Has anyone looked into zinc flake coatings for refinishing fasteners? Its got a nice dull grey finish like cad plating, is easier on the enviroment than cad, and has better corrosion resistance than typical zinc chromate. Its now the typical finish for auto manufacturers. When I get to the point of refinishish the hardware on my bike, I plan on trying to find someone to do it.
Small scale cadmium plating
- Thread starter Patrick M
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- Jul 14, 2011
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- 25
I'm going with cadmium plating and will let you know how it turns out. I decided against zinc even before this thread began 
. The shop doing the cadmium plating can worry about the environmental regulations since they no doubt must comply with them. Their costs of plating with cadmium are tacked onto my bill. The only thing I need to worry about is not putting the hardware in my mouth.
Interestingly enough, many products still sold contain cadmium. I spoke with a metallurgist colleague of mine who mentioned that, in the past few years, McDonald's had sold (given away?) drinking glasses that had paint with cadmium in it.
Another thing I discovered recently is that some manufacturers, like BMW, use a Zinc Silicate coating on their hardware, not electroplated. When cleaning this hardware with a phosphoric acid for a restoration, the zinc coating came off real quick. So jmanbball, that may be what you're referring to. It has an okay appearance when applied albeit somewhat splotchy.
Bolt with zinc silicate coating shown in photo below.
. The shop doing the cadmium plating can worry about the environmental regulations since they no doubt must comply with them. Their costs of plating with cadmium are tacked onto my bill. The only thing I need to worry about is not putting the hardware in my mouth.Interestingly enough, many products still sold contain cadmium. I spoke with a metallurgist colleague of mine who mentioned that, in the past few years, McDonald's had sold (given away?) drinking glasses that had paint with cadmium in it.
Another thing I discovered recently is that some manufacturers, like BMW, use a Zinc Silicate coating on their hardware, not electroplated. When cleaning this hardware with a phosphoric acid for a restoration, the zinc coating came off real quick. So jmanbball, that may be what you're referring to. It has an okay appearance when applied albeit somewhat splotchy.
Bolt with zinc silicate coating shown in photo below.
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