Un plating buckles...?
- Thread starter PaulN/KS
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Paul: I have a couple of belts that came with plated buckles, too. I disassembled the belt to remove the buckle, then fired up my hand-blower charcoal forge, tossed in the buckle and burned off the plating. Not only does this take that awful shine off, it leaves the steel fire-blued. A vast improvement! You can also do this with a propane torch. Just be sure to do it in a well ventilated area in case there is some zinc in the plating mix: very toxic when vaporized.
I don't know how these would work with large items like buckles but I have used battery acid to remove the galvanizing on finishing nails for knife handle pins with good results and have thought about naval jelly but haven't tried it yet, just some thoughts and I will be interested in hearing from others.
Tom Patton
Tom Patton
If the buckles are nickel plated you can soak them in Muriatic acid for a few days to get the plating off. Just check them often. Muriatic acid also works wonders for taking zinc plating off of wood screws. It works faster on zinc then it does on nickel.
Randy Hedden
Randy Hedden
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Best way I've found is to sand blast it off. Of course if you don't have a blaster Naval Jelly will work...
Scott
Scott
One of the simplest methods to take that plating off that I have used is soaking the part in white vinegar. Just plain old household vinegar. I use it all the time to take the zinc coating off of wire, nails, rivets, and to take that bright "nickel" coating off of rivets. Just put the parts in a glass jar and pour in some vinegar. Within a couple minutes you will start to see bubbles forming on the parts.
I leave the rivets in there for at least a day. When I take them out, I wash them thoroughly in plain water. Now, they do tend to have a whitish/grayish coating left on them, but it rubs right off with a cloth - usually when I am whiping them dry.
The part I really like is that I don't have to worry about leaving things in the vinegar for too long - so that it starts to eat into the metal. With some strong acids, you do have to watch more carefully to make sure you don't go too far. And disposal of the vinegar is pretty simple compared to those strong acids. Plus I don't "burn" myself when I end up getting some on my hands.
Just a few humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.
Mikey - yee ol' grumpy German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
I leave the rivets in there for at least a day. When I take them out, I wash them thoroughly in plain water. Now, they do tend to have a whitish/grayish coating left on them, but it rubs right off with a cloth - usually when I am whiping them dry.
The part I really like is that I don't have to worry about leaving things in the vinegar for too long - so that it starts to eat into the metal. With some strong acids, you do have to watch more carefully to make sure you don't go too far. And disposal of the vinegar is pretty simple compared to those strong acids. Plus I don't "burn" myself when I end up getting some on my hands.
Just a few humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.
Mikey - yee ol' grumpy German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
Hey, Paul. :grin: I was gonna mention the sandblaster but someone beat me to it.
I just waxed the blade of that knife you gave me. Its working up a pretty good mottled patina. Should be a good gift to hand down to a son. Hope yer well.
Chris
I just waxed the blade of that knife you gave me. Its working up a pretty good mottled patina. Should be a good gift to hand down to a son. Hope yer well.
Chris
I got to thinking last night (yeah, dangerous stuff), about whether household vinegar will leach/etch/remove chrome plating.
So, being a little shy on that book larnin', I started an experiment. I took a piece of chrome that was flaking off of the bumper of my pickup truck, and put it into a glass jar with some household vinegar. I also threw in a couple of those plated rivets - to make sure it was all working.
Well, this morning the rivets have had their coating etched off. They are now dark bare metal. But I see no change in the chrome pieces. Not even any "bubbles" on them like show up on the rivets when it starts working on them.
So, vinegar either doesn't work on removing chrome, or it takes a very long time.
Sidenote: If you have some iron that you want to remove the rust from, vinegar will clean it very well. For years museums and archological experts have been using that low voltage electric current and chemical/salt bath to remove rust. But this works just as well - and without play around with electricity near water! And it will eat that rust off the surface, and even eat it out of the bottom of the rust pits! It leaves that dull gray metal look/finish when it's done. And cleanup is just simple soap and water.
Ooooh ... my head hurts from all that thinking last night. Must be time to go fire up the forge and beat up some iron.
Mikey - yee ol' grumpy German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
So, being a little shy on that book larnin', I started an experiment. I took a piece of chrome that was flaking off of the bumper of my pickup truck, and put it into a glass jar with some household vinegar. I also threw in a couple of those plated rivets - to make sure it was all working.
Well, this morning the rivets have had their coating etched off. They are now dark bare metal. But I see no change in the chrome pieces. Not even any "bubbles" on them like show up on the rivets when it starts working on them.
So, vinegar either doesn't work on removing chrome, or it takes a very long time.
Sidenote: If you have some iron that you want to remove the rust from, vinegar will clean it very well. For years museums and archological experts have been using that low voltage electric current and chemical/salt bath to remove rust. But this works just as well - and without play around with electricity near water! And it will eat that rust off the surface, and even eat it out of the bottom of the rust pits! It leaves that dull gray metal look/finish when it's done. And cleanup is just simple soap and water.
Ooooh ... my head hurts from all that thinking last night. Must be time to go fire up the forge and beat up some iron.
Mikey - yee ol' grumpy German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
