The level of scrutiny has gone up. The city asked we dispose of the plating solution in science already. The City’s environmental quality group has made it abundantly clear they are watching. Even a spill of plating solution that has to be cleaned up is too much. DMS cannot afford to run afoul of this.
Nobody wants to make yet another rule about this.
who would I talk to about borrowing the plating tools in order to do this offsite?
Why can’t he just bring his own solution in and take it with him? That was what I thought they did in automotive, with oil. I think automotive has plenty of spills, they just have a much larger group of users. (I need to pickup some kitty litter, it’s been on my list for a while).
Also I thought you (freddy) had been talking to place about chemical disposal and were going to get back with me on how they prefer it to be sorted for disposal?
We have only used chemicals in the area twice since I have been chair. I got some supplies to start teaching some more chemistry classes, but I have been so busy trying to get the area up to code and user friendly I just haven’t had time to get that going. Chemistry is my background and it would be nice if I could share some of that. Why is there so much fuss over our minute chemical usage? I am happy to have our used chemicals disposed of properly. And plenty of other areas use chemicals like automotive, jewelry and machine shop, but I don’t feel like they are receiving the same scrutiny over it
Unless I’m just missing all that.
If it is mild steel:
Just need some distilled water to dilute concentration and a regulated power source.
the link that you have on nickel acetate is the one for sulfuric acid. Was that a typo? also, would it be safe to do the plating inside a garbage bag (all held inside a bucket of course)? that way i could get the bag really close to the shape of the object, like putting marinade and chicken breasts inside a ziploc
This a is the method I have been using and is completely DMS friendly as there are non aerosol versions of the conductive paint and the chemicals don’t have to be disposed of after use their materials are not super expensive and its 3d print friendly. I was thinking about doping a class on it at some point.
Reviving this topic …
Did “the city” issue a blanket ban on all chemical use at DMS, or did they single out “plating solution” for some reason? We have comparable stuff already at DMS (like silver nitrate, which also has heavy metal effluent if you were to dispose of it). Or are we voluntarily acting out of an abundance of caution? @kobin - can you clarify the requirement, please?
Having worked in a plating lab, I would hesitate to use the DMS chemicals. In our community use environment, I’m not confident that our electroplating solutions are clean enough (i.e., not contaminated) to generate the surface finish I’m looking for. So - that leads me to where I’m willing to buy my own supplies to do this. Thing is … I’m not particularly keen on investing in a high $$ power supply for the few small items I’m thinking about plating. What do we use as a plating power supply at DMS? Can anyone suggest a cheap alternative? I have a one-time use requirement and I’d prefer to borrow if possible, or get something dirt cheap as my second choice.
As an alternative, can anyone suggest a nickel plating shop that works on jewelry-sized objects?
I watched a lot of these DIY Ni Plating videos that don’t rely on big power sources. Many are batteries or wall warts. I bought the larger regulated power source shown above because I was looking doing larger pieces than they are doing. Surface area and amps (as you know having worked the process) are used in the calculations. Voltage has more of an impact on rate of deposit and surface finish.
But I would guess a loot of these simple set-ups would work for you. Some DIY links.
The city did not issue a blanket ban, they merely noted that the level of acceptable metal solutions in effluent was quite low unless we had a pretreatment plan. We do not have one and I can see no likelyhood of having one.
Thank you for the clarification.
As Freddy said the city didn’t issue a blanket ban that I’m aware of. The city does not provide any trash or recycling services to commercial customers, so we will need to coordinate with a private chemical disposal company:
https://www.cityofcarrollton.com/departments/departments-q-z/trash-recycling
Getting a waste disposal method setup is on my to-do list… @kthompson395 did you have any additional information on setting up waste disposal?
We have plenty of power supplies in the Science Lab area. Feel free to stop by Sunday around 2:30 during the informal lab meeting time and we’ll see what will work. We have some solutions for plating but I’m not sure how clean they are.
Also @Wid wants to do electroless plating…if we can get a list of materials needed then we can look into doing this, especially if we eventually do a class on it! 
Safetykleen is someone I spoke to about previously removing some chemicals.
Argh, id like to be there tomorrow but im stuck in portland and don’t get back till around 6. Is anyone gonna be there later in the evening?
Both electroless nickel and electrolytic nickel require a base coat of copper. Copper can also be plated electroless-ly.
While it is alleged that electrolytic plating looks better (i.e., bright/shiny) than electroless, that’s not always true. A lot of electroless nickel ends up on plastic (salt shaker lids, for instance). However, if you’re doing nickel plating for appearance, then an absolutely pristine clean and good substrate surface finish are crucial.
Each process has pros/cons but unless you have technical requirements for corrosion resistance, lubricity, ductility, etc. then you can probably choose either one. And frankly, if you have technical requirements for corrosion resistance or whatever then you probably shouldn’t consider doing it yourself at DMS anyway.
I usually take off around 6pm, but sometimes folks stay later than that. Just ping me and we’ll see who’s still there. I’ll probably stop by during the week too.
From: [email protected]
Sent: November 21, 2020 8:00 PM
To: [email protected]
Reply-to: [email protected]
Subject: [Science] Nickel plating?
Wid
November 22
Argh, id like to be there tomorrow but im stuck in portland and don’t get back till around 6. Is anyone gonna be there later in the evening?
I would not use the DMS solutions that have been used if you want a clean finish. I would say they are best for demo purposes. I think the silver is clean enough for a nice finish unless it has been used lately but the others no.
I would assume follow what kobin wants to do for waste disposal or take your waste with you for now.
Were you able to find what you needed? I’ve done a fair amount of this, and if you aren’t able to get equipment you need to use off-site I have equipment both in the buy and borrow categories (bench power supplies, sm welder, etc).
That’s a generous office, but I tentatively think I have what I need. I’m also going to give serious thought to finding a shop to outsource this. I have such a small amount to do that it may not be worth the investment to do it myself.
Like the shirt says … why buy something for $7 when you can make it for only $93 in craft supplies? 
