do you know where I can get a cheaper power supply...something that I'd be able to use if I wanted to plate an entire wheel rim, since it has a larger surface area??
You can nickel a rifle barrel if you put your solution in a long trough. I've done that. My set-up easily handles 6 or 8 inch rims without a special container. A real plus with useing nickel is that it takes only about .05 amps [a 20th of an amp at about 6 volts] per square inch to be plated. Chrome requires about 1 amp per square inch which means a rim with, for instance, 60 square inches of surface area would need 60 amps. So while a nickel plated item the same size would require only 3 amps. A small battery out of a motorcycle, with a couple of light bulbs in circut to resist rhe current down to the proper level, is all that would be needed. Plus the anodes and solution for nickel plating is a hell of a lot cheaper than chrome. I have been blessed by being given a 15 amp power supply that was used in a commerical chrome shop for testing purposes so I don't offen need to do it with a battery, just turn a dial. Check out the Plating Manual that Caswell sells; it has answers for about anything that has anything to do with home plating including all the different ways to get the proper power.
You asked what things you would need to just do nickel plate. The nickle anodes [2], the crystals to make the solution, a plastic 5 gallon bucket with lid-3 bucks, distilled water [3 gallons]-3 bucks, an aquarium heater -10 bucks, an aquarium thermometer-3 bucks, an aquarium air pump and 'air stone' -10 bucks [used to agitate the solution so the part being plated does not retain gas bubbles on its surface], the above mentioned battery set-up or power supply, a bath for degreasing and some special detergent [I got a CrockPot at the Salvation Army to heat it], a copper bar placed across the top of the bucket to hang the parts [useing copper wire], an old alarm clock or clock/radio for timing -zero bucks. Of course you will want some method to sand and buff your parts when you want a shiney rather than a satin finish.
Take a look at my current avatar to see what is easily possible. Its a 41 Knucklehead I put together [a rider...not a restored bike]. I did a lot of nickel and some chrome to add some sparkle to an otherwise stock,drab machine. Regardless of what some will tell you...haveing parts plated by a shop is very expensive. And dangerous if it is a rare part...you may never see it again. I had to start sending my parts from Walla Walla WA to Fresno CA to a plate shop I could trust. The nearest plate shop from me is a hundred mile trip. Sometimes it takes weeks to get your stuff back from a plate shop...if done at home you get it that day!
