Nickel Plate
Why does it seem that the Nickel plating on Handcuffs wear/last better than Nickel on pistols when the cuffs see more abuse ? is there a difference in plating quality/thickness ?
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Probably because one never cleans handcuffs with bore cleaners that remove the nickel plating. Especially when they don't read the cautions on the label. 0 -
Bore cleaners don't harm nickel plating. They can attack copper underplate used on aftermarket plated guns. Factory plated guns did/do not use copper underplate.
Old black powder cartridge guns that were not properly cleaned ended up corroded from the powder residue.0 -
Maybe I didn't ask the right way, I really had sweat/skin wear in mind more so than chemical cleaners due to most Nickel pistols showing wear along the grip area and cuffs show little to none. Then again maybe cleaning/wiping down is the culprit since cuffs get less cleaning than pistols [;)]. Thanks for the replys 0 -
My cuffs were usually blued or stainless. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Junkballer
Why does it seem that the Nickel plating on Handcuffs wear/last better than Nickel on pistols when the cuffs see more abuse ? is there a difference in plating quality/thickness ?
Not sure this is true.
Handcuff nickel plating is matte, and doesn't show dings or scratches well.
More to the point, nobody cares if their handcuffs get scuffed up. . .that's expected. But people do care and notice when their nifty mirror polished nickel plated gun gets a scuff on it.0 -
I used a pair of Peerless nickle plated handcuffs from 1960 to 1990. They were highly polished nickle plated. They were on sweaty wrists for untold hundred of hours while on prisoners I transported in the early years. I still have them and looked for them to make a picture to send but have not yet found them. The nickle is thin to worn away on the inside that was against the wrist. It appears that the nickle plate is thicker than on guns. The cuffs got little maintenance except for a little Hoppe's #9 in the hinge when the got stiff from rust or dirt. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Herschel
I used a pair of Peerless nickle plated handcuffs from 1960 to 1990. They were highly polished nickle plated. They were on sweaty wrists for untold hundred of hours while on prisoners I transported in the early years. I still have them and looked for them to make a picture to send but have not yet found them. The nickle is thin to worn away on the inside that was against the wrist. It appears that the nickle plate is thicker than on guns. The cuffs got little maintenance except for a little Hoppe's #9 in the hinge when the got stiff from rust or dirt.
That's what I'm talking about, seems those used/worn a lot the Nickel seems to hold up better than what's applied to pistols, which seem to wear if you just look at them hard and I'm speaking of a quality firearm to ...Colt SAA...so apparently it's a thicker Nickel. Thanks for your response.0 -
I don't know this as FACT. But I believe one reason is because fire-arms are nickle plated After the parts are machined. They would not set up machinery to put out parts of two different sizes.
One for blued guns, and another size for nickel guns . However hand cuffs don't really need the parts made to close tolerance and They do plate them much heavier. I get some parts Hard Chromed when I build match 1911 Guns and I can tell my Plater how Many thousands of an inch I want this plating to be then Diamond lap them to fit.
EDIT Hard chrome is another term for Industrial Chrome
vastly different than Chrome like on a bumper. Hard Chrome is used to Refurbish precision tooling and things like a Barrel bushing for a 1911 or outside of just the last one inch of the muzzle end of the barrel. when I build a 1911 target pistol I use a surface grinder to grind a knob on the barrel Like a S&W model 52 target pistol I then have this knob Hard chromed and the inside of the bushing hard chromed Then diamond lap the bushing for ZERO clearance .0 -
We seem to have raised more questions than we have answered. Maybe we need to recruit a metallurgist for the forum. I just don't understand; what's the difference between chrome plating, & hard chrome plating? We have nickel plating; is there such a thing as hard nickel plating?
Why is the plating on my S-K socket wrench set in perfect condition, despite 50 years of abuse?
I can see what Beantown means about the matte finish of handcuffs. But, I guess that there will always be some folks willing to pay twice as much for the same thing in stainless steel.
And, if gun makers produce parts for plated guns in exactly the same way as those intended to be blued, why does S&W stamp the barrel, cylinder, & frame with an N if it is to be plated?
Neal0 -
LOL, Great example: I too have that exact same set of SK sockets although only 33 yrs old [:)]and it too looks good today after being roughly abused many times, just wished my Colt SAA had held up that good and it's been pampered like a baby [:(]. Thanks for the reply [;)] 0
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