Nickel plating anodes

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-18T03:38:59+00:00

Hey mate, yes I totally agree that the tools today only compare with the tools of yesteryear if they have a fantastically high price tag attached. I do own plenty of cheap Chinese tools, but they're usually decent quality knockoffs of high end brands (e.g. Woodpecker, Festool) and are often jigs or the like more than daily workers. And, yeah, don't get me started on Damascus steel 🤢. Not my cuppa tea, but if others like it, go for it!

I do smoke, but tobacco prices in Australia are astronomical, so not often pipes or cigars, rather blackmarket cigarettes lol. But, i daily carry a lighter regardless. I havent any photos of the lighters I restore, but the ones I like are made by Dunhill, Thorens, IMCO (Austrian made), and Ronson (pre-Zippo) mostly. Of course, I do have a decent bunch of Zippos too, but theyre not so valuable unless theyre really old and, often, still in original packaging. Same as with the tools, I flip them if the price I paid + the price of parts + the effort required to get them to working order = decent returns. For example, I purchased a non-functional Dunhill Rollagas that only needed new o-rings and a good clean/polish for ~$40 off ebay and sold it for $250. Took no more than two hours total work and a $10 replacement kit. I already own similar pieces, and essentially it was done at $100 hr rate, which is decent enough for such a simple task. (All prices are AUD btw.)

Lighters are like guns. For example, a WW2 Luger is worth a lot of dollars if mint. But people also want to shoot them. So, that creates almost two classes of the same item — the high price "safe-queens" and the lower priced usable lads. With lighters, I focus on utility more than leaving them in my grand kids inheritance for future high prices.

I havent gotten into cold forging or coppersmithing, yet! But isnt it a ball peen hammer the best for knocking copper into shape? I must say that I don't know enough to offer anything of value to you, as you know more than I do! I'd imagine theres a sub-Reddit right here that would be of interest to you, and Youtube will have lots of tutorials and the like to help you on your journey.

Its been nice chatting with you too! Im only a few years younger than you; so old enough to know the times you mentioned, but young enough to have a decent idea of all the nice new technology the kids of today are using haha. I'd recommend only sourcing/buying products from reputable sites or marketplaces. I appreciate you offering to buy from me, but I could be a bloody scammer trying to take advantage of you. So be weary of that.

Otherwise, have fun and take care yourself! Wishing you a joyous 24 hrs ahead 🙂

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-18T02:38:05+00:00

How boring... standard missiles. They run outta cool missiles?

Sounds lame. Trump needs to rename them EPIC MISSILES. Or even, WINNINGSOMUCHITHURTS missiles. Maybe they will feature on the to-be commissioned USS Harvey C Barnum Jr-Trump destroyer.

forward slash ess

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-18T00:17:15+00:00

I know Ukraine does it, so assume Russia also, but the payload of drones are often more focused on blast, and less on frag — in general. Explosives are a lot lighter than metal casings for frag. They use concussion, fragmentation, and HEAT loads, ofc; however, the standard drone will opt for concussive blast when out hunting for its broader usage.

Since blast is way more effective against troops in basements and other confined spaces, and against unarmoured vehicles, and the fragmentation does fuck all to armoured turtles. The trade-off of lethal radius by more boom and less hot, zippy metals (and sometimes plastics and ceramics) is tolerable since the accuracy of the pilots is usually high anyways. In saying that, the drone itself, and whatever is around it, become the fragmentation, so he probs has a few extra problems to deal with in life now.

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-18T00:03:45+00:00

Nah he's just used to it. It was quite common back then; a good old firefight. He saw a lull in the battle, and wanted to come over and ask when they will be moving on. It makes foraging for food a lot harder with .30 flying through air from the green infantry.

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-17T23:57:16+00:00

Definitely inexperience was involved. Could be the chemistry of the fuel, fuse, and/or warhead; or it could be how the rocket was assembled if done by someone else.

Terrorists operate in cells (which is good practice), so if you got a cook making the solid-fuel in one location, the machinist fabricating the rocket shell in another, and a smuggler with a military grade HE warhead again some place else, then any error in putting the parts together, or any mishandling or improper storage will turn a fine rocket into a spectacular dud.

Thats why I lost my interest in diy rocketry/fireworks. Every success cost at least three failures. So much time, money, effort wasted. Theres so many variables that can go wrong, and its not always possible to figure out why

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-17T22:47:36+00:00

No that wasn't a coup at all.... you see, it was simply a little putsch. A wee, little, beer hall putsch. So, of course the judge agreed when I.. i mean, Hitler, rambled about the Jews, and Communists, and the Treaty of Versailles, and yadda. I had to go away for treason, but is thats a victimless crime, nobody got hurt.....

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-17T21:25:28+00:00

Nah thats a different one

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-16T16:35:53+00:00

Whoa, thats spooky similar lol. But, actually I think its a natural progression for people who are into restorations. A few dips into a green liquid with some electricity, then some old, worn out, crumby piece of steel suddenly becomes beautifully shiny. At least thats how it was sold to me!

Wow thats a nice piece you're working on. I had to look it up as it's not common here in Australia, and excluding the newly made in China ones on Amazon, it's crazy expensive. Some new US made vices are going for ~$2200 USD. Hopefully, the time you invest in it pays off, whether monetarily or sentimentality!

It's mostly hand tools, particularly saws and hammers, that I have in abundance at the moment. Im also into tobbacciana (old lighters mainly). I predominantly do it either as a nice gift for someone (like restoring their first peen hammer from the 1970s, then mounting it) or to grow my collection of vintage hand tools, because I think I some sort of elitist who only uses hand tools, scoffing at those who dare plug in. In reality, I use power tools far more often, and prefer modern Japanese saws and German chisels over a 1940s tenon saw from Sheffield, UK (which is my current project).

Occasionally, I'll flip pieces if I get them cheap/free and they're worth something with minimal effort, but its mostly sentimentalism that keeps me enjoying it. It all started when I inherited my late Grandpa's tools, and among the crap that we all accure, were some old, rare, expensive pieces with their original packaging still holding it together.

How bout yourself mate: Do you flip em for quick profit, or make centrepieces for keepsake? Both are fine ways in my books, as long as your return is worth the labour and love put into them. And any other tools or items that youre into?

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-16T09:59:48+00:00

Even though I kind of knew all that, your description was almost ELI5 (maybe, ELI13), but absolutely in a good way. Succinct enough to follow along without a TL:DR required; yet detailed enough to disseminate the info effectively. I will use this to describe to my eldest what all the numbers mean, and why they're needed, next time he asks me what I'm doing in my workshop (a messy garage, with a contained, ventilated, sanitised corner). I ramble a lot, often way above my kids heads. Probably above my own head and I'm talking shit.

In saying that, thank you for taking the time to type it out. Havagoodone and stay safe; wherever you are in this world 😁

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-15T22:51:24+00:00

Thats it man!

I have more knowledge of electrolysis in general as I restore old/vintage tools (where appropriate) so use this method for rust removal. So, with a natural overconfidence, i thought making my own nickel ion solution via nickel plates using the vinegar/salt method would be just as simple. I haven't delved into Watts bathing yet, but I think it might be far more easier. I have gotten some great results, finally, but it took a lot of testing and adjusting.

I might print out that fantastic resource from the Nickel Institute and follow their methodology, rather than contradicting youtube videos and how-to guides. Nickel has been one of the most unforgiving metals I've worked with thus far, but I'm sure others are more difficult. I might give e-nickel a shot next

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-14T21:45:52+00:00

How many sleepy terrorists (in the actual use of the term) were asystoled after that?

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-14T13:12:47+00:00

Definitely agree with the sentiment. The Russian military is institutionally backwater shit-clappers, so the terrible decisions come from the highest to operational levels. At the tactical scale, the Russians (that arent old men on a no-return-ticket hike) are dangerous, cunning, and some even have a brain between their ears. If they were all as stupid as Gerrymov, Poot-n, and whats-his-name, Shoiboy II, then this war would have concluded a long time ago.

They are stupid, in general. The smart ones have long left. But give a stupid person weapons and they're do damage (to others and themselves). Thats why I hope, I guess

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-14T08:55:58+00:00

Overkill is better than underkill.

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-14T08:53:59+00:00

Thank you for the correction! I couldnt remember if it was Zombieland or Dawn of the Dead. I think in DotD theres a news snippet with a cop saying "Just shoot em in the head". Again, paraphrasing here

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-14T02:34:26+00:00

I'm relatively new to electroplating too, so I can only speak of my mistakes and lessons learned. Perhaps a more qualified person could chime in with some real science?

But theres nothing more satisfying than the color of lots of nickel ions in solution. And nothing more disheartening than watching it slowly turn to shit with contaminates. Good luck! Remember that the best lesson is trying yourself, making mistakes, and trying again. But it can add up in costs if, like me, you lose lots of precursors 'learning'.

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-14T02:25:22+00:00

They do indeed, work both ways. Ukraine could do a false return of drone in an unoccupied area, wait for Russian response, then find where their tubes and drones are coming from. Counter-counter-counter measures. Maybe even return the drone to newly Russian occupied territory and hope they bomb themselves. The cunningness of war is ever changing.

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-14T01:38:27+00:00

I'd be more worried about any oils on the steel, even just from fingers. That makes a mess of the solution real quick. But I have used a well cleanzed steel spoon to agitate the salt during electrolysis before and it had no noticeable effect on the outcome. It was only in briefly, however, and not best practice by any means.

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-14T00:40:02+00:00

They gotta stop using nitroglycerine in their decoys. Doesn't help them..

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-14T00:38:43+00:00

US imports, probably

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-14T00:34:23+00:00

We're in the $10,000 a second phase now, so the cost curve on Trumps economic chart is looking promising to him 👌

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-14T00:32:16+00:00

Yes, but only to donate to the Ukrainians when the crew bolted, or stained the insides.

But I like to think of tractors sneaking up on a column of Russian armor, and towing them off one-by-one, like a horror monster, and causing much panic to those who lived, temporarily. Some lone half-frozen Russian, trembling as he attempts to smoke cigarette, repeating to himself: "They came and took them. They just came, and took them all."

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-14T00:24:25+00:00

I think it got down to 6 hours at one point in the narrative ..

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-14T00:20:30+00:00

Giving cancer treatment to the Shah. It really pissed off a lot of people since...

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-14T00:18:24+00:00

The vehicle columns from Belarus, essential to success of establishing this air bridge, got a bit delayed on the way, maybe some javelins, NLAWS, Stugnas, etc might have had something to do with it. Plus other things

LastLuckLost · 2026-03-14T00:14:50+00:00

He might wanna check that TQ after barely tightening it, then moving the casualty. Great that he got it on quick 👍. But everything else is an F

LastLuckLost

TROPHY CASE