WORKBENCH
Small Parts Plating
Whether it is touching up the nickel plating, gold plating shotgun triggers
or plating an entire gun, this is a job that can be done in your shop.
F
by Paul Mazan
rom nickel plating as a standard
finish to custom gold plated guns
made for royalty, plating has
been around almost as long as
firearms themselves. Most of us think
of plating as something that must be
performed in a large shop full of tanks
and hazardous chemicals. For some
types of plating this would be correct,
however, there are many types of plat-
ing that can be done on firearms parts
at home with only a modest outlay of
cash and no special tools.
Texas Platers Supply (214/330-
7168) has been offering easy to use
plating kits for many years. Kits are
offered in Nickel, Pure Silver and 24
karat Gold with prices ranging from
just under $30 for Nickel to just un-
der $80 for Gold. The chemicals are
poisonous if taken internally so keep
them out of the reach of children. The
only supplies you will have to provide
are abrasives for polishing the metal,
batteries to provide the direct current
to plate with and a degreaser to clean
the parts so the plating will adhere.
I recently bought a well used and
tired Smith & Wesson revolver and
thought I’d see just how hard it was
to plate and what the results would
be. I found the disassembly, polishing
1306_AMG_JUN2013.indd 21
and reassembly harder than the plat- The plating process is the same
ing process. The results were spectac- no matter what metal you are apply-
ular. Along with the S&W revolver I ing. As always, before you start any
thought I’d gold plate the triggers on firearms project be absolutely certain
my much modified Stevens 311. That the gun is unloaded. Check it yourself
poor Stevens 311 has been a test bed and KNOW it is empty. Then proceed
for so many projects it’s actually start- to disassemble the gun until you have
ing to look pretty good. I’ve owned the every part to be plated detached and
old beast since 1961 when it became laying in front of you on the bench. In
the first gun I bought with my own the case of the S&W that meant total
money and I well remember the day disassembly. With the Stevens only
I walked out of Hildebrand’s Sport- the triggers had to be removed.
ing Goods in Broadview, Illinois. I For larger parts, commercial rust
thought I had purchased the finest and blue remover works well for the
gun in the world. Ah, the delusions initial stripping. For smaller parts,
of youth! hand polish using finer and finer grits
My project S&W revolver has had of paper to a mirror polish. Even if rust
a hard life. It has ridden on the hip of and blue remover is used the parts
a cop for many years as evidenced by still must be polished to a bright fin-
the wear to the grips. It was also re- ish before plating. After polishing, the
blued, badly, at least once and the side- parts must be degreased. Every trace
plates have been rusted and buffed to of oil, including the oils you left on the
the point that the S&W logo is nearly part by touching it, has to be removed.
gone. Its saving grace is that it shoots I do this wearing latex gloves and use
superbly and the action is smooth as Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber. Now
a baby’s cheek. the parts are ready to plate.
Below left: The Gold kit contained wires, clips, a special brush, copper
solution to use as an undercoat, as well as the gold solution used as the top
coat. There are two pages of instruction including tips on replating worn
spots on old plating. Below right: The triggers are from a Stevens 311 shot-
gun that has been the test bed for numerous first time gunsmithing projects.
For comparison sake they are shown here before being removed for plating.
June 2013 ★ AMERICAN GUNSMITH 21
4/27/2013 8:18:50 PM
 WORKBENCH
The plating process requires a
three volt DC power source. The in-
structions recommend batteries but I
used a power pack from an old elec-
tric train. This is not a transformer but
a power pack that some of the model
railroad trains used in the 70’s. You
must used direct current. One pole
is attached to the work and the other
is attached to the brush used to ap-
ply the plating chemical. The brush
is loaded just like a paintbrush, dip-
ping it in the bottle of plating solu-
tion. The plating chemical is applied
in a slow sweep of the brush across
the part, making sure the bristles of
the brush contact the large metal plate
on the top of the brush. As the cur-
rent flows from the plate through the
plating solution it leaves a deposit of
metal on the surface. Like most every
other metal working proposition, the
higher the polish put on the metal the
brighter the finish.
Anyone that thinks any opera-
tion is foolproof doesn’t have a high
enough regard for fools, but this one
is pretty simple. If you can follow
directions and use a paintbrush you
can achieve excellent results as long
as you remember that the parts must
22 AMERICAN GUNSMITH ★ June 2013
1306_AMG_JUN2013.indd 22
Above left: The triggers are removed from the gun and buffed to a mirror
finish. This job is much faster with a Dremel-type tool but can be done by
hand. Be sure to remove all scratches and blemishes or they will appear
in the finished work. Clean and degrease thoroughly. Above right: After
connecting the battery, the brush is dipped into the solution. Make sure the
bristles and underside of the plate are well covered with the chemical. The
chemical is the consistency of heavy cream so there is little chance of drip-
ping or running.
be kept free of grease and oil and revolver. The result was a gun that
are polished to a bright, mirror-like looked old and weathered rather than
finish. After plating the parts they a shiny nickel. Sometimes it’s better
can be brightened further with 0000 to be lucky than good.
steel wool. Immediately after plating, wash
The only problem I’ve ever expe- the parts in clean water, wipe them
rienced with the product has been dry and you are ready to reassemble.
when I tried to increase the voltage Reseal the compound, wash out your
to see if I could get a thicker plate. brush well with soap and water and
See my remarks above regarding start looking for other things around
fools. The higher voltage caused the the shop that can be plated. How
nickel to discolor and I ended up about nickel plating the trigger guard
with a finish that looked more like to really set off those gold triggers, the
old bare steel. That turned out to be bolt on that old .22 or the hammer on
a good thing considering I was nickel your revolver? Once you get started it
plating a brass framed cap and ball is kind of addictive. AG
Below left: To get the plating to work, the backplate or anode must press
the bristles of the brush against the work. The trigger is connected to the
negative terminal of the battery and the brush is connected to the positive
terminal. The circuit must be completed so it will deposit the plating on the
work. Below right: Gold plated triggers are shown reinstalled on the gun.
4/27/2013 8:18:51 PM