Nickel plating my Taurus pt92 AF

A. Hi Jack.

You don't need to copper plate steel before nickel plating; don't do it, it will only complicate things for you.

But here's the thing: which is more important to you: getting it nickel plated, or learning to do plating yourself? Because attempting to nickel plate your pistol yourself is the wrong way to achieve either goal  🙂

If the most important thing to you is getting it plated and properly, send it to a professional plating shop which is licensed to handle firearms, like Greystone. On the other hand, if you want to learn electroplating, you do that by practicing and learning, doing a lot of plating on scrap and trinkets before attempting to plate anything important, let alone a firearm.

Unfortunately, the idea that you can successfully nickel plate an object on your first time out, or even your fifth time out, let alone this piece, just isn't realistic. Tell me you've got a piece of scrap steel you want to practice on, and we can start making progress. Scrub it really well with a tampico scrub brush ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] and a warm solution of powdered pumice ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] and Spic-and-Span ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] or something similar.

When you think it's really clean, rinse it and look for a waterbreak ⇦ huh? . If there is one, it's not clean enough, keep trying.

Once it is waterbreak-free clean, dip it in muriatic acid ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] for 1 minute, fairly dangerous stuff (be sure to wear rubber gloves ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] and goggles ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] as the minimum personal protective equipment (PPE)). Rinse it again and look for waterbreak again. Now you're ready to try to nickel plate it.

Good Luck, & Regards!


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
(Ted is also available for instant or long
term paid consultation and assistance)