Here is my DIY zinc plating recipe:
WARNING proceed at your own risk. Please wear gloves and goggles while
handling the chemicals.
Whatever you do with the information below is your own responsibility.
Remember AAA "Always Add Acid" when combining acid with water.
This recipe makes about one gallon. This solution can be used over and over
for a very long time
as the zinc anode is what is consumed during the plating operation.
1) Get an ingot of zinc. West Marine sells a variety of them for use as
sacrificial anodes on boats.
I got a long one which was about 8 x 2 x 0.5 inches that I later cut into
half. This was $16.
You can probably find it cheaper elsewhere. Length is important if you
need to plate
long items, like the bugeye bonnet stays. This ingot will probably last
you forever.
2) You need to first dissolve some of the zinc into 1 quart of 30% Muratic Acid
to the point of saturation.
Ace Hardware and other places sell Muratic acid. The zinc combines with
the chloride in the acid to
make zinc chloride.
This is the dangerous part. It must be done outside away from potential
ignition sources as quite a bit of
noxious fumes and hydrogen gas is generated. Be careful not to breath the
fumes.
I did this by placing the ingot into a 12"x9" Pyrex cooking
dish and slowly adding the acid in small portions. I would then wait about
15 minutes for it to fizz down and then add a little
more....wait for it to fizz down....add a little more...etc... Once I got
a quart in the dish I let is sit overnight.
You can then bottle this up into a plastic container and set it aside.
3) Next, in a seperate jug, dissolve a 1/4 lb block of Sal Ammoniac (ammonium
chloride) into three quarts of distilled water.
Sal Ammoniac is sold at stained glass supply stores like this one:
http://www.globalsgs.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=222
4) Now slowly combine the quart of saturated zinc solution to the 3 quarts of
sal ammoniac solution.
More steps to follow...
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