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Author Topic: U47 Body Refinishing  (Read 5665 times)

River

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U47 Body Refinishing
« on: April 25, 2014, 12:35:10 AM »

I've seen posts here about redoing the nickel plating on a U47 body tube.  I've got an additional question.

Normally I would never redo a finish on something like this.  However, this body tube was already re-plated, and not in a particularly nice fashion.

I'm planning to send it to Germany to have it properly refinished, if they ever respond to my email inquiry.  However, I'm curious to know if there's any recommendations for prep-work?

This one has some scratches and pitting.  Since I'm having the body re-plated I'd hate to have these showing through the new finish. 

Is there some process that can be used to fill the pitting in the body tube before sending it off to be re-plated?  I'd rather it be original, but if that's not possible I'd like it to look nice, not plating over a pitted, scratched mess.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Tim

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klaus

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Re: U47 Body Refinishing
« Reply #1 on: April 25, 2014, 09:05:59 PM »

I doubt it. The housing tube on most of these is made of nickel-plated aluminum. If you have followed the recent in the auto-body community about how to repair the new aluminum Ford F150 bodies (i.e., aluminum is not exactly easy to repair) it follows that filling in material across layers of two different metals may be a job for a fine arts restorer.

My experience with Gleier Galvanik in regards to mitigating surface imperfections has been good: Whatever indents in the metal (i.e material removal) were there before had been greatly reduced by the nickel re-plating and finishing process.

Curious to know what experience others may have had with this issue??
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Klaus Heyne
German Masterworks®
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NelisB

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Re: U47 Body Refinishing
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2014, 05:13:46 PM »

Hi Tim,

I think the best way to get rid of the scratches and pitting is to remove the original plating. This can be done best with some kind of acid.
I found this on the internet:
http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/metal-prep-coloring/pre-finish-surface-prep/room-temperature-nickel-stripper-prod1102.aspx?source=ir

Also Hydrochloric Acid is used to do this. But carefull not to damage the body itself. You could also ask a metal processing/plating company to remove the plating. After removing the plating you can sand/polish the tube until all the scratches are gone.

I am sure Gleier Galvanik is doing a wonderfull job, but there are plating (metal processing) companies all over the world. You just need to find out which plating you need.

I have been spending some time to find the right nickel plating for my M49 clone. If you would bring a smooth metal tube to get nickel plated, it will almost look like chrome when you pick it up. You don't want this.

What I found is Phosphorus Electroless (satin) Nickel Plating. And probably on a glass bead blasted surface.

I am still trying to find out how to get the right color. This might has to do with the amount of phosphorus used for the plating.

Here: http://www.twrservice.com/electroless-nickel-silicon-carbide-plating-services.html you can see different types of electroless nickel plating.

But also Neumann hasn't been totally consequent when you compare their plating:


Plating companies can show you different examples of their plating. The right one will be among them. If not, go to the next!
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klaus

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Re: U47 Body Refinishing
« Reply #3 on: April 28, 2014, 05:39:31 AM »

(…)
I am sure Gleier Galvanik is doing a wonderfull job, but there are plating (metal processing) companies all over the world. You just need to find out which plating you need.

The plating is not the main issue when trying to authentically duplicate the surface properties of a vintage Neumann mic. A lot is in the bead blasting: methodology, shot velocity, shot size, shot type, on and on…
That's the only reason I mentioned Gleier: they did the housing/finish work for Neumann for decades. My own experience with the company's output has confirmed their expertise.
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Klaus Heyne
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River

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Re: U47 Body Refinishing
« Reply #4 on: April 28, 2014, 04:49:38 PM »

Thanks Klaus!

I just got a response from Gleier, and I'm hoping that they'll be able to help me out.  Unfortunately I don't speak German and Google Translate just confused me even more. 

As soon as I can find someone to translate I think I'll send it to them.  I think it's worth the extra hassle.

As long as they can strip the poorly done refinish I think that the new finish should be nice. 

Tim

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klaus

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Re: U47 Body Refinishing
« Reply #5 on: April 28, 2014, 04:52:01 PM »

Send me a PM and I will translate for you.
KH
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Klaus Heyne
German Masterworks®
www.GermanMasterworks.com

NelisB

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Re: U47 Body Refinishing
« Reply #6 on: April 29, 2014, 12:34:45 PM »

As long as they can strip the poorly done refinish I think that the new finish should be nice. 

Tim
Don't worry about that. The stripping won't be any problem for them. Just tell them you want to have the tube stripped. In German! :-)
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NelisB

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Re: U47 Body Refinishing
« Reply #7 on: January 09, 2015, 07:18:52 AM »

I tried to contact Gleier, but my email was not replied.
So I tried many plating companies here in Holland and ended up with the very helpful mr. Vogel at his plating company Latour in Nijmegen.
They have a PearlBite K6 nickel bath form Enthone, a company from West Haven (Connecticut).
This bath can be used in several stages of it's live. When it is clean and filtered, it will give a shiny plating. When the bath is in it's last usable stage, it gives a dull plating as you can see on the pic.



I put the TLM49 basket on top of my test-piece a little slanting, so you can see where the one ends and the other starts. I would say a perfect match. The surface was sand blasted before the (galvanic) nickel plating to get the same structure as the Neumann part.
For a U47 I don't think blasting is necessary as the surface is smooth (...I believe).

I may assume there are plating companies in the US using the same nickel bath. You could contact Enthone and ask them for a plating company in your area that uses the PearlBrite K6 bath.

http://enthone.com/Industries/Industrial_Finishes/Technology_Selector/Products/PEARLBRITE_Satin_Nickel_Processes.aspx

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