How to plate a part with nickel at home

Over time, metal parts lose their attractive appearance and become completely or partially covered with rust. But they can be “rejuvenated” using galvanization and without much expense.

DIY nickel plating at home

We securely attach pieces of copper wire to the rusty parts and twist the free ends into one bundle.

Pour battery electrolyte into a glass jar and place the rusty parts in it.

Almost immediately gas emission begins from their surfaces.

Pour clean water into a plastic flat bowl, add baking soda and stir until it is completely dissolved. We will need this solution to quench the acid reaction. We dip the parts taken out of the glass jar with electrolyte into it and rinse thoroughly.

We make sure that the rust from the surface of the parts has completely disappeared.

We take a certain amount of nichrome wire. Pour battery electrolyte into a glass jar, add table salt and stir until the salt is completely dissolved.

We connect the terminal wires using a bundle of nichrome wire, which we immerse in electrolyte enriched with table salt.We separate the wire bundles in a jar with electrolyte and salt with a dielectric plate.

We supply a voltage of 5 V and 1A. After some time, very harmful fumes will begin to be released from the jar. Therefore, it is better to conduct this experiment in a well-ventilated area or outdoors.

Filter the solution of electrolyte and table salt through cotton wool placed in a funnel.

Pour water into a basin, add detergent and mix well. In the resulting solution, degrease the parts, wiping them thoroughly with a brush.

Then immerse the degreased parts in a copper electrolyte for 1 minute, consisting of battery electrolyte and copper sulfate. We degrease and wash the parts again. As a result, the parts acquire a reddish tint and good protection against rust.

Next, pour the nickel solution, obtained due to the presence of nickel wire in it, into a plastic cuvette. We lower the negative terminal (anode) into it, and connect the parts covered with copper film to the positive terminal (cathode) and also lower them into the nickel solution. Then we apply voltage.

We wash the parts in soapy water. An example of nickel plating is good to show on a brass part because of the contrast of colors. We have produced high-quality nickel plating of parts in the most economical way.