"Bright" Nickel Plating

[dans95]

I came across an old print (circa 1983)that calls out nickel plating as
"Bright Nickel Plate .0002-.0003 Thk."
Our materials manager is asking what type plating do we want.
The part is a 1015 steel shaft that runs through bearings so the O.D. need to be tightly controlled, but it is also cosmetic so it needs to be shiny like a kitchen faucet. Finish before plating is centerless ground 32uin.

What plating processes will give me what I'm looking for?

Electolytic ASTM B689 or other?
Electoless Mil-C-26074?

 

[TVP]

Bright nickel means electrolytic nickel according to ASTM B 689 or similar.

 

[IRstuff]

Anecdotally, we had an electroless nickel plater who "liked" shiny nickel, and would tend to drive his process in that direction, but the resultant structure apparently had tons of residual stress.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[dans95]

Thank you for the input.