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Vintage Amateur and Military Radio Amateur/military receivers and transmitters, morse, and any other related vintage comms equipment.

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Old 7th Jan 2017, 12:27 pm   #1
derek.ireland
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Default Rusty screws on front panels

I have a few WD sets with rusty screw heads on front panels so have been thinking how difficult would it be to nickel plate them at home only a few screws at a time? I have tried silver paint but it does not look right. Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks for anything you can come up with.

Derek.
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Old 7th Jan 2017, 12:35 pm   #2
ms660
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Default Re: rusty screws on front panels

Never done plating, my method was to buff them up in a cordless drill back to bright steel, if you magnify pics 1 and 3 in this link you'll see the results, all part of a front panel refurb job:

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=70831

Lawrence.
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Old 7th Jan 2017, 12:43 pm   #3
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Default Re: Rusty screws on front panels

Fit new screws?
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Old 7th Jan 2017, 1:10 pm   #4
ms660
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Default Re: Rusty screws on front panels

Here's some done on another receiver, four done the rest not done but were done eventually, these were well rusty, I used a fine file to get to bright metal while screws were spinning in the drill, finished off with fine Emery the soaked them in oil for a while, wiped off then occasionally going over the front panel every month or two with a duster kept them looking good.

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Old 7th Jan 2017, 1:30 pm   #5
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Default Re: Rusty screws on front panels

I'm trying a mix of baking soda and tin foil for a polish, then a nylon pot scourer, then a jewellers bath sonic cleaner. I'll let you know results.
A problem with storage in a damp atmosphere is after any type of cleaning, steel tends to rust over again, a smear of petroleum jelly would assist in preventing this.
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Old 7th Jan 2017, 2:35 pm   #6
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Default Re: Rusty screws on front panels

Almost certainly all the screws in your SX28 are UNC thread, 4-40, 6-32, 8-32 etc.

There is a company in the USA, PSME (Precision Scale Model Engineering..), who have a vast array of screws, many types of heads, stainless or regular nickel plated steel, brass etc.

http://www.psmescale.com

Many UNC screw types are available on USA ebay too as are UNF.

I would go along with Station X's suggestion, for a professional finish they should be replaced, or re-plated.

Although screw heads don't look that great painted with a brush with silver enamel paint, they can look reasonable if they are cleaned up as suggested by rotating them in a chuck and using fine paper such as 2000 grade on the heads and finishing the slots by hand, sometimes necessary to remove screwdriver burs from the slot edges with a fine file. Then treat them with Fertan organic rust converter to deactivate any surface rust in the pitted metal, this will stop future rusting but give them a patchy blue hue. But then spray paint the heads with a fine silver metallic lacquer (like the touch up spray for cars).

Or you could take them to your local electroplater and have them re- plated with bright nickel. If you use zinc it will look good initially but it will age and grey quickly unless its lacquered, or treated every month with WD40. Most likely the original plating (not available now due to pollution concerns) was cadmium which has a whitish metallic look. You could have them chromed but this has a bluish metallic look compared to nickel that has a yellowish metallic look and chromed screws often don't look normal for a radio's front panel.

Overall it is better/easier to fit new screws if you can get identical ones with matching head geometry, and if you got stainless ones the problem would be over for good.

AES (Antique Electronics Supplies ) in the USA once sold a small kit for nickel plating small objects. That works if they are completely rust free.
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Old 7th Jan 2017, 3:16 pm   #7
Bazz4CQJ
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Default Re: Rusty screws on front panels

IIRC, there are lots of hits on Google on DIY nickel plating; it may well be worth giving it a go. I used to do electroless-nickel plating at work with excellent results; unfortunately those solutions have become harder to get hold of.

Be sure that you clean/degrease the screws really well. Remember that nickel solutions can cause skin sensitisation; wear gloves.

All that said, stainless steel screws solve the problem nicely, but be sure to lubricate stainless nuts and bolts to stop galling.

B
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Old 7th Jan 2017, 6:14 pm   #8
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Default Re: Rusty screws on front panels

We're using a brush-on nickel plating kit from Gateros Plating for touching up worn keys on musical instruments. It works really well, you need to clean the part properly and polish it like a mirror. They sell on eBay.
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Old 7th Jan 2017, 6:23 pm   #9
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Default Re: Rusty screws on front panels

Caswell Plating have nickel plating kits, along with kits for any other sort of metal finishing you can think of. Just buying some replacement screws would be a lot quicker, easier and cheaper though, unless you intend to do a lot.
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Old 7th Jan 2017, 8:52 pm   #10
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Default Re: Rusty screws on front panels

I've used the 'Copy Cad' plating products from Caswell in the past, with excellent results - for reproducing some of the dull Cadmium type finishes found on post-war era Norton fasteners in particular. As with all plating, preparation (polishing), cleanliness, and attention to detail, were all key to obtaining good results, but well worth the effort in the end.

If you can still find any of the smaller (cheaper) kits, it could be a useful option, but they only have the larger kits shown on the site now, which would be way too expensive for this sort of job.
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Old 8th Jan 2017, 12:45 am   #11
Leon Crampin
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Default Re: Rusty screws on front panels

Carefully applied to well cleaned steel, solder gives a surprisingly good finish.

Leon.
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Old 8th Jan 2017, 10:08 am   #12
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Default Re: Rusty screws on front panels

How about electrolytic rust removal? That works surprisingly well.
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Old 9th Jan 2017, 12:09 am   #13
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Default Re: Rusty screws on front panels

I remember my dad plating some screws and trim strips using some ancient and no doubt thoroughly poisonous compound called "Chromit". Sort of white sugary looking crystals that one applied to a damp cloth and rubbed into the metal. It turned greenish when wet and left a very thin plating after a great deal of rubbing - not sure of it really was chrome though.

The electrolytic idea does work well - maybe dunk them in waxoyl immediately afterwards.

Cheers,

Colin.
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Old 10th Jan 2017, 12:02 am   #14
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Default Re: Rusty screws on front panels

If the screws are SAE, not metric, send me a pix of them and the size & screw pitch and I'll see what I can find here in the U.S. I have a real good supplier, Tacoma Screw Products, whom I deal with. Typically, I buy screws by the bulk bag or box. Also a company called McMaster Carr is supposed to be fantastic on hardware, but I have never used them.
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Old 10th Jan 2017, 12:32 pm   #15
jamesinnewcastl
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Default Re: Rusty screws on front panels

Hi

I have the same problem with my SBA equipment restoration. I tried cleaning, tried rock tumbling but now I simply reach for my Dremel, put on the flap wheel attachment and the rust just goes in seconds.

Possibly I have messed up the coating, but it looks OK at the moment.

The joy of this is that I don't need to buy new screws, etc. Everything has been cleaned up using the Dremel. Where there was rust in corners, the flap wheel, where I have repainted and need to clear the chassis for a ground connection I add the grind wheel and where I need to cut open a capacitor out comes the cutting wheel!

The only thing better at the moment is its big brother - the angle grinder! (Used on house stuff - not the electronics of course)

Cheers
James
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Old 10th Jan 2017, 2:14 pm   #16
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Default Re: Rusty screws on front panels

I've posted an up to date picture of my R1155 that I restored over 6 years ago (). The original pictures can be seen in this thread https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=53805

The bolts/screws were held against a pan scourer whilst being spun in a rechargeable drill. Their heads were then dipped in clear metal lacquer.

The dome nuts were zinc plated using vinegar as an electrolyte and a strip of zinc, cut from a battery, as an anode.

Despite the dust and being stored in an unheated room for all this time I think the nuts and bolts still look OK.

David
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