Nickel plating PCB pads

[lw1ecp]

I plan to make a switch using PCB pads for each pole, and the moving contacts will be elastic, gold plated reeds salvaged from PCB edge connectors.
The copper pads should be plated with something that resists corrosion and wear, and I want something more polite than Sn solder.
My idea is to cover them with nickel, either by electroless or galvanic process, whichever is easier in small scale. I will home build only 2 or 3 such boards, and the total surface to plate is less than 1 sq inch in each.
At a previous job, I recall a guy gold plating PCB edge contacts rubbing them with a cotton swab soaked in a gold solution, wrapped around a metal tip connected to a DC power supply. Could I devise an useable solution dissolving Ni sheets in some acid?. Just to avoid having to purchase large quantities (one liter would be very large!) of some extravagant chemical product that I will never use again in my life.
What is your advice?. Thanks!

 

[gossages]

Hi,

how about one of these kits?

**broken link removed**

or **broken link removed**

depending on if you only want to do Nickel or for $5 bucks more get Chrome and Copper kit!

might be cheaper then dissolving Ni in acid and safer ;-)

hope that give you some more to go on

keep us updated and pics of how it turn's out!

Neil

 

[lw1ecp]

Thank you for suggesting the kits!. I learned they include nickel sulphate and boric acid. If I can't get small quantities of these substances at town, I may go the eBay way.