DIY Brush Nickel Plating 1880’s Banjo Parts
I bought an 1880’s Dobson Victor “as-is” from Turtle Hill Banjo Company and it was in barely playable condition. As part of the restoration, I needed to remove a bunch of corrosion on both the tension hoop and the rim. Since the corrosion went through the nickel plating, I decided to remove as much as possible mechanically (fine sand / buff) but this removed some of the surrounding nickel plating also. Although, I could have polished the tension hoop completely and sent it out for nickel plating this was not possible for the spun-over rim since it has a wood core. I did some research and decided to try some brush nickel plating. There isn’t a lot of info out there to do this on the cheap outside of a few YouTube videos (this one was the most helpful). Many of the DIY nickel plating videos showed making the plating fluid which seemed a bit daunting at the time and a pretty long process for something that I wasn’t sure was going to work anyway. I researched some of the commercial plating kits but they are pretty expensive. I decided to piece together my own kit and was able to get everything from Amazon for pretty cheap (Under $100 total). This is also applicable to anything else that you might want to brush nickel plate like vintage guitar, mandolin, or other instrument parts.
Variable Power Supply (0-30V, >= 2A) | $40 |
Bright Nickel Plating Solution | $30 |
Nickel Anode | $13 |
Gauze Pads | $8 |
Total Cost | $91 + Tax |
Here are some images of the results. The first image shows the right side being plated and the left not yet done. The tension hoop shows the final result – I kept the dings and damage but added the new nickel plating where it was corroded.
My method for doing this is to make a brush “wand” by wrapping about 4 of the gauze pads around the end of the nickel anode bar then securing it with a rubber band. The bar can be insulated with electrical tape or a piece of heat-shrink tubing if the electricity concerns you. I then connected the NEGATIVE lead to the item to be plated and the POSITIVE lead to the nickel anode. I then set the power supply to 12V @ 2A (max) [lower is probably ok but this worked for me]. I then dipped the end of the brush into the nickel plating solution that I had poured into a 1oz medicine cup and started rubbing the brush on the surface. Instructions said to keep the brush moving or else you may get black spotting – I didn’t see this happen but I did keep it moving. It took about 20 seconds per square inch to put on plating. For this application, I did one plating then polished and did another one on top of it. It’s very important that the surface be completely clean and free of oil/grease. I used dishwashing liquid and Windex for this.
Since this is an 1880s banjo, I only plated things that needed protection or were corroded since I didn’t want to erase the history of the instrument.
This worked so well that I made some of the plating solution myself (since it’s pretty expensive at $30 for 8 ounces) from Distilled Vinegar and Nickel sheet according to the instructions here. It took about 2 ounces of the solution to plate the tension hoop and part of the rim.
Hey Chris –
I am the proud owner of a number of your bridges and a couple of truss rod covers. You do incredible work.
I am considering replating the tension hoop and the flange on my 75 Stelling Bellflower. I was going to disassemble the banjo and take the parts to a local plating company but your process looks pretty good. Out of curiosity, did you get a quote from a commercial plater first and if so, about how much was it?
Love your posts and your craftsmanship.
I didn’t get a quote since it’s not possible for the rim.