I need to get the emergency brake handle for my 1911 Stanley Model 63 replated. It is full of little pits. Do most plating companies typically do a good job or do I need to be very careful who I have do the work?? Is there something more specific I need to ask for than nickle plating?

Dear Alex, The Stanley model 63 emergency brake handle was only nickle plated on the knob where your fingers wrap around, the releasing spoon that your palm squeezes, and the toothed rack that fastens to the side of your car's body. Many restorers plate the whole handle which looks nice but is incorrect. Preparation is the largest cost of plating. You can do much of this pit removal by draw filing the pits off of the brake handle parts. I follow the draw filing with some DA sanding with about a 220 grit paper. Working to a finer grit will have it ready for plating. If you have deep pits, the rust has to be completly removed from the metal and then the holes can be leveled with silver solder. A professionaly plater can do all of this tedious work for you, but he can also grind the strength and the details of the handle away too. Good luck in your work to be done.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2007 08:40PM by SSsssteamer.

This is a timely question, as I am about to send out some parts for plating on The BettyAnne - she is the 1925 Stanley Model SV-252G that is beginning to come back together.

Has anyone had any experience with platers who will do the filling work and not destroy the detail? I have a bumper, steering column, (all badly pitted) and some other odds and ends - not to mention gauge bodies. Who does anyone recommend?

Thanks!

Don Hoke

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What gives the other parts of the brake handle the nickle like color?

Dear Alex, I just knew that this question still needed more information. Yes, the whole handle gets plated because all of the handle is in the plating tank. Only the parts mentioned above are polished nickel. The rest of the parking brake handle after plating is supposed to be painted black.

A friend of mine restores fire trucks and has a platter put layer and layers of copper plating on to fill the pits. He showed me one part that he said had twenty plantings of copper, each time most of it was removed except for the stuff left in the pits.

Rolly

Rolly
What you explained about the copper may answer one of my questions about what I saw on my emergency brake handle. I used a high speed power tool with a fiber tool to polish part of my handle. I was trying to see if the plating was thick enough that I could buff out the small pits. It seemed that I buffed through a layer of nickle then a layer of copper. I could not figure why I was seeing copper.
Thanks,
Alex

Most metal’s that are cast or forged, are plated first with copper. It fills the porosity of the metal and allows the nickel or chrome to cover.

Rolly

Hi,,,Chrome is pourous,,if plated over steel it rusts,,as in baby buggy wheels,,,Chrome over copper, copper will corrode,tarnish from pourus chrome,, and I think there is a adhesion problem on chrome/copper,,,the nickle seals the copper, and chrome over nickle works OK,,,I mention the chrome only to give the overall picture,,,Nickle has a nice luster BUT the tarnish sticks on awful,,so put on vasolene or? to help keep it from tarnishing,,,Hope this helps,,,someone may describe this in a more orderly manner,,,,Cheers Ben

Dear Ben, I will give it a try to better describe plating. First the piece is prepared for plating by removing rust, or any foriegn none conducting dirt. The piece is next polished to a bright chrome like shine. Copper is first used over the base metal to fill the voids and to permit the piece to polish to a fine luster, and copper allows the piece to take on an even nickel plating due to the good conductivity of copper. Nickel is next applied to give the plated item a bright silver finish. Due to nickel being soft and porous, the nickel plating soon looses it's luster unless it is chrome plated over. Chrome plating is clear and it fills the porosity in the nickel plating making the nickel plating very hard. Chrome being hard, it is long wearing and resists oxidation. An item that has just been nickel plated is so bright, it is hard for me to tell it from something that has been chrome plated. After a few weeks, the nickel gets a patina that is beautiful. To keep nickel beautiful, after polishing with a metal polish, I use a paste wax to seal the nickel to prevent the losss of it's luster. Chrome plating became a standard replacement for nickel in the automobile world in 1930. There are many more details that a plater can tell you about plating than I can.

Were these early levers forged or cast ?? Ben