Does this quote seem reasonable?

Well, at 39p per pack, the litmus test is to order some up & test - they have a minimum £10 order but therere site is a veritable cavern of all things shiny to me so that won';t be a problem!

The carbon content is of concern - best way is rather than debate it (I reckon at 39p they'll not be that hardened) ...just to order some up.

re cutting them - not intimidated at all - I've cut Alnico before (the hardest substance in the universe - just kidding ok!) & survived - I made up a little dremel holder for my tool post & used that to slice into it with the dremel cutting discs....it worked well. But hey, if they are hardened, yeah...then I may just stick with 5mm bog standard mild steel & a nickel plating kit.

robin, you asked how I'd holding the pieces while plating - I was thinking about lobbing the small pole pieces in a copper mesh bag - plausible?

A corrosion resistant finish is important - but maybe I'm getting a little over worked up about it - for example I parted off some basic 5mm bright steel pole pieces about 6 months ago - some of these have laid in my cold, damp loft for 6 months - no rust.

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Originally Posted by HankMcSpank

robin, you asked how I'd holding the pieces while plating - I was thinking about lobbing the small pole pieces in a copper mesh bag - plausible?

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You would plate the copper as well and where metal touches metal they will try and glue together probably resulting in a naff finish. Also the outside of the heap will plate better than the inside because the bubbles will get trapped.

Rustability depends on the surface finish. Polished steel doesn't rust, grit blasted steel rusts before your very eyes. Everything else falls somewhere in between.

tks Robin - well how about laying each pole piece piece on it's edge at the bottom of the mesh bag (a poor finish at the point of contact would be hidden inside the bobbin when installed) - I only really care about the visible top surface

Going beyond my knowlege, I usually hang parts on copper wires making sure they don't touch to avoid blemishes.

I think this is suck it and see.

If I have a heap I send it for plating. Ask the plater what he can do, gold is nice and the punters perceive quality, cobalt gold is brighter and very hard wearing... :naughty:

Why not just stick the pieces to a square bar magnet using the ends not requiring plating, like a hedgehog effect. The bar magnet should be able to conduct the power OK.

Bogs

Small pieces are plated using a rotating mesh basket, not sure what thewydo when the mesh gets plated so theres no holes.

Peter

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Originally Posted by ptjw7uk

Small pieces are plated using a rotating mesh basket, not sure what thewydo when the mesh gets plated so theres no holes.

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Reverse the current? Probably depends on the value of the metal against the cost of the electricity.

I like Bog's magnet idea, consider it stolen.
Now, where can I get a brass magnet?:beer:

Thanks Robin, It all comes back to me now. Thats how we used to measure plating thickness of tin plating on wire, reverse plate until you get a kick in voltage when you hit the copper.

Peter

Well in the end, I couldn't actuallly find anything else I needed to get the order up to £10! (It was a real struggle & some of their prices are quite expensive - esp for the stuff I'd normally want!), and all this talk of those pieces being hardened has put me off.

I've now ordered some bog standard lengths of 5mm mild steel rod & will just have to hone my parting off skills (& buy a Nickel plating kit)

due to the potential drudgery of parting off lots of 5mm diameter & 5mm long steel pieces I'm now toying with the idea of coming up with some form of a simple feeder to feed the steel rod into the the rear of my lathe's chuck!). that said my mini lathe went bang last night (literaly) so all this is on hold pending investigations into that (& it doesn't look good - probably the pcb).

Oh joy ...I don't suppose anyone has a DC motor driver board they want to sell?

It is easy to get a depth stop that you require.
Doing something like I have shown in the sketch will get you within a couple of thou tolerance for each one.
You don't have to use the bit of wood, as long as you touch on the tailstock chuck, then back off a couple of thou before tightening your lathe chuck. Otherwise if you use the thin bit of wood, pull it out before starting the cut. That will stop it jamming up at the very end the cut off.

Bogs