# Nickel plating P35 rims.



## rustyspoke66 (Oct 22, 2011)

I figured I would start a fresh thread on the Velocity P35 rims. This is a before and after of a rim stripped, polished and ready for the nickel. I used a Napa product to strip the powder coating (paint stripper #7229) this stuff is quit toxic so I used it outside with a respirator.


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## Iverider (Oct 22, 2011)

Are you sending these off to Nickel plate? or are you doing them yourself? The polished Aluminum looks pretty nice as is

I've been thinking about getting Caswell's plating kit, but then again...I'm learning that sometimes it's easier to send things off to have them done.


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## rustyspoke66 (Oct 22, 2011)

I'm having them done, I think the do it yourself kit for something as large as rims might not be cost efficient. I hope to have them back by friday.


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## lobsterboyx (Oct 22, 2011)

damn, you almost dont even need the nickel, thats beautiful as is.

whatever you put those on is going to look stunning.


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## Danimal (Oct 23, 2011)

Couple questions...why polish the rims before plating? I would think they wanted a clean surface to work with. Also, are they being done local or are you sending out? What is the estimated cost for plating?


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## Iverider (Oct 23, 2011)

The more polished the finish is to start, the better the plating will look.


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## rustyspoke66 (Oct 23, 2011)

Like krautwaggen said, It will cut down on plating cost. The basic procedure for chrome is cleaning and prepping the surface like removing the paint, old chrome or other plating. Once they have a clean surface they do whats called copper buff. Copper buff is where they copper plate to fill in the imperfections, so the copper is like bondo or a fill type primer. After the surface is perfectly smooth and shinny like a mirror finish. I think it then goes through some  sort of cleaning solution and from there to nickel and then to chrome and your done. So as you can see there is allot of labor before you get to the nickel stage and the more prep that is done the cheaper the process. This is just my interpretation of the triple plate process, so if anybody wants to add feel free because I am not a metal finisher, I am just cheap and try to save money. Plus I am very willing to learn!


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## lobsterboyx (Oct 26, 2011)

Im dieing inside to see these wheels all done up, hurry up already.


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## rustyspoke66 (Oct 26, 2011)

I'll have the rims back tomorrow or friday.


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## Deleted member 12208 (Oct 27, 2011)

Man, I really wish I went with P35's instead of a Westwood style rim. Those are going to look killer!


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## Iverider (Oct 27, 2011)

It's tomorrow!!


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## rustyspoke66 (Oct 27, 2011)

Ok, I just got these things home and i think they look pretty good. Of course if you do the math they come out to about a 500.00 set of rims and that's rims only. I think I'll go ahead and lace them up tonight.


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## Danimal (Oct 27, 2011)

Wow, those look awesome. Not cheap, but awesome.


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## Luckykat32 (Oct 28, 2011)

Can you post pictures of the "new" nickel rims to the "pre" nickel rims together so we can see the difference?

Those still look pretty shiny...how much different do they look than chromed rims?


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## Iverider (Oct 28, 2011)

Look super nice, but $300 for plating???? WOW!!!

I think I would have gone with Wood and tube tires for that kinda loot.

I kind of messed with the image you posted to give a better idea of the actual look if they were in white light.


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## rustyspoke66 (Oct 28, 2011)

I'll post some picks tonight or tomorrow, I'm almost done lacing them up. I can show original rim, new powder coated, striped & polished and the finished nickel. The price breakdown is the rims retail for 159.00 each plus 100.00 each for nickel and that's with me taking the finish off and polishing them myself. I am looking at a couple other platters to see if I can get the price down on the nickel. You can find the rims cheaper, I got mine for 85.00 each so I actually have 370.00 into the rims plus nice double butted spokes and tires.


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## rustyspoke66 (Oct 28, 2011)

The wheel are built. Plus I included some pictures of the original rim and new rim with the original finish next to the finished one. The hubs have whats left of the original nickel finish and its a perfect match. Now I need to figure out the tires, could be interesting. The original tires were red tread with black wall, so I think I will try going that direction.





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## lobsterboyx (Oct 29, 2011)

Stunning... it makes me want for a metal clad bike...

Plating cost you a fortune, i have a quote in now for all the nickel work on my lovell of a little over 200 for every last bit. however im not doing the wheels...


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## rustyspoke66 (Oct 29, 2011)

I'm hoping I can find a shop that can do it for less, I have one more set to plate. It might be cheaper to send them out?


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## lobsterboyx (Oct 29, 2011)

Im going to have to look through my business cards but i know theres a guy here in LA that has a soft spot for classic bikes that does ship-ins. If not, the little shop i go to does beautiful work, Ill talk to her this week at some point. if she doesnt do ship-in stuff, you can send it to me, and ill drop it off. Ill PM you when i get in to her.


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## Larmo63 (Oct 30, 2011)

*Now I don't feel so bad about my wood wheels....*

Those look really nice and now I can justify the price of my Ghisallo wood wheels. Good stuff costs money.


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## zephyrblau (Jun 11, 2012)

*reviving an old thread...*

the nickle does indeed look great. is there any more info re; plating ? i'm thinking of trying a set in faux wood grain finish. on a related note, I'm going to build my set on ND hubs. can I pick anybody's brain (or notes) on the subject of spoke length, please ? I ran an online spoke length calculator & came up w/ 290MM (front) 286 (rear). can anyone confirm ? 
TIA 
jerry


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## Iverider (Jun 12, 2012)

We must know the dimensions of the rim! 

Did you use this calculator?

http://www.dtswiss.com/SpokesCalc/Calculator.aspx

If you're unsure of what something is on this calculator you can find out what it is

here http://sheldonbrown.com/glossary.html

Like ERD.

Building a coaster brake hub you can probably use the same length spokes on both sides of the rear wheel. Sometimes when building a geared hub you have to use shorter spokes on the drive side unless it's a disc brake hub in which case you'll be pretty close to centered.


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## slick (Jun 12, 2012)

Spoke length from what i was told is 11 3/4 for the P-35 with ND hubs, 4 cross pattern. As far as i know the Teak P-35's are out of production. And the 36 hole ones are hard to get also. They are mainly producing 32 holes. Trust me, this is not good news for me, i need like 5 pairs for my early bikes to be riders.


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## Iverider (Jun 12, 2012)

You could spring for the Ghisallos! Real Wood, 36 and 32 drillings. Takes a modern clincher tire. Now is someone would produce a chaintread 700c x 40 tire we'd be in bidness!

I bought two P35s on Ebay for super cheap. a 32 hole for the front and 36 for the rear. One is red, and one is white. I'm going with a patriotic theme! But really, I'm going to faux wood grain and stripe them so I didn't care what color they were. If that doesn't work, I can always strip and polish them. 

Link for those of you who are going to strip or paint your rims.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Velocity-P3...Cycling_Parts_Accessories&hash=item58945c3842


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## zephyrblau (Jun 12, 2012)

I tried the DT calculator, but couldn't get it to work. this one worked well; 

http://www.bikeschool.com/tools/spoke-length-calculator 

they walk you through how to determine ERD & include the option for modern offset type rear hubs. I bought my V35s from the same seller. their ebay entry lists the quantity as '2', but as soon as those are purchased they relist another 2... hmmm. they were very responsive to messaging when I was inquiring about Teak & indicated that they couldn't get a straight answer for when production might resume. (i'm wondering if those are done by a third party) Customer Support @ Shopatron, the vendor that handles direct online ordering, replied that the special finishes were "not currently available". the last time teak was offered the list price was $160 ea.  
Chris, 11 3/4 = 298.5 MM on a *three* cross lace w/ ND hubs... or that's what I came up with but I *am* guilty of pilot error.


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## rustyspoke66 (Jun 12, 2012)

Last I checked through the local bike shop the Velocity company was in the process of moving their manufacturing to the U.S. and I haven't checked back sense. I am also looking to get a couple sets because I am down to one set that I am going to paint two tone with pinstripe to look the part of the early wood rims which were not always natural wood grain and actually painted to match the bike. Don't know if I will nickle plate another set for a while, I think the plating shop was a bit high on price considering they did not have to do anything other than clean and dip them in the nickle tank.


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