Cad and B/O Plating

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John Vardanian
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Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2002 12:13 am
Location: San Francisco Area

Cad and B/O Plating

Post by John Vardanian »

I’d be interested in learning about how this part of a restoration process is carried out. For instance, when it comes to cad plating, you will have hundreds and hundreds of pieces of varying shape and size. Do you just dump all the small pieces in a bag, all medium pieces in another bag and hand them to the shop? Do you break it down to work area? What is the method to this madness so you get this part of the job done as efficiently as possible and you don’t end up losing anything? I would appreciate experienced comments. Thanks.

john
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tyang
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Re: Cad and B/O Plating

Post by tyang »

Hi John,

Cad plating follows "you get what you pay for." Industrial cad platers don't really want to be bothered with our small batches, and the places that really pay attention are very expensive. I used to get cad batches done at about $100 bucks a batch, but these prices slowly crept up (I suspected getting Ferrari Taxed). The problem with going to another plater is you have to show them exactly what finish you want and the level of quality. This takes time and is risky when they screw up on any part. It's a real struggle.

I have a great black oxide guy, and he has been reasonable and consistent on his pricing. He's a small operation, and cares about his work. Knock wood, he's one I'll keep!

Tom
'63 330 America #5053
enio45
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Location: Gilbert, AZ

Re: Cad and B/O Plating

Post by enio45 »

John, for CAD, i use a company out of OHIO to do my stuff and i get everything cleaned, tapped and wired brushed before sending it to them. I then take a pic of all the parts in groups, count the quantity and insert them in individual bags with the number of parts on the bag.

Then you have documentation of the parts and quantity - they hand wire each one to ensure they don't lose any and when i get them back they are in the same bags - ......u got the picture from here.

Tedious and time consuming process - but necessary.
Ed Montini
330 GT 2+2 Series II - 8289
58 Ellena - 0855GT - orig drivetrain
87 El Camino SS
John Vardanian
Posts: 1906
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2002 12:13 am
Location: San Francisco Area

Re: Cad and B/O Plating

Post by John Vardanian »

Thanks Ed, It looks like a good plan to follow. I did that with the chrome, that was easier cause the pieces were bigger.

Have you used a tumbler? I was thinking about getting one for the nuts and washers and other small bits. I heard it's not good for threaded things as it erodes the threads.

john
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enio45
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Re: Cad and B/O Plating

Post by enio45 »

yes, we have 2 tumblers - one large to do big alum parts - like GM intakes and stuff of that size.....does great if ur looking for pure alum finish or bare steel finish .....


we also have a small one for the little stuff from eastwood for the nuts, bolts and little stuff we want to restore the orig steel finish or slightly polish the part before plating for a nice finish. The orig steel finish we use RPM (wax like coating) to prevent rust and keep the bare metal look for those bolts that require the bare metal finish. The media is not that abrasive IMO to do any thread damage....there are multiple media's for the little tumbler.

If your going to black oxide the parts, them i believe a light media blast works nicely.

For cad - being light in color, it is key to get a good starting finish before plating as the plating is minute thus will show the imperfections. Im severe cases like bolts where the heads are pitted - i used the lathe to take some small 1-2 thous off to clean them up.....currently for me - or fortunately - the Ellena project - the bolts have no head markings (before the LOBO bolts came into play) so i can buy todays bolts, clean the head markings, and blackoxide them for a new look.
Ed Montini
330 GT 2+2 Series II - 8289
58 Ellena - 0855GT - orig drivetrain
87 El Camino SS
John Vardanian
Posts: 1906
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2002 12:13 am
Location: San Francisco Area

Re: Cad and B/O Plating

Post by John Vardanian »

Thanks Ed, I'll get a tumbler and give it a try.

Lucky for your that you can get substitute bolts. The previous owner of the car gave me a box full of brand new Lobo bolts he bought in the late 80's, but these are zinc plated.

john
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enio45
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Location: Gilbert, AZ

Re: Cad and B/O Plating

Post by enio45 »

great for the lobo bolts!! usually, if they have zinc - the plater can take that off with chemical strip as part of the process.

at least my black oxide guy does....i bought a large amount of washers, lock washers, cotter pins that were all clear zinc and he took the whole batch, stripped them and replated to the black oxide, so no media cleaning or polishing was required.
Ed Montini
330 GT 2+2 Series II - 8289
58 Ellena - 0855GT - orig drivetrain
87 El Camino SS
John Vardanian
Posts: 1906
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2002 12:13 am
Location: San Francisco Area

Re: Cad and B/O Plating

Post by John Vardanian »

Ed, thanks for that tip on the cotter pins. I cannot find new pins in B/O.

john
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