FridgeFreezer Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 Per the title really, I've got a couple of steel bits that I'd quite like to be protected from corrosion, and paint isn't the ideal option. I know you can get kits to do zinc passivating, would love to hear anyone's experience with those or indeed any other ways of getting a really good bit of zinc onto a lump of steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 I have! You need to get the surface really clean - I used a jetwash, grit blasting adaptors which took the rusty thing to gleaming, shiny metal. In the real world, they pickle the metal parts in something that really cleans the surface - don't know quite what though. Then I just used a lump of Zinc and battery acid as the electrolyte. I used a variable voltage power supply, negative connected ot the part you want to coat - then crank up the voltage until it starts bubbling! Bubbling is probably over-doing it. It took a long time to get a decent thickness of zinc on the surface - but it worked just fine. I remember just leaving it over night & using a digital micrometer to measure the increase in thickness. The passivate is just a protective coating, dipped. Not having real passivate, I sprayed it with laquer - which served the same prupose pretty well. It stayed shiny for a long time! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 Project binky did quite a bit of this? although im not too sure on the cost of the kit used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 Sheradising would be amazing - I have read of someone doing it home but it sounded very involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mossberg Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 Would it be possible to make a tiny galvanising bath? I am not quite sure of the temperature to melt zinc/lead mix, but with a small bath it may be possible. I know people that cast bullet heads and that is lead or a mix, so melting should be possible. The issue with this is moisture on any parts that you dip as when it turns to steam it "explodes" and creates lots of flying very hot bits that you really don't want to be near. I think with precautions and lots of common sense it may be possible. Also, if you make your own galv, you can add a bit more lead so it's the better stuff that used to be produced before the environmental issues became more prevalent - even though better galv means a longer life for the part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B reg 90 Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 I think sherardizing is not so easy. There is some one on the series one club forum who has apparently done it. Apparently you put your parts + zinc powder into a rotating drum, purge with an inert gas, then heat the whole lot to ~ 400C while rotating the drum. Try 'Electro plating at home' as search term in u tube - you get Geoffrey Coker's home plating video - 2 million + views... Looks easier than trying to sherardize! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 22, 2022 Author Share Posted June 22, 2022 Sheradising / galvanising would potentially be possible as I do own a small kiln (about 1sqft inside) that can easily hit zinc-melting temperatures, and I've got welding gas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishbosh Posted June 23, 2022 Share Posted June 23, 2022 BZP without an overcoat of something is not worth the effort in my opinion. Just look at the BZP bolts in your garage. They’ve probably already started to corrode before seeing any real corrosive elements like road salt. If you can get them hot dipped it would be worth every penny I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 23, 2022 Author Share Posted June 23, 2022 @bishbosh my BZP bolts are quite happy TBH, and the parts I have in mind are way too fiddly to be worth galvanising, even a thin zinc coating is better than bare steel which is the alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted June 23, 2022 Share Posted June 23, 2022 Worth zinc chromating for sure it is just a dip after the galv process, and makes a lovely yellow colour 😛 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallfry Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 What about Geomet coating ? It is applied by cold immersion and is water based, but I dont know how its done , but is the finish used on most automotive nuts and bolts. I dont even know if its possible to buy it, but there may be companies who will do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Saw this pop up in my feed and thought of this thread: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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