Zinc Plating Steel on the Cheap and Applying Yellow Chromate (Part 1of 2) 

Do you measure by taste or should I use 1g of epsom salt per 10ml vinegar?

Best, most effective tutorial I've seen. I was struggling with other peoples methods and this saved me, literally, lol. Cheers from 5 years in the future.👍

This is one of the most effective presentation I have ever seen. Well done and a million thanks.pls never loose your qualities of an Instructor and a person of good will.Asress

That was an excellent video, everything was well explained and obviously you understood the process as thoroughly as need be for the do it yourselfer Thanks a lot for posting it and to be honest I didn't think there was any way you were going to drink that spoon full of vinegar. I remember giving my daughter some for medicinal purposes and she had the same reaction, then I tried it and I realized it was Apple cider vinegar I was supposed to be using. She reminds me of that still 30 years later. Keep up the good work

Dude, you're getting a subscribe for that spoonful.

Thank you,! Thorough, clear. Have experimented with silver plating and will enjoy this zinc process .

Gee Arnold, I don't recall you putting a gun to any critic's head to make them watch your enjoyable videos. I am now a subscriber because of your quick witted responses to the jerkwads and your ease of delivery of information. Thank you kindly

Omg…that was a good belly laugh when you sampled the solution. 😂

3 minutes of information compressed into a 30 minute video.

you mic the chromate with what? with water or battery water?

Gave a like for that drinking of the solution lol👍🏼😂

Nice video. Very instructive. Thanks for taking the time and present it to everyone interested.

Lol. When you drank the liquid. 😂😂you were talking funny after that. 😂😂👍

Would you ever need more than 5amps to do this? I’m looking at buying a 60v 5a unit or a 30v 10a model

Nice video Arnold! Congratulations!

A master chef always samples the sauce!

Good info, thanks. Video is more tolerable to watch at 1.25X or 1.50X speed though. BTW, if you connect the power supply to the zinc plates in the beginning, you'll prime the solution a lot faster.

That was epic you tasting the solution. It was also old school afford for getting likes. Well you well earned every like

Excellent demonstration of plating with zinc and chromating the surface.

Hell of a way to get a thumbs up but you got it

What happens to the magnesium in the epsom salt? Does it stay in solution because of its different electro negativity?

Arnold, how long do you typically need to keep small hardware in the solution? How long do D batteries typically last?

Great video! Thank you for sharing this! Could you make some more video showing the process on some other items to show how it turns out? Do you have any learned improvements you can share?

Does the salt solution not cause immediate corrosion of the metal? Just wondering if we are burying brand new rust under the zinc.

thanks for sharing I'll have to try this out. Jay

Thank you so much for this video!

Have you done this process on magnesium parts ? You showed some refinished Mercedes valve covers . I know a lot of Mercedes models have use magnesium valve covers.

Thanks for your reply mentioning vapor blasting, but I have no access to that. Seems like normal glass beading would be my option, worked well to clean it so maybe if I try and do it just enough to change the finish between plates.

I appreciate your helpful videos (and don't understand why my comments seem to disappear), but just in case... If I plate a complex part with some angles and areas that aren't easily accessible to steel wool, is there some other way to ensure I can do several plate steps to get a good thick consistent layer? It's for a fuel pump hanger, and I don't want any risk of rust. Thanks again for the really cool and educational videos.

Will your power supply go down into milliamps and millivolts?

Hi Arnold. I finally got the zinc plating to work. When I dipped the part in the yellow chromate it's dull looking. I used muratic acid. Could you help me

A simple improvement is just a make a round anode that goes all around tank, and hence around the part to be plated. If you have a strange shape - for example a bowl - then you can add another little anode in the middle of the bowl to ensure that it's plated too. (Source: That's what we used to do when silver plating big spoons and ladles).

Can you use this with Magnesium engine parts instead of Steel?

You didn't go into the zinc chromate solution . How much is it per gallon and where do you get it ?

What am I doing something WRONG? I zinc plated my bolts and than deposited into a Nickel plating bath. But after the nickel plating it looks like the zinc coating somehow got removed. Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Magnificent information that could have been told in about five minutes.

Hi , Thank you - Can i use Cooking /Nomal vinegar ?

Arnold's design ive just got a power supply similar to the one you have its a 1503DD model it puts out 15v 3A but the problem is that iam not getting good results by useing this i dont get it that i was just useing a 12v 3a bike battery & was getting brilliant results from that with the spring to reduce the power but the spring keeps burning out so that's why i bought this rectifier thing 1503DD 15v 3A but it just says error on the amp side & just keeps bleeping have i bought for wrong one or something it never says nothing about useing it for zinc plating in the description it just says for mobile phone repair have you got any ideas about this buddy

I thumbs upped your video because you actually did it.

Do you have a video explanation up on the yellow chromium solution stuff. I wanna see how it's made or where you get it? To see if it's good to do all this on some gun parts as a hobby project in the future.

Great video as always! Is there anyway we could get a quick video of your vaporblasting setup?

what if you get the goblin icing and you applied some light strong light or lasers to the solution or maybe encased it in like a dark room or something it would be interesting to see what the product will look like kind of different instead of just regular I think.

I'm going to try this process with my fuel pump hanger, obviously larger so I will try a five gallon bucket. I'd like to do the chromate solution, but not sure if the amount I need for my one part will be cost effective. Can you brush the chromate solution on and rinse it off instead of dipping? Thanks again for the great videos.

Heck yea!, You got a thumbs up and a subscribe!, Thats so me!, I was experimenting with rust removal last night and just had to try a sip of the ascorbic acid solution. Your my "Brother from another mother"!

The taste test was awesome

You earned it!

So if I want to do something larger do I just double the amount of everything?

I'll give you a Thumbs up just for the laugh. Great clip

Totally worth it!🤘🏼

Would stainless wool or even copper wool contaminate less than normal steel wool? I'm about to do the process and want to be sure the zinc adheres strongly. I also got the chromate chemical for when the plating is done. Can't wait to see how it comes out.

A bit late to the party, but thank you for the education! I also added the same amount of sugar as Epsom salt as I was told this would enhance the finish. QUESTION: Is it safe to keep the solution - I have removed the zinc for now - in a sealed plastic container for future use?

A thumb's up for that spoon full.

I must keep missing what is in the white bucket of chromate & how is it made.

Hi I made a copper plating solution with soda bicarbonate and distilled water and made my copper sulphate with the anode and Cathode hooked up to a dc to dc buck converter with an 18 volt Dewalt cordless battery. I kept my voltage at 3 to 5 volts while stirring every few minutes. When I was plating my cheap feeler gauge after I cleaned the feeler gauge of course using soapy water, rinse then electronics contact cleaner. I failed so I used prepwash to wipe on and off.it worked great on the feeler gauge. But I tried doing a kitchen spoon and no matter how much I cleaned the spoon it was blotchy after polishing to a shine. I c a nt buy Muriatic acid in Australia. Can I use hydrochloric acid? The air bubbled is a great idea. I will definitely do that. Any reply appreciated. Subbed and liked!🙂👍👍👍

Was well worth a thumbs up! ... I'm not going to drink it though! lol ... Thanks for sharing ;-)

How is the chromate in the white bucket made?

Hi, Great video. step by step, love it. where can I get the liquid is in the 3 gallon bucket Yellow Chromate Conversion solution. Thanks,

Approximate volt/amp setting for a 2 barrel carburetor body like a Stromberg 97? Thanks!

were do you buy the chromate solution you dip the part in at the end

You mention dipping the part in the acid before plating, to get a better bite. Doesn't putting them into the vinegar solution for plating do the same thing?

i did see the red probe connection?have you made it in contact to the zinc foil or not?or the negative (black probe )seen that it was connected to the one point of the rod.

Totally earned that thumbs up.

Thanks for posting, very nice breakdown. I was wondering if you could help me with an issue I'm having. The threads, the edge around the flanged hex head as well as the edges between the flats of the hex head have good coverage but the flats of the hex head, the flat part under the flange and the shank have little to no coverage. I've tried playing with the amperage, periodically rotating the bolt in the solution and using an aerator but still having same issue. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!

if you were to be seen in a British yorkshire village you would not look out of place!! edit 13 mins you earned that like

I was hoping for a simple way to put a new zinc coating on diecast Hot Wheels and Matchbox type toy cars. Is this the best method? Thanks!

even though this video is a bit old, I have some insight/questions that someone here may know an answer to. If I'm trying to process a batch of 50 m6x10 fasteners, let's say, hanging each one on copper wire would be excruciatingly time consuming. Since we need the conductivity, can I use a wire-mesh basket, put negative lead on it (obviously), and poke the fasteners through(i.e., only hanging from the bottom of the hex head), and then do a second plating after each fastener has been turned upside down to ensure contact of the bottom of the head? This way, you could do multiple fasteners at once and all it takes is putting them in the basket and flipping them once.

Holy moly man get to it

Why would there be contaminants in a fresh plating bath? What contaminants, specifically?

You are a brave man. I stopped tasting solutions in grade 7 when I accidentally tasted a sodium hydroxide solution and was only able to eat jello for a month and a half. It was not fun. I wasn't being stupid there was also a supersaturated salt solution we were supposed to taste. I mistakenly thought that the teacher had warmed the salt solution to help dissolve the salt. I didn't yet know the reaction of sodium hydroxide and water. A case of thinking I knew everything followed by a hard dose of reality. :-( Great info though. I will put it to good use.

Great video. Thanks!

I have an automotive battery charger that can be set for 6 or 12 volts and 2 or 10 amps. Could I use the 6 volt 2 amp setting for the power supply? It's more power than the 2 D-cell batteries mentioned in the video, but it is about the same as the power supply mentioned in the second recipe shown in the above description.

What do you use as a clear chromate solution? Where could i buy the ingredients?

Kia.ap muja meterel ka. Bta. Skta. Hn k nikel krne k lia. Kia Kia use hota ha

one more question, is there supposed to be a good temp for this, im doing it in my garage in winter and its cold? is there a temp i have to shoot?

FYI go on eBay find a chunk of zinc I think I paid $7 for a big Ingot of it 99.8% pure zinc metal and fill up a beaker of water break off a chunk set it in there and drizzle a little bit of sulfuric acid in there until it starts bubbling. Apply little heat when it slows down bubbling or a little more sulfuric acid wait till the metal is gone filter through a coffee filter cook it down by half I probably have three quarters of a pound of zinc crystals just from doing that overnight last night

Lol at 12:55 🤣 good effort man

One more question: your power controller looks pretty expensive. What is out there above the D cell batteries but not too expensive?

What chromate solution are you using? Thanks!

Loved the vid and I am exactly at this stage myself! My own results are spoilt by brackets and fixings that don't match the quality Of the rest of the vapourblasting and rust before the customer collects. Worse still the blasting takes off the yellow passivated finish so you never get that original look back even if the zinc plating is still good....

i have noticed the zinc chromate is easily scratched. is this normal. it does not appear to harden

Cool. So what you're saying is to get the chromate solution after zinc plating it?

you earned the thumbs up

Enjoyed your video on plating. Where do you purchase the yellow, blue and black chromate?

Must of nodded off ,did I miss much ? One hell of a lot apparently !

What;s going to happen if I use a 12V car battery?

Brother Arnold, Great movie! Thumbs up for the movie, wish there was a 2nd thumbs up for your choice in tablespoon beverage.

Hi Arnold, I have to ask is there a cheap place to get yellow chromate from? as the only place I can find it is caswell and they want $50cdn for a 4 oz bottle of it. I am trying to do this on the cheap as well. I want to protect my brake rotors from rusting up. I have most everything I need around like the power supply and zinc but as the costs go up I start the debate in my head why don't I just buy coated rotors

Once a chromated part has hardened, have you ever tried spray a clear on it? Automotive clears are two part and hard once cured, sticks to everything but certain results of can on clearcoat can has darkened the color. So under a vehicle is a harsh environment. Working on imports since the late 60’s, but at dealerships in the 70’s, boy, they sure love their chromate, yellow-zink, What every you want to call it, but ever but, bolts, latch, cap, cover, pulleys, etc. I still own a 1969 Datsun 1600 Roadster. It’s a two door convertible with a ful peremeter box frame. No flexing there. If use placed an MG “B” or Midget onto a normal hoist and left the ticket on the seat, you can’t open the doors. New! That is if they would start and run off the transport. The driver had jumper cables, two short chains and electric winch to get them on the semi & off in a controlled manor. We had so many none-running new vehicles, the service manager purchased an electric car pusher that a first glance, looked like a snow thrower. It made by the twin cities to this day in 2021. This was 1977. The next year I took 8 test, 60 questions each and passed all. I became an ASE Master Tech in 1978. Re-cert test were 40 questions but after five year or so. So nice & clean, polished, zink plated and dipped until color was matched. You know, you can take a 2” wide mild steel strip, place a scratch mark at 1”, dip to mark at 4 seconds, deeper to second mark another 4 seconds and stop at the top. Now, depending on how deep your bucket is, but divide into 4 or 5 segments, with the bottom the darkest and so forth. That way you can create a gauge to show the color choices if you’re buddy wanted to slip some pocket change your way for his parts. I have rebuilt hundreds of carburetors over the years, from Q-Jet 4bbl, Ford 7200/7400VV, to side draft soled, Muniki, and even carbs the said could not be fixed. The dealer parts had paper books & the top half w/choke was circled and indicated as part #1. Dodge Colt, D50 pickups, Omni’s all had Coolant to sealed housing with a wax inside. It expanded with great force against a piston that pushed a rod, that unloaded tension off a heavy gear, then a spring allow the choke to open. The screw below that wax, had a jam nut sealed with red epoxy. Chipped epoxy off and backed off jam nut, run the screw in. The wax over time would shrink. Choke never did open. But work on EFI injectors in 1977 on the 280Z. The other two would not touch them. It and the Cadillac Seville w/5.7L where they only two with an electric injector in each cylinder. Not to be confirm with Rochester mechanical or Bausch CIS air-plate system. The 280Z was an in-line 6, but had 7 injectors. The injector #7 sprayed only with temperature. It acted as choke and ran off a single thermo-time switch. Stamped on the side was time/temp max. Still have a metal box with that stuff in it. Right next to metal chrome tach/dwell meter and 7 distributor wrenches. I must be old. Nope, just seasoned.

My home building boat expert told me Zinc Nickel Chromate plating is even more durable. Maybe just a different chemical or metal anode or extra step. Worth looking into...

In an effort to standardize on units and to make the method of measure based on common household kitchen measuring devices, at least here in the USA, I offer the following: 1 liter = 34oz and that is 4.2 cups 100 grams = 3.5oz = 2.5 tablespoons (@ 2.66 g/cc density for epsom salts) 120 grams = 4.2oz = 5 tablespoons (@1.59 g/cc density for table sugar) Most folks may not have a gram scale handy.

Is the 10amp power supply necessary? I'd purchase through your amazon affiliate link, but after clicking, I just found the 5amp version of the same power supply on Amazon. Based on your instructions: "1 amp per 10-15 sq in @ approx 1.5-4 volts" it sounds like a 5amp power supply would be sufficient.

Good video buddy thanks you

Magnifique !!! Merci !!! Thank you

Any idea why I keep having problems plating concave objects? I have some brackets that the concave side of just refuses to plate, while the back of it is perfectly fine! I've even tried with a separate close anode... Even masking off the rest of the part is a no go! What to do?

have you tried adding baking soda up to that vinegar batch that you're using cuz they would start bubbling up I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing better ways have fun

How do you make that "gold " inside you White buket ...What is the ingridiens ?? Michell Norway

Hello. how can we get that yellow liquid in white bucket ? I'm in Cameroon.

Tried dipping the metal part into the acid cleaning bath, and the part turns black in patches. I rinsed in simple green then distilled water before dipping in the acid rinse. I noticed the black residue almost rinses off with the distilled spray, but most of it doesn't. Should I just put it into the plating container? It seems like some weird oxidation from the acid. I put a small bottle of the 20° acid to two gallons distilled water. I'm using a cleaned cheap wrench as a dummy to get the contaminants out before the good part plate.

Mai machine lagana chahta hu sir app kaha mil sakte hai

Hey great video! Can you give me a link to get sodium dichromate? Looking out for more of your videos.