Cobaltizing Of Metals.
II.—Pure potash in alcohol, 50 parts, by weight; cobalt chloride, 10 parts; distilled water, 1,000 parts. Dissolve the cobalt in half the distilled water and the potash in the other half and unite the two.
III.—Potassium sulphocyanide, 13 parts, by weight; cobalt chloride, 10 parts; pure potash in alcohol, 2 parts; distilled water, 1,000 parts. Proceed as described above. All these baths are used hot and require a strong current.
Nickel Plating With The Battery.
| I.— | Nickel and ammonium sulphate | 10 parts |
|---|---|---|
| Boracic acid | 4 parts | |
| Distilled water | 175 parts | |
| A sheet of nickel is used as an anode. | ||
Perfect cleanliness of the surface to be coated is essential to success. With nickel especially is this the case, as traces of oxide will cause it to show dark streaks. Finger marks will in any case render the deposit liable to peel off.
Cleansing is generally accomplished either by boiling in strong solution of potassium hydrate, or, when possible, by heating to redness in a blow-pipe flame to burn off any adhesive grease, and then soaking in a pickle of dilute sulphuric acid to remove any oxide formed during the heating. In either case it is necessary to subject the article to a process of scratch brushing afterwards; that is, long-continued friction with wire brushes under water, which not only removes any still adhering oxide, but renders the surface bright.
To certain metals, as iron, nickel, and zinc, metallic deposits do not readily adhere. This difficulty is overcome by first coating them with copper in a bath composed as follows:
| II.— | Potassium cyanide | 2 parts |
|---|---|---|
| Copper acetate, in crystals | 2 parts | |
| Sodium carbonate, in crystals | 2 parts | |
| Sodium bisulphite | 2 parts | |
| Water | 100 parts |
Moisten the copper acetate with a small quantity of water and add the sodium carbonate dissolved in 20 parts of water. When reaction is complete, all the copper acetate being converted into carbonate, add the sodium bisulphite, dissolved in another 20 parts of water; lastly, add the potassium cyanide, dissolved in the remainder of the water. The finished product should be a colorless liquid.