Cad plating spokes

[Paps]

As a matter of fact Cotten. He did store them in a closed container. Thanks !! I'll let him know what you said. Paps

[Snakeoil]

Well, at least I have a decent grasp of old school, rustoration, authentic, bobber, and chopper now. Gee, you guys are like herding cats.

I would think there is a way to age cad plate. Maybe a sealed container is the trick. I was thinking it might be a mild salt bath and then allowed to air dry. New bikes with cad spokes tend to have the spokes look old within a year or two, especially if they live outdoors all their life. That was why I was surprised when I was told not to replate them. I figured within a year they would look old again.

I'm not trying to fool anyone here. I've also gotten all the speeches about it's only original once. Well, I view things like rust as unwanted patina. If the original owner had been a neatnik, then the bike would have been kept perfectly clean and cared for all its life and would look excellent today. I'm just cleaning it and making it road worthy again. I realize that beauty is in the eye.... and for me, that's a clean and cared for bike. I actually walked away from a good deal on an original panhead a few years ago because the bike had been so well cared for that the paint was worn thru in a number of places from polishing. Looked like a pinto. I knew that painting it would be wrong and the pinto paint would drive me nuts. So I walked away. Now I'm rambling. Must be contagious.

What I started to say was after moving the rust, I'd like to keep it from returning. Maybe I'll just clear coat them as it and be done with it. I can always replace them if it caused problems in the judging. I would like to think that everyone would want to see an effort made to stop any further degradation of the bike. Touching up bare metal from a dent or scratch is not restoration in my mind. But I don't make the rules.

I'll keep my eye open for old spokes. That's a good suggestion. After reading that, I remember seeing boxes of old spokes at swap meets. I got what I need. You guys can start talking about cooking or your last operation now. Thanks.

[Snakeoil]

My Buddy had a bunch of parts re-cad plated less than a full year ago. He is dissapointed in his plater because they look darn near 50 years of age instead of lees than one year of age. When they first came back from his plater, they looked fresh. All parts were stored in a controled climate. The point in bringing this up ????? Maybe, just maybe, this is what is needed. A plater who does cad and ends up creating patina ?? Paps

As I looked for info on plating, it occurred to me that although your friend asked for cad plate, he might have gotten zinc plate. Cadmium is bad stuff and it is being phased out as far as nuts and bolts go. Zinc plate is the replacement. Zinc tends to age rather quickly turning white and powdery looking. It could be possible that his newly plated spokes are zinc plated and not cad.

[Paps]

I'll pass that info along to him also. Thanks, Paps

[bobdo]

Hey All,
I don't think I would recommend what I'm about to say. Simply because its not original. I can understand not wanting new Cad spokes to "stand out". I couldn't find a place to plate my parts Cad, ( since then I have ) so I had them plated with a dull nickel. It looked kinda similar so I went with it, ( a regret). They sealed the metal & looked pretty good for awhile but have since darkened with patina & really don't look like Cad. I'm just throwing the info out there for someone in case they consider it. If your not interested in accuracy & hate rust but want an old patina, it might be worth considering. Bob

[Chris Haynes]

What I started to say was after moving the rust, I'd like to keep it from returning. Maybe I'll just clear coat them as it and be done with it. I can always replace them if it caused problems in the judging.

A good coat of paste wax will stop the rusting. Rust must have air to continue. If you seal out the air it won't progress.

[Oldchief]

Stainless rusts...it just stains less. In 1913, English metallurgist Harry Brearly, working on a project to improve rifle barrels, accidentally discovered that adding chromium to low carbon steel gives it stain resistance.

However, it does rust when exposed to salt water and ocean air over time, it does deteriorate.

Old Chief

[len dowe]

just a note if i may, i had some original spokes and nipples cad plated and at first it was wierd but in one season of riding they seem to now match the bike and they look great. and a plus that they are cad plated. but then my bikes are for riding and thats what they'er meant to do. also, pretty much all the oil leaking off the bikes took care of the newness problem fairly quickly, LOL.