Summary for cadmium plated erector sets Discussion
The thread on removing black color from cadmium plated Erector Set parts suggests that the safer practical route is not to try to restore cadmium, but to replate with zinc or a zinc alloy instead. The answer notes that cadmium plating is still used in some applications in the USA, including parts exposed to the environment such as some aftermarket disk brakes, but the responder agrees with Geoff that cadmium should not be used for this project. For 40+ year old parts, the discussion points toward replacing the finish rather than attempting to preserve or recreate the original cadmium coating. The advice is cautious and practical: if the goal is to remove the black appearance and refinish the parts, zinc-based plating is presented as an acceptable alternative.
Q. For a number of years AC Gilbert company plated their steel construction set parts with Cadmium. A lot of these sets exhibit a black mottling of the surface. I would like to find a way to remove this and restore the original finish to these parts.
Your help is appreciated.
Tom
Tom Rolfsmeyer
Hobbyist restoring old erector sets – Tucson, Arizona, USA
October 4, 2014
A. Hi Tom
You have a problem. Cadmium plating has been banned, except for a very few specific applications, for many years and in most parts of the world. I am surprised that it was used in erector sets even 40 years ago and I very much doubt that you can legally sell it today.
Are you certain that it is cadmium? It would seem to offer no advantage over alternative finishes.
I would suggest that your most practical solution would be to find a plating company willing to strip the cadmium and replate with zinc. The appearance would be almost identical.
Geoff Smith
Hampshire, England
A. Hi. Cadmium plating is not banned in the USA and is still used even on parts where the coating is lost to the environment like some aftermarket disk brakes — but I agree with Geoff that you should not use it, and that zinc plating or zinc alloy plating should be fine.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com – Pine Beach, New Jersey
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