Removing Nickel plate

Doc Hoy · October 14, 2014, 09:56 AM

Came up with an old S&W DA Second Model at a gun show.

Pistol is in great mechanical condition. Easily shootable.

But the nickel plate finish is in very rough condition. At least fifty percent gone.

I would like to remove he finish and then blue the pistol. (I can't do the nickel plating and having it done is three times what the pistol will every be worth.)

Has anyone had a positive experience with the Brownell's Nickel Plate Remover?

Tnx,

Dixie Gunsmithing · October 14, 2014, 10:54 AM

It will work, but you will have to leave it in long enough that it cleans out the plating from the lettering, which seems the hardest to remove. It's hard to tell if it gets everything sometimes, so I let them soak for 2 hours. Also, use it outside. The gun should be clean as possible, before you hang it in the solution. There is a PDF at Brownell's with instructions, that would be best to read before you have a go.

Bill DeShivs · October 14, 2014, 02:08 PM

Caswell plating also sells a nickel stripper that works well.
Bead blasting is also an option if there is rust.

James K · October 14, 2014, 05:38 PM

Most plating shops can reverse the process and remove the plating electrically without damaging the steel underneath. I have had it done on several guns and then polished and blued them. I have seen stripped guns re-plated with nickel and they looked OK but have not had that done myself.

Most folks who do that seem to use chrome plating because it is easier to find shops that do chrome plating than places that do nickel. But the appearances are quite different and (IMHO) chrome plating on an older gun looks like heck. (It looks like heck on those cheap little auto pistols, too, but nothing would look right on them!)

Jim

Jim Watson · October 14, 2014, 07:00 PM

Quote:

chrome plating on an older gun looks like heck.

I know what you mean.
Not just Bubba's Bumper Shop chrome, but professional hard chrome that would look good on a 21st century racegun. Looks like the devil on a century old lemonsqueezer even if technically well done.

I had a 1950s vintage .38 Super that had apparently laid on something that attacked the nickel on one side. The left side was 98%, the right side was just ugly. I thought about asking the local industrial plater to deplate it so I could have it blued or coated, but decided not to get into a big project. I sold it back to the guy I got it from and he had it nicely renickeled.

Chaz88 · October 14, 2014, 07:10 PM

Brownell's also has a nickel plating kit you might want to look into for finishing it after the strip. The cyanide and other really caustic chemicals are taken out of the process with the kit.

James K · October 14, 2014, 08:09 PM

A really bad part about chrome on an old gun is when a gun show dealer tells me that the gun has 100% of its original nickel finish. Then I tell him it is not original, and it is chrome, not nickel. Then he tells me I am full of it, that he is an expert, etc.

Gets particularly bad when the "nickel" plated gun is a 1942 Luger or an M1911A1 Remington-Rand. Then I hear about "made special for Hitler" (or Gen. Patton). And of course, the Franzite fake pearl grips just make it even more valuable.

Jim

Dixie Gunsmithing · October 15, 2014, 04:36 AM

Jim, reverse plating or deplating is really the best way, and all it is, is which wire you connect the part to. One polarity is plating, and the other is deplating.

I would say electrical deplating is quicker than a chemical strip, but I may be wrong too. It's according to how much a plater would charge to deplate the thing, as compared to how much the liquid chemicals are. I hardly ever do one, so I use the chemical method of removal, and keep back my plating setup for anodizing. The cheapest plater, will be one who already does nickel. If he has to make a new setup for the deplating, then he will be expensive. The reason for the new setup, is that plating/deplating can leave nickel in the electrolyte.

Doc Hoy · October 15, 2014, 05:21 AM

Especially from James.

James can you tell me the name of that guy?....

I would pay nearly anything for the chrome plated Luger with the mother of pearl grips owned by Hitler.....

Colt made a .1911 for him too dint they?

.

.

.

... .... ;o)

James K · October 15, 2014, 07:38 PM

No, the chrome plated 1911 with the pearl grips was presented to Patton by Hirohito. It was the gold plated SAA Colt that FDR presented to Hermann Göring, engraved "with my deepest admiration". I'll let you know if the SAA ever comes on the market.

Jim

Doc Hoy · October 16, 2014, 06:27 AM

I should have remembered.

musher · October 16, 2014, 09:27 AM

I wouldn't sweat it. History is a difficult subject.

James K · October 17, 2014, 07:50 PM

These days when our youth is in total ignorance of history, I shouldn't joke like that; some high school kid will probably post it next week.

One of the cable networks has a guy asking college students really tough questions like "Who was George Washington?" and "What was Abraham Lincoln known for?" Seventy percent had no idea whatever.

Jim

Doc Hoy · October 18, 2014, 07:09 AM

I will open by admitting that this response doesn't address firearms in any way.

As a retired Naval Officer and a post secondary educator for the last twenty years I am struck by the situation in public high schools.

20% of our high school grads are functionally illiterate. That means that they get onto a freeway and can't figure out when to get off by reading the signs.

Can't work out a personal monthly budget.

And as you say, have zero awareness of history.

Nearly half of university freshman go into basic math. Higher numbers go into basic English. This is after having taken these classes in high school.

I was involved in GED prep for persons in the prison system. If a person takes and passes the GED, he or she is better prepared than a typical high school graduate.

My comments will not sit well with anyone who is a public school employee and I do apologize to any who might be offended. I must hasten to add that the foibles of the public system have very little to do with the teachers. The problem is not one bad teacher or one bad administrator. The problem is a broken system.

I have seen the video results of the tests James speaks of. I admit these are anecdotal and of little statistical value in assessing student mastery of high school subjects overall. But I am confident that I could find plenty of evidence out there to support the idea that we are not doing well in basic public education.

When this issue is raised at a national level, the defenders always say that the answer is "more money". I must remind all that, during the depression we spent almost no money on public education, yet we graduated class after class of high school students who won WW II and contributed to the post war boom.

Sorry about the vitriol in this post, but when this topic is raised I simply can not control myself.

October 14, 2014, 09:56 AM	#1
Doc Hoy Senior Member Join Date: October 24, 2008 Location: Naples, Fl Posts: 5,440	Removing Nickel plate Came up with an old S&W DA Second Model at a gun show. Pistol is in great mechanical condition. Easily shootable. But the nickel plate finish is in very rough condition. At least fifty percent gone. I would like to remove he finish and then blue the pistol. (I can't do the nickel plating and having it done is three times what the pistol will every be worth.) Has anyone had a positive experience with the Brownell's Nickel Plate Remover? Tnx, __________________ Seek truth. Relax. Take a breath.

October 14, 2014, 02:08 PM	#3
Bill DeShivs Senior Member Join Date: April 7, 2006 Posts: 10,981	Caswell plating also sells a nickel stripper that works well. Bead blasting is also an option if there is rust. __________________ Bill DeShivs, Master Cutler www.billdeshivs.com

October 14, 2014, 07:10 PM	#6
Chaz88 Senior Member Join Date: January 4, 2010 Posts: 1,243	Brownell's also has a nickel plating kit you might want to look into for finishing it after the strip. The cyanide and other really caustic chemicals are taken out of the process with the kit. __________________ Seams like once we the people give what, at the time, seams like a reasonable inch and "they" take the unreasonable mile we can only get that mile back one inch at a time. No spelun and grammar is not my specialty. So please don't hurt my sensitive little feelings by teasing me about it.

October 15, 2014, 05:21 AM	#9
Doc Hoy Senior Member Join Date: October 24, 2008 Location: Naples, Fl Posts: 5,440	Lotta good info here.... Especially from James. James can you tell me the name of that guy?.... I would pay nearly anything for the chrome plated Luger with the mother of pearl grips owned by Hitler..... Colt made a .1911 for him too dint they? . . . ... .... ;o) __________________ Seek truth. Relax. Take a breath.

October 16, 2014, 06:27 AM	#11
Doc Hoy Senior Member Join Date: October 24, 2008 Location: Naples, Fl Posts: 5,440	Tsk....Silly me! I should have remembered. __________________ Seek truth. Relax. Take a breath.

October 14, 2014, 10:54 AM	#2
Dixie Gunsmithing Moderator Emeritus Join Date: April 27, 2013 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,923	It will work, but you will have to leave it in long enough that it cleans out the plating from the lettering, which seems the hardest to remove. It's hard to tell if it gets everything sometimes, so I let them soak for 2 hours. Also, use it outside. The gun should be clean as possible, before you hang it in the solution. There is a PDF at Brownell's with instructions, that would be best to read before you have a go.

October 14, 2014, 05:38 PM	#4
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	Most plating shops can reverse the process and remove the plating electrically without damaging the steel underneath. I have had it done on several guns and then polished and blued them. I have seen stripped guns re-plated with nickel and they looked OK but have not had that done myself. Most folks who do that seem to use chrome plating because it is easier to find shops that do chrome plating than places that do nickel. But the appearances are quite different and (IMHO) chrome plating on an older gun looks like heck. (It looks like heck on those cheap little auto pistols, too, but nothing would look right on them!) Jim

October 14, 2014, 08:09 PM	#7
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	A really bad part about chrome on an old gun is when a gun show dealer tells me that the gun has 100% of its original nickel finish. Then I tell him it is not original, and it is chrome, not nickel. Then he tells me I am full of it, that he is an expert, etc. Gets particularly bad when the "nickel" plated gun is a 1942 Luger or an M1911A1 Remington-Rand. Then I hear about "made special for Hitler" (or Gen. Patton). And of course, the Franzite fake pearl grips just make it even more valuable. Jim

October 15, 2014, 04:36 AM	#8
Dixie Gunsmithing Moderator Emeritus Join Date: April 27, 2013 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,923	Jim, reverse plating or deplating is really the best way, and all it is, is which wire you connect the part to. One polarity is plating, and the other is deplating. I would say electrical deplating is quicker than a chemical strip, but I may be wrong too. It's according to how much a plater would charge to deplate the thing, as compared to how much the liquid chemicals are. I hardly ever do one, so I use the chemical method of removal, and keep back my plating setup for anodizing. The cheapest plater, will be one who already does nickel. If he has to make a new setup for the deplating, then he will be expensive. The reason for the new setup, is that plating/deplating can leave nickel in the electrolyte.

October 15, 2014, 07:38 PM	#10
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	No, the chrome plated 1911 with the pearl grips was presented to Patton by Hirohito. It was the gold plated SAA Colt that FDR presented to Hermann Göring, engraved "with my deepest admiration". I'll let you know if the SAA ever comes on the market. Jim

October 16, 2014, 09:27 AM	#12
musher Senior Member Join Date: April 23, 2005 Posts: 462	I wouldn't sweat it. History is a difficult subject.

October 17, 2014, 07:50 PM	#13
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	These days when our youth is in total ignorance of history, I shouldn't joke like that; some high school kid will probably post it next week. One of the cable networks has a guy asking college students really tough questions like "Who was George Washington?" and "What was Abraham Lincoln known for?" Seventy percent had no idea whatever. Jim

October 18, 2014, 07:09 AM	#14
Doc Hoy Senior Member Join Date: October 24, 2008 Location: Naples, Fl Posts: 5,440	James et al, I will open by admitting that this response doesn't address firearms in any way. As a retired Naval Officer and a post secondary educator for the last twenty years I am struck by the situation in public high schools. 20% of our high school grads are functionally illiterate. That means that they get onto a freeway and can't figure out when to get off by reading the signs. Can't work out a personal monthly budget. And as you say, have zero awareness of history. Nearly half of university freshman go into basic math. Higher numbers go into basic English. This is after having taken these classes in high school. I was involved in GED prep for persons in the prison system. If a person takes and passes the GED, he or she is better prepared than a typical high school graduate. My comments will not sit well with anyone who is a public school employee and I do apologize to any who might be offended. I must hasten to add that the foibles of the public system have very little to do with the teachers. The problem is not one bad teacher or one bad administrator. The problem is a broken system. I have seen the video results of the tests James speaks of. I admit these are anecdotal and of little statistical value in assessing student mastery of high school subjects overall. But I am confident that I could find plenty of evidence out there to support the idea that we are not doing well in basic public education. When this issue is raised at a national level, the defenders always say that the answer is "more money". I must remind all that, during the depression we spent almost no money on public education, yet we graduated class after class of high school students who won WW II and contributed to the post war boom. Sorry about the vitriol in this post, but when this topic is raised I simply can not control myself. __________________ Seek truth. Relax. Take a breath. Last edited by Doc Hoy; October 18, 2014 at 07:15 AM.