Zinc Plate Zamak With a Black Chromate Finish

Zamak is a 95% Zinc alloy which is easy to cast in a home workshop. However it oxidises readily and needs some additional protection to preserve it's appearance. Zamak can be chrome plated and it was used extensively for things like door handles, headlight and tail light hardware on cars before plastic parts replaced them. The process begins with copper plating but most commercial copper plating is done with cyanide copper electrolytes which are really toxic and not suitable for home workshops. In this video, I show how to use an alkaline copper strike technique which can then be zinc plated. You can just leave the zinc plated finish as it is or take it one step further and use a chromate or passivate finish to give added protection. I show the use of a black chromate for some parts of my George Thomas sensitive drilling machine. If you are looking to buy any of the chemicals or supplies shown in the video, you can get them from janekits.com.au They don't sponsor me. But I have used many of their products and they do work.