MTFCA Forum

I plated my spark and throttle rods several years ago with a Caswell kit. The throttle has worn off in one area. I replated it over the past three days, but it doesn't look as good as before. Does the brass come from the solution, or from the wand they supply?

From the wand & chemical combinations I believe

I'm not familiar with the Caswell kit, I will look it up later. If your plating procedure does not offer the application of a copper plating before the brass plating, the brass will have a tendency to come off. Ferrous materials don't like plating of gold, brass, etc. without a primary coating of copper to help the outside plated material to stay put. This is common problem with many ancient plating techniques as it saved money initially only plating the item once. I hope this is helpful.

Larry-
The brass comes from the wand. The solution is the vehicle that transfers the brass.

Engineers use controlled electrolysis to transfer the desired metal coating from an anode (a part containing the metal that will be used as the plating) to a cathode (the part to be plated). The anode and cathode are placed in an electrolyte chemical bath and exposed to a continuous electrical charge.

I was disappointed with my attempt to brass plate my gas and spark levers using Casswell's kit. They are now painted with gold paint, which looks like unpolished brass...

-Keith