MS1000 GOLD

[money-b]

jk's ms1000 sink....iphone taken and a lil grainy....and me just posting for him for now.

[marko]

the thing with any plating is the item you want plating has to be flawless, you can't cover grit blasting marks with plating. that's why the original nickel ms1000 cost big bucks, a lot of prep went in to the sink.

getting in to the fins on that amp will be a nightmare and time consuming to make perfect and this is where they cut corners i'll bet

[JK]

i just know it looks like shit.. it makes me value my original nickel that much more.. by tomorrow i will go back there..

[marko]

your nickel will always be worth more than any ms1000, originalty always wins even though these custom pieces are nice

looks like they polished the fins and sides of the sink but didn't get in between the fins, might just be how the pic came out with flash etc.. maybe it needs polishing by hand in between the fins?

[mhyde71]

AND TBH GUYS this is the exact problem i am having with getting pedis surfboard nickel ready...

Just this past week i finally got the 175mesh glass bead and shot some samples... BUT i am concerned about what i see, and what the glass bead did. It is a whole different ball game prepping for plating vs. coating.

The sink has to be absolutely smooth and 100% free of any inconsistencies or otherwise the nickel plating process will fail and look like crap, in thiose areas that have the spots/inconsistencies .

so it is in most cases not just a blast and plate quick type thing. one of things i learned from this project i am doing for pedi right now is that i dont think i would take on a plating project like this again. I am a coater and prolly bit off a lil more than i can chew to prep something for plating...BUT am going to make it happen... I have pictures and responses from my findings/results seen here in fact: maybe you can share with the guy who did your plating job some info from this thread here: http://powder365.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 296#p20296


otherwise JK i really dont know what else to say... i would think the only thing left to do is go back and see what they have to say- but did you not have it prepped with someone else (some other place) and that will be the platers "out"- that he didnt have any role in the blasting and consequently can not garuntee the outcome...BUT if it is the same guy/place maybe you will have better luck....IDK


otherwise it is a very big job to have blasted off again and would be concerned about the aluminum now getting all warped up with all that much blasting.

[JK]

yeah! he was going to finish preping.. i did what he said... i am worried about blasting.. i feel the same way as you.... ill find out today or tommorow and let everyone know...

[ttocs]

can you try wetsanding? use some sandpaper around a thin sponge, gonna take for ever but.....

A he said unless it is glass smooth it will not come back looking like a mirror.

[Eric D]

When these sinks were made they came out as an extrusion with a very nice surface to it. I am pretty sure all PG had to do was a light polishing and then it could be off to plating. When you blast these to remove the existing finishes, you micro texture it and removing that would be a very time consuming task.

Some places heavy plate the item with copper first, and then polish the copper (easier to polish). Then they nickel plate, and finally chrome plate.

If it makes anyone feel better, in my opinion I would just skip plating something like this. Even if it were plated, who would ever want to mount one of these in such a way to show of the fins? The board, and the guts are a work or art. The fins are just plain boring. No matter the finish they are still "just fins"...

[The Golden One]

since im in the process of polishing my motorcycle frame an idea popped into my head this to me is the only viable solution for getting in between the fins and comes in different grits http://cgi.ebay.com/100MM-NYLON-FILAMEN ... 5882ff86b5

[mhyde71]

^^^ very interesting ^^^
i also saw something real cool from some guys in australia, a legit company and all that stuff with something really unique but simpleton-ish and never pulled trigger on it as i hadnt gotten into learning to perfect polishing yet.

i will say this and for those of you who checked out my thread on other forum to determine why the pin head holes when blasting with the glass bead, apparently i need to 110% completely purge the pressurized system in order to switch to glass bead this very fine grit...

SO/BUT, with the contamination issue resolved (IOW with the non-existence of the pin head holes) the finish that the #13 glass bead from Kramer Ind. offers is really something!!! I can definately see how it would leave the most possible desired finish for plating. it was like smooth like i had never seen before save the pinhead holes. So at least i know i did the best i possibly could on this planet.

BUT if polishing comes into play- should or could it be done at my end? question for plater i guess... but this item looks pretty cool too.

[JK]

I never made it to the plater today but will tomorrow for sure.. I don't think the nickel is gona work out...

[ttocs]

is that just something like a water spot that is in the fins or is it where it di not plate as well? It almost just looks like it needs a good cleaning. Maybe take a gold cleaning cloth and see what happens...

[JK]

It's both!!! Water spots and no plating in the deep areas... Looks like some kind of compound as well...

[mhyde71]

okay so i went to our local plating shop (National Metal) to discuss pedis surfboard project...
I brought a sample heat sink so they can have good look at the metal/configuration, check out the glass media i am preparing to use and hear their thoughts....


SO here is what took place AND AND BUT I AM SO DISAPPOINTED- i took pics w/ cell from the tour jim gave ted and I... and i have no clue what happened to the pictures... but they all ALL show/ed up just as black screens once i got them to computer...idk about that- sry I would have had pics and made this a little more interesting to read- BUT HERE's THE DEAL:

SO showing these guys the sink, and using their 2-400x microscope on the metal- their conclusion is that the metal looks good, fine for plating yadda yadda... and the glass media i am planning on using looks good...

The sample sink (as i mentioned above) I brought had the results i got from the blasting w/ the glass bead 175 mesh.... they seem to think that it was some contamination in the blaster perhaps... that caused the pitting... SO like iow i didnt clean/purge out the system as much as i could or should...so that i will address and be sure that it is free of any cross-contamination...

BUT here's the deal- as far as getting into the fin areas...and recessed areas... they showed us a spindle like part they do for a local windmill manufacturer... And it had all kinds of tight gears/teeth, crevices and the like... and there was beautiful uniform coverage through and through...

The process, as they described to me, that they use/d for this intricate part is laying down 1st flashed with copper, then what they call bright nickel 2nd and lastly the electro-less nickel application. The part looks fantastic- i took pics of it and the cell showed the pics before we left- got home and all i have are these black squares...? idk whats that all about- and feel like crap that i dont have any/all pics i took except the first pic of us walking in the door.... whats that all aboiut i have no clue!

BUT a really nice group of guys there and HEY PEDI i think you are going to be pleased with the end results...albeit a year in the works on this... BUT i (like i said) i need to make sure that i have done the absolute best that i can with respect to this as i know what it should look like and want to acheive that for you- or at least know that io did everything in my power to do so for you.


SO we had good trip in fact- met with phoenixcolt from CT delivered the amps and stopped in to nat met... which was cool to see.

matt

[stipud]

Bummer about those pics! But you need to get yourself a good camera dude! It's worth it

[mhyde71]

well i have a good cam... but just didnt bring it with me.... wasnt thinking ahead about possibly taking pics or not- but i will be there again and possibly have a 275 sink done first to make sure we get the coverage we are looking for.

m

[Pedi]

[kg1961]

any updates on this yet?

[mhyde71]

working on it... got my glass bead pressure pot all set now...
bought a new clean pressure pot - just for glass bead so i wouldnt have any trouble with contamination and that i would be able to leave the pot there as a glass-beader... and have that at my disposal for whenever i might need it.

m

[mhyde71]

okay so i made some head way with this here

specifically to pedi-

BUT for all to hear- here's what i did....!

i was still not sold on the idea of glass beading the sink for plating... it leaves just this rough looking and feeling finish on the sink- AND NOT like what my ceramic coated aluminum oxide does...iow the ceramic coated AO leaves a more uniform and less of a etched profile on metal...

SO here's the game plan...

I glass beaded top half of a sink that i am sacraficing for this project/test
then sand blasted with the ceramic coated AO on the back side...and the other half of top of sink i will use DA sander to smooth out.... and have it plated.

This will show us just what way or process of blasting and with what media is going to net the best results...

I have been scared to actually move forward with this given what i see/feel on metal and heard from the nickel plater tech guy - from blasting with the glass bead... it looked as though there was contamination- SO last night i vacuumed out the entire sand booth, cleaned out all of the sand feed lines, blast hoses, and tank with vacuum extension and really went to town to get all white sand (the ceramic stuff)- out of the picture... and so that i could feel confident about no cross contamination... and glass beaded the top of the 2250 sink and then went back to the white sand...

Just need to sand it now on other top half and then ship it to plater and see how or which way looks or gets the best results.... only way i could/would feel comfortable - vversus just blasting the surfboard and plating it w/o knowing for sure which way is best first...

m

[mhyde71]

sacrificial sink is dropped off today- should have some results to look at here very soon!
and then we can move forward

[Pedi]

Looking forward to this

[tonym]

is wallnut shells to soft for the job?

[mhyde71]

not sure tbh,.... just that all research i have read and learned has always ended up with glass bead as the common media used for prep for plating- ... but for some reason I am just not sold on it- the AO i use leaves the metal, in what i would think, is a better looking blast finish for plating... but maybe i am wrong and thats just the way it is... but when you rub your fingers across the area of beaded aluminum you can feel kinda as if like you were to run a paper towel over it it would rip and tear... whereas on the white sand blasted area that wouldnt/doesnt happen- ya know- so maybe walnut - but truth be told i have heard typically walnut gets used for various woods .

i may even try to belly up the sink to nat metals b/c all i need to see is the results.. the sink is beat to shit- and once plated theres no going back- i tried repairing it with that hts 2000- i gave it like 30 min oif trials and errors and gave up

that hts2000 alum weld stuff- i cant seem to get it to work for me- so fark it- i sacrificed the sink so we can all learn what the dealio is- and we can all be sure that we get pedi's surfy looking as close to as damn farking good as possible. - at the end of the day - it's worth it!

m

[ttocs]

wonder how joma went about plating all of those amps he sold?