POTD- PROJECT OF THE DAY: What Did You Make In Your Shop Today?

rabler said:
Haven't seen that concept before, I like it. Your own design or from a plan?
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It is a design from a couple of our members here at H-M.
Here are the links to the H-M thread and another to their website. Note: I did find the dimensioning on the plans to be a little wonky. Not exactly GD&T standards. ;) I appreciate the work they put into it though.

https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/camjack-knurler.3533/

http://www.totallyscrewedmachineshop.com/projects/camjackknurler/camjack.html
 
After the (I think) success of nickel plating the QCTP top nut I had a go at the rusting dials on the cross slide.
I didnt polish them, just removed the rust so all the pock marks show up.
nickel-dial-2.jpg
But I think I also left it plating too long as the coating on the vernier dial is very thick and has chipped off on a small patch (out of sight) that must have been still greasy?
It shows how thick the coat is.
nickel-dial-1.jpg
I made the nickel anode into a ring circling the dials and the gap between the dials and the anode was only around 5mm.
It fizzed like mad and showed 8 amps on the charger whereas the nut was about 60mm from the anode and only showed 2 amps when plating.
I'm wondering is thats why the colour is slightly browner.
Next job will be the solid plinth as thats rusting fast as well.
I can put up with the dirty colour as long as its not rust.
 
8A seems kinda hot for a plating bath of that size. That's just a guess, but there are recommended current densities if you do a little digging. Amps/sq-in or Amps/sq-cm sort of stuff. Running the current density too high can plate out brittle layers. Maybe this is what you have going on???

Have gotten Ni to plate well with salt and vinegar, but it's touchy. Bought some of this a while back, but haven't gotten back around to that project. https://www.amazon.com/Bright-Nickel-Electroplating-Solution-Quart/dp/B01JJMY0AA

Was reading up on the chemistry a while ago, it can be somewhat touchy to maintain a bath long term. Some of the chemicals are considered consumable so need to be maintained.
 
In the old days, commercial platers put down a layer of copper first, then the Nickel. If Chrome was desired, they put it on top of the Nickel layer. The copper bonds to the base metal better, and the Nickel bonds best to the copper.
 
Provincial said:
In the old days, commercial platers put down a layer of copper first, then the Nickel. If Chrome was desired, they put it on top of the Nickel layer. The copper bonds to the base metal better, and the Nickel bonds best to the copper.
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Copper is still the first step. Nickel because it seals and protects the copper. Apparently Chrome is shiny, but is porous, so anything under would corrode over time.

This one shows the plating and restoring of something that by all rights should have been scrap.
 
Gaffer said:
Been there done that!
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Nice welds. That's nothing but a scratch. (Monty Python)
Those must be those new fangled welding socks and open toes shoes I heard about on those pro welding sites ;)

edit: I had a friend who came over to have me weld up his tranny crossmember, he came over with sandals.. between the grinding and welding he was dancing ... He then wanted to do some welding himself... That was a total mistake.
 
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