Who makes the best sustem that I can buy to do my own silver cad and black oxide? I want a good system, reguardless of cost. I think some of the systems are to shiny for judging.
Thanks
Jeremy Hedges
#31711
Thanks
Jeremy Hedges
#31711
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Re: Silver cad
Jeremy,
There are no home systems to do cad plating. Too many health and environmental issues associated with cad. Few (if any) parts were actually cad plated anyway. If you want to plate at home, you really need zinc plating. Caswell is probably your best bet. They also have supplies for black oxide. Search the archives for Caswell and you will find lots of information.
Good luck.
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Re: Silver cad
I've looked at Caswell, will they pass judging though?
Jeremy Hedges
#31711Comment
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Re: Silver cad
Jeremy
Eastwood has a kit for zinc plating and a kit for metal blackening. They have been around for a number of years and work. The finish on the zinc is up to you as far as the shine and thickness as there is some work involved. The metal blackening is a dip and you are done. Parts should be media blasted before either process.
JohnComment
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Re: Silver cad
Jeremy,
You can duplicate a factory finish with the Caswell system. The Eastwood kit will work for small parts like fastners, but not much else. You will need a larger kit like those available from Caswell if you want to do larger parts like hood latch hardware, gas cap, clutch cross shaft, etc.Comment
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Re: Silver cad
Jeremy
I would go with the Caswell kit. I'm not saying that the Eastwood kit is no good but I use the Caswell kit and get really nice results...plus you can get the larger kits for larger items where as Eastwood only has one smaller kit.
The Caswell kits are good for all of the original finishes that were on our Corvettes except maybe the phosphate coatings because I don't think they have a kit for that.
If It's just silver cad you want then their copy cad kit will do the trick. If you want silver zinc then all you do is add their brightener BEFORE you heat the solution. Once the solution cools it reverts back to a copy cad solution. The amount of "brighteness" also depends on how the part was prepared. The plating will not hide any sandblast or beadblast marks so they are best left for cast parts like the rear shock mounts....actually I wouldn't use sandblast for anything. Even sand scratches will show through in the plating so the part must look at it did just before it was originaly plated if you want it to look original after you are done replating it. I find that the best way to prep a part is with a muratic acid and water solution.
If you truely want cad then I know of others that have used real cad with the Caswell kits but then that solution will never work with the Caswell anodes again and you will be "stuck" using cad from then on.
The copy cad kit comes with everything you'll need except for a power supply.
Hope this helps. Search the archives because there is a ton of info there.
GregComment
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Untrue!
There ARE home systems for doing your own cad plating... Fire up your Google search engine and you'll find them.
But, zinc is the most common system (Caswell and Eastwood) with MUCH more end user support and no waste disposal headaches.Comment
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Re: Untrue!
Jack-----
I don't recommend the use of cadmium home plating kits, whether they're available, or not. Cadmium is much more toxic than zinc and NONE of the waste, including even secondary rinses, should EVER be disposed of to a public sewer system. As has been mentioned, most of the original "silver" plated parts were zinc, anyway. In any event, depending upon the methodologies and surface preparation used, either finish can have virtually identical appearance.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Yes, but...
I didn't 'recommend' anyone go out and buy a cad system for home plating either, Joe. I simply commented on a false, earlier, thread statement that the systems/chemistry were NOT available to the home plater. Truth is, both electrolyte and raw cad annodes ARE out there for purchase.Comment
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Re: Yes, but...
Cad anodes and supplies are only available to commercial platers. I can't imagine any supplier will ship cad to a home address. The potential liability alone is more than enough incentive for suppliers to control access, especially considering the tiny market for home platers. It would be all risk and very little reward.Comment
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Wanna Bet, Don
You can even get overnight delivery.Jerry Fuccillo
1967 327/300 Convertible since 1968Comment
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Re: Wanna Bet, Don
Well, I'll stand corrected. Very surprising and irresponsible anyone would ship cad anodes to a home address.Comment
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Re: Yes, but...
Jack-----
I didn't say you recommended anyone do cad plating; I said I didn't recommend it.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: Yes, but...
Thanks for the clarification, Joe! Maybe I'm thin skinned, but it seemed (position of post in thread) that you were talking to me...
My bottom line is while you 'can' obtain cad + the compatible electrolyte chemistry (even cyanide based!) in the US today (and YES sources will/do deliver to individuals at their home address), there are two factors that are more important to consider:
(1) You have a handling + legal disposal hurdle.
(2) You're NOT going to get any 'See Dick, See Jane' help/assistance where vendors selling zinc based systems will/do provide support.
Yes, there IS a health + environmental risk associated with doing cad work, but there's also a risk in owning/operating a classic car on today's highways. So, I tend to set this consideration aside as only a FOOL would go blindly deal with chemicals he/she doesn't fully understand or has executed the due diligence in research/education to master...Comment
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Re: Yes, but...
Cad poisoning is bad news. Extremely neuro toxic in low amounts and takes for ever to get out of the environment. Car will be nicely restored and the restorer will be dead. Best left to the professionals IMHO. Take care, TerryComment
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