Thread: Restoring A Cap Iron

Originally Posted by Morbius

I have a cap iron in need of some attention. ...but the plating is in a woeful state.

I am happy to take this to a professional electroplater, but wanted advice on what sort of plating to get. i.e. Is it chrome or some other metal such as zinc?

I think this is the lever cap you're asking about, not the cap iron, as I've never seen a plated cap iron.

I have a few lever caps that need replating myself. I'm not sure about Stanleys, but Records were nickel plated before WW2; bare cast iron during WW2 & chrome plated from the 1950s (which leaves a question over the 1945 to 1950s period). I'm told the residues from home plating are toxic, and difficult to dispose of legally, so I'm intending to send mine to a professional electroplater. I'm told they can be plated successfully without being disassembled.

HTH.

Cheers, Vann.

Thanks for clarifying that. I should have said "Lever Cap"!

My mistake!

The front of this one looks like chrome, but the rear looks like shiny nickel, but I could be mistaken.

I am looking at taking this to Chrome World in Fyshwick (ACT) to get it sorted out.

Craig

Nickel Plating
Stanley used nickel plating on many of their tools. Replating is not easy because the electroplating process requires at least a basic electrolysis set-up. I was told that dry nickel plating i.e. without electrolysis is available. Some of the commercial outfits that chrome plate car parts handle nickel as well and they might replate your plane for a relatively small fee. If you want to go down that path make sure you don't plate any screws, screw threads or any other opening for depth stops, rods etc. Re-plated parts won't fit any more. If the plating is flaky, rusty and ugly remove it all and polish the tool. It will look almost as good as plated.


Nickel plated trimmings In Stanley jargon nickel plated trimmings include lever cap, (depth) adjuster nut and front knob.

From here.

Toby

Well,

I went to Chrome World this morning, and they will nickel plate the cap, then chrome it, as per the original. They had only just done a Falcon Pope lever cap, and charged me $55.00, including GST. I'll have the cap back in 4 weeks as there is a bit of a backlog.

I'll post before and after photos when I get the cap back.

Craig

Originally Posted by Morbius

Well,

I went to Chrome World this morning, and they will nickel plate the cap, then chrome it, as per the original. They had only just done a Falcon Pope lever cap, and charged me $55.00, including GST. I'll have the cap back in 4 weeks as there is a bit of a backlog.

I'll post before and after photos when I get the cap back.

Craig

crikey, not exactly cheap is it..but then when you consider they are removing all the existing chrome etc and then polishing the steel i guess its not too bad..i wonder if you did the prep work, buffing etc whether it would be cheaper

I don't think it would make a difference. I had pretty much removed all the old chrome etc anyway, and compared to the Falcon Pope I saw in the pics, mine was in pretty clean condition.

I think it was just a flat price, based on the last time they did one.

Craig

For the sake of curiousity can i ask why you want it re plated?

The plane itself is in good nick, except the blade, which needs replacing. The lever cap was looking a tad on the poor side and had lost a lot of the chrome anyway. Underneath the surface rust and a little crud, the lever cap was actually in pretty decent shape and replating it seemed like a good option.

If I factor in postage, it works out about the same price that I could buy a proper replacement cap in "near-mint" or "very good" condition, except that this is an original part of the plane.

Craig

I understand your desire to have your lever cap re-plated - it's nice to have your planes looking good. As I said earlier in the thread, I have several lever caps I'm considering having re-done (where's that damn tuit...)

But I'm a bit gobsmacked at that cost . I wonder if it's a minimum charge? I had some steel components galvanised a few years ago, and the minimum charge covered up to 5kgs of parts. Maybe there's something similar with chrome plating - although the latter is more labour intensive, with pickling (to remove the old plating) and polishing.

Then again, I wouldn't want too much polishing - my planes would look like modern rubbish planes...

Cheers, Vann.

Yeah,

I was surprised as well at the cost, but it has been 15 years since the last time I got anything chromed. I was expecting $20-$30 tops.

Shows what I know.

Craig