a hobby. What would you have me do, Milt, send everything to you? And speaking of which I did look up AESF meeting dates. So although you may not like people delving into your private club it happens every day and no doubt by people a lot less concerned than myself. I've been machining Be-Cu for 30 years me and my 83 year old father used to pour and play with lead solders when he was a little boy. My neighbor is a jeweler, and guess what? He plates in his basement. His response was "Henry, it looks heavy duty! I would like to see it when it's working" in regard to the power supply I bought. So there's not too much else to say . . .
My kids find it interesting. And last, all I can say is speaking for myself when I have encountered people interested in building injection molds and molding parts I was always glad to share my knowledge and lend a helping hand I never thought to myself he's stepping on my toes, which is the impression I received when I checked back in to thank Ted for the response and ask another question. By the way thanks Ted, and my question was would anode size and thickness have any effect on the current load ?
Henry Williams [returning]- Eagle River, Wisconsin
2007
A. Hi, again, Henry; I hope you find our Intro to Chrome Plating useful. Are you intending to do hard chrome or decorative chrome plating?
Yes, the reason this forum is here is to help people with metal finishing, and Milt's company has been paying a generous portion of the operational cost of it for many years now, and he has helped hundreds of readers with their questions. "Private club" isn't the right word for a society (AESF) when anyone can join inexpensively, when we do everything in our power to make the world aware of the group and encourage them to join, and when everyone is welcome to attend the meetings without being a member anyway :-)
I think the root of what some readers view as a reluctance to help them get started in plating is that the Fed government, before even starting the EPA, back when it was just part of the Department of the Interior, specifically selected electroplating (rather than injection molding or any other field), to be the test case for environmental regulation. Electroplating, not any other field, was targeted to be the nation's very first categorically regulated industry. After 40 some years of having our every tic regulated to death, and with each of us knowing people whose lives were ruined when prosecuted for pollution, we're not happy about it:
We are advocates & practitioners of sustainability, protecting things from corrosion & waste so they can last generations rather than material having to be re-mined, re-smelted, re-fabricated, re-finished, re-packaged, re-shipped and re-landfilled every few years ... yet we are treated like lepers & pariahs for our efforts, constantly accused of "spewing pollutants" when we do metal finishing responsibly while every other citizen (like your neighbor) feels he has a perfect right to do it unregulated in his basement without telling anybody :-)
But we're actually a friendly, helpful, group.
Chrome plating requires a minimum of 1 Amp per square inch of plating. So any current-carrying item must be sized to carry that (this is the low side, plating will not occur at lower current). The rule of thumb is that copper will carry 1000 Amps per square inch and you can size other metals proportionately by comparing their conductivity; lead doesn't carry much :-( Good luck.
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2007
No, he's not from China or India...thank heavens.
The entrepreneurial spirit and a "can - do" attitude is not restricted to those countries; nor are all Americans waiting for a government check, Santa Claus, or the Tooth Fairy to bring them prosperity.
The man is apparently a machine shop owner. If he has managed to deal with power tools, cutting metals, and the other dangers in that environment, without hurting himself or others, one may safely assume he might do OK with chromium plating and a little elementary metal casting.
To you, original poster; good luck! Chrome plating is about the hardest kind of plating there is. Make sure that fume removal system you're setting up is effective. There's ways of doing that that don't require expensive instrumentation, or a Masters Degree in industrial hygiene.
Dave Wichern
Consultant - The Bronx, New York
2007
Q. Hi Ted
What I meant by private club was the plating industry itself, however I think we're past that. As far as China or India go, No one in this world has more to be disgruntled about China than an American Injection Molder and Moldmaker. Chicago lost 80% of the tool shops in the 90's and the only reason I wasn't one of them was I did a lot of things in-house and didn't buy all brand new equipment. So when the banks started to run into defaulting borrowers I wasn't one of them and simply weathered the storm. Back to plating, to me zero emissions means that: zero! Nothing in the drains, nothing in the air, Nothing on the floor. How this is possible for a small guy is simple, all the tanks are vented from within the tanks themselves even with the lids off the fumes are sucked out the side in the 12 inches remaining above the sub tank and then cleaned in a recirculating water mist twice; that's two tanks cleaning the fumes. And I have a contract to dispose of the waste thru the Chromic acid and chemical supplier, including the water after neutralizing it. I can do this because I'm not doing any volume of parts per se and nothing for any outside customers. This is going to cost me, but not as much as sending it all out since I have so many projects to do.
Ted is right the hobby plating industry is really huge and really if you search and find the main sites and look at the pictures some people do a nice job, and I would say most are serious about EPA issues. However I'm sure there are some that are not. But the same goes for a lot of the big job shops. The reason the regs were put in place, I would bet, was a handful of greedy shop owners used to dump into their back lots and rivers and people started growing two heads and things like that. I grew up in a town where we had a chemical plant that made paint right in the center of town and the incidence of Cancer is unbelievable and I'm one of them. So I understand the regs being there. That's why I'm being extra careful to conform, and contacted the EPA to ask questions before I even considered trying this. I have so many projects from vintage cars and Bikes to machines I want to restore, which Includes Decorative Chrome, Flash Hard Chrome for appearance, Black Oxide, and Anodizing. I doubt I could afford to send it all out. Plus I still think it's interesting. Probably not to many of you that have been doing it all your lives, but there is a mystique to it. I realize there is a major learning curve but I'm up for it. And there is a source of pride in doing something yourself and having it turn out nice. Hope that clarifies my position a bit and gives you some insight as to why anyone would want to hobby plate. I really doubt anyone does it to get back at platers in general for problems they've had or to cut anyone out of the loop. Thanks to all for the advice and well wishes, I've been watching this site for years before trying this to clarify. Purchased Electroplating Engineering Handbook [on
AbeBooks or
eBay or
Amazon]
by Graham and some others on anodizing and printed a copy of EPA regs. For other questions I'll post here and will schedule attending AESF in the future and hopefully grow in my understanding. Thanks again, Henry
- Eagle River, Wisconsin
2007
A. Henry:
If you will look in the FAQ section you will find a header like this.
"Electroplating for beginners"
There is a link in there for hobby/beginner platers.
Good luck and don't give up, just about everything started in a basement somewhere! :)
- Peoria, Arizona, USA
2007
Can I machine lead anodes for chrome plating from rolled sheet instead of pouring them?
Q. Hello need some advise on lead sheet machined like a poured grid/mat, for a conforming anode 100-1 solution, I'm worried about current efficiency and flaking of the rolled sheet/plate causing defects, 30 years of using poured mats very difficult to maintain required thickness, along with worker safety. Any experience that could be shared would be very appreciated.
Thank You
- Escanaba Michigan usa
January 1, 2019
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