Wood's Nickel Redux
Question: I need some information about the Wood's nickel strike bath.
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Question:
I need some information about the Wood's nickel strike bath. How is it made up and operated? What is the bath used for? P.M.
Answer:
Most of us talk about Wood's nickel strikes but never talk much about the details. A Wood's nickel strike is used to apply a strike plate over metals that tend to passivate due to oxide formation on the surface. Nickel alloys and stainless steels are two such materials.
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The strike bath is made up as follows:
Nickel chloride: 240 g/liter (31 oz/gal)
Hydrochloric acid (conc.): 40 g/liter (5 oz/gal)
Nickel anodes should be used. The strike bath is used at 10-45 asf at 70-90F for 0.5-2 min. The cathode efficiency is poor compared to the anode efficiency. This results in a buildup of nickel ions in the solution. In general, the nickel content should not be any greater than 70-80 g/liter.
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