Picked up a 374 Haban - Page 8

Oak · #71 03-06-2017, 06:18 AM

Getting sidetracked + waiting on parts for the 982.

I've looked at a ton of pics on these and Haban changed things up quite a bit.

On this one the front caster assemblies look like they have a yellow chromate finish like the grade 8 bolts do at TSC. It's kind of hard to tell from this pic but up close it does.
DSCN2549.jpg

I did some research and found a plating kit that Caswell sells and picked one up along with the yellow chromate solution.
http://www.caswellplating.com/electr...ting-kits.html

I also watched a ton of vids on YouTube about making your own plating solution but I just ordered the kit.

Then I had to figure out a DC power supply. It takes 0.14 amps/square inch to properly plate a piece.

I picked up this 1.5 KVA transformer off of CL for $50. It was out of a tanning bed and is rated at 120/230 input and 32/16 volts output. I wired it for 230 input on the primary but wired the secondary for 16 volts. This gives me about 8 volts output because I'm only using 120 volts. I then put a dimmer switch on the input to regulate the output voltage.
DSCN3099.jpg DSCN3100.jpg

Then you need to convert the AC to DC so I'm using this full wave bridge rectifier rated at 40 amps. I'll need to add a heatsink when I plate large parts.
DSCN3123.jpg

I don't have the pics but I gave the parts I'm plating a good soak in muriatic acid and water to remove the original coating. I then boiled the parts in an old pot on the turkey fryer burner with some Simple Green added to remove any grease. Then they get bead blasted.

I didn't plate any large parts yet but here are some that I did some testing on.
DSCN3111.jpg DSCN3122.jpg

olds45512 · #72 03-06-2017, 08:24 AM

Caswell sells some nice products, their gas tank sealer is the best on the market.

zippy1 · #73 03-06-2017, 11:41 PM

Good amount of figuring on the electrical portion of your plating system.

So, this going to be a side business? Send all of our parts to be plated to Todd ?????

Looks good.

dag1450 · #74 03-09-2017, 09:59 AM

Nice! I was doing the same thing Todd a couple years ago. I watched a kid do plating with a battery and a penny. I WAS HOOKED! I did lots of watching...reading...buying...gathering. I was all ready to go. This was going to be for small cub parts and i made a rack out of copper pipe over the bucket so i could (mass produce)lol. Then i bought a big orange tractor that had ton-age of hardware that needed the yellow zinc plating. So at that point i called around and found a professional place that will take up to 100lbs for like $100 or something like that. They dump it in a rotating barrel or something like that. It did work great. A few of the hundreds of heavy rusted pieces could have been de rusted better by them. Next time i will derust myself in vinegar. then take up to them.
Anyway...Good job and i cant wait to see more. I bought a variable dc power plant off ebay...that way i WAS going to b able to adjust the current to fit the part. Now its all in the attic. OH...look into a fish tank air pump too....

dag1450 · #75 03-09-2017, 10:03 AM

I think i had a small thread over on the other site called "christmas morning". Or search plating over there.

Oak · #76 03-09-2017, 06:19 PM

Tim it seems like they have great customer service too.

Todd, nope I would be afraid of messing someone else's parts up so I'm not going into business.

Dag, I'll check that out over there. I could have taken it somewhere here in Atlanta but everybody is super expensive. I figured it would be kind of fun to do so I ordered the kit. I should be able to plate something as large as 2.3 square feet which is way more then I will need. My transformer should be able to put out 47 amps and I can turn it down to a little less than 1 amp. I'm going to try and plate the caster assemblies this weekend. Pics to follow.