Poor Man's Alternative to Nickel Plating

 
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Pauliewog
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Post by Pauliewog » Mon. Jun. 08, 2015 6:37 pm

The major expense in most stove restorations is the Nickel plating. There really isn't a paint on the market that will hold up to the heat and give the appearance of plating.

I am not a big fan of silver paint, but I must admit it looks a lot nicer than rusted, peeled nickel.

I have two stoves that I really like, that are missing a few parts that may very well take me years to locate. Rather than let them sit until I can locate the missing parts I am in the process of cleaning them up and restoring what I do have.

After removing the dirt, rust, paint, crud and stove black, and sanding down, preparing and polishing the parts that need to be plated, I usually spray them down with WD40 to protect them from surface rusting until I send them out to be plated.

My daughter came over the other day as I was putting away some trim. She said she loved the way the plating came out. I explained to her that they weren't plated yet. She asked me what would happen If I just shot it with a high temperature clear coat ...........So I did. I picked up a can of Rust-oleum 2000 degree clear and gave it a try.

Results......... NOT Bad ..... It did take a bit of the polished shine away but also darkened the background a little giving it a nice patina.

Not a bad way to finish off a stove until you have the extra money to have the Nickel done !

Paulie

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Scottscoaled
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Post by Scottscoaled » Mon. Jun. 08, 2015 6:43 pm

I'm not the nickle plate expert here but that looks really kool in it's own way! Will the high temp clear hold up? Will it be easy to remove if you do need to Plate? I like it!

 
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Scottscoaled
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Post by Scottscoaled » Mon. Jun. 08, 2015 6:43 pm

How did you do that?

 
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Post by Scottscoaled » Mon. Jun. 08, 2015 6:44 pm

Do you have a bigger piece done that isn't so intricate?

 
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windyhill4.2
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Mon. Jun. 08, 2015 7:07 pm

Pauliewog,that looks absolutely outstanding !! Good job !

 
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Post by freetown fred » Mon. Jun. 08, 2015 7:14 pm

Outstanding indeed PW. :)

 
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Pauliewog
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Post by Pauliewog » Mon. Jun. 08, 2015 8:19 pm

Scott

I will post a few pictures starting with the finial . This is that Hero Dockash I picked up in the finger lakes area. The one missing the bonnet.

I started with a citrus based paint stripper, followed by electrolysis rust removal ( battery charger and washing soda ) then brass wire wheel, and polished with 3M pads on a 4" angle grinder. Nothing fancy I just wanted to get most of the pitting out before it got the first flash
copper plating.

The clear should hold up just fine and can be removed with the citrus based stripper
The picture below is the finial just before I unloaded it from the truck

Paulie

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Pauliewog
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Post by Pauliewog » Mon. Jun. 08, 2015 8:34 pm

windyhill4.2 wrote:Pauliewog,that looks absolutely outstanding !! Good job !
Thanks David ...... The rest of the finial was brass and polished right up with good old Brasso.

Paulie

 
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Post by Pauliewog » Mon. Jun. 08, 2015 8:37 pm

freetown fred wrote:Outstanding indeed PW. :)
Thanks Fred ! Like my Dad used to say ............ When you are born poor ya gotta learn to be resourceful !

Paulie

 
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Post by Sunny Boy » Mon. Jun. 08, 2015 8:43 pm

Forget the plating, that looks far better with highlighting the depth of the relief - much more three dimensional looking. And it gives it a very nice antique patina.

Paul
Last edited by Sunny Boy on Mon. Jun. 08, 2015 8:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 
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Pauliewog
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Post by Pauliewog » Mon. Jun. 08, 2015 8:45 pm

They were a lot brighter before the clear coat. You can see the surface rust forming just hours after polishing.
The bottom base and legs are the original Nickel.
The swing top lid, footrests, and front badges are polished cast iron.

Paulie

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windyhill4.2
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Mon. Jun. 08, 2015 9:31 pm

Sunny Boy wrote:Forget the plating, that looks far better with highlighting the depth of the relief - much more three dimensional looking. And it gives it a very nice antique patina.

Paul
I have to agree,i like this look far better than the "polished" look. Give your daughter credit for this good idea .

 
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Pauliewog
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Post by Pauliewog » Mon. Jun. 08, 2015 10:00 pm

Sunny Boy wrote:Forget the plating, that looks far better with highlighting the depth of the relief - much more three dimensional looking. And it gives it a very nice antique patina.

Paul
Paul

I think if I Buffed out the raised areas with a fine rouge before the clear, it would really bring out the depth.

After the paint and rust removal, all of the buffing on this stove trim was done in under 2 hours with two 3M pads and a 4" angle grinder.

These are before and after pictures of the ash door badge.

Paulie
. .

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Post by SWPaDon » Mon. Jun. 08, 2015 10:07 pm

Pauliewog wrote:They were a lot brighter before the clear coat. You can see the surface rust forming just hours after polishing.
The bottom base and legs are the original Nickel.
The swing top lid, footrests, and front badges are polished cast iron.

Paulie
Do you wear gloves when polishing?

The reason I ask, is that when I reload my gun shells, if I don't wear rubber gloves when handling them the acid (is what I read somewhere) coming from my pores will corrode the brass and actually leave fingerprints.

EDIT: This happens with all metals I touch except stainless.

 
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Post by Sunny Boy » Tue. Jun. 09, 2015 6:23 am

Pauliewog wrote:
Sunny Boy wrote:Forget the plating, that looks far better with highlighting the depth of the relief - much more three dimensional looking. And it gives it a very nice antique patina.

Paul
Paul

I think if I Buffed out the raised areas with a fine rouge before the clear, it would really bring out the depth.

After the paint and rust removal, all of the buffing on this stove trim was done in under 2 hours with two 3M pads and a 4" angle grinder.

These are before and after pictures of the ash door badge.

Paulie
. .
Nice! Yes, polishing with a high speed buff and rouge will highlight it even more. White rouge is better on the steel. Cuts faster and It won't darken it as much the way red rouge can.

Red rouge (jeweler's rouge) is better for softer metals such as gold, silver, brass and copper.

And, if you go at it with rouge, don't forget to wash it good with a solvent like lacquer thinner. That's to get all the wax out of the pits and crevices, or the clear will blister as soon as the wax gets heated.

Paul


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