[dataway]

You really don't need all that stuff. My results, and the results of many others testify to the fact that it's not that hard, not that expensive, and not that dangerous. Sure if you buy everything from people that make a profit on selling "kits" it's expensive. But thousands of people are doing it very affordable and with good results.

$10 in copper wire would last you a life time. You can find a power supply to replace the Caswell unit for 1/4 the price (and I've posted a link to where you can get it). Not sure why hand polishing would be dangerous, Zinc in plated form is not toxic. Yes bead blasting comes in handy, but can be replaced by hand cleaning, wire brushes and Muriatic acid.

Agitation is NOT necessary, again, I can show the result that show it is not necessary. Caswell, Eastwood etc make a ton duping people into buying stuff that can be had for a fraction of the price.

A heater....like my example can be made from a heat lamp bulb. Lasts a long time.

Distilled water might, or might not be required, depends on your location. I've used about 1.25 gallons of distilled water at this point, total cost about $2.60 and I've plated a couple dozen parts. So I don't expect my distilled water usage to make me go broke. I will be using the same 1.25 gallons of distilled water to plate at least 100 parts.

If you spent $800, I'd suggest you follow this thread and get the same result for about $130, including enough supplies to do about 1000 small parts. It's not like I'm lying, or making this up, I am doing it, and posting pictures of the results .. not sure why anyone in the world would spend $800 on this. I have posted the products I used, their cost when enough to be a consideration, and the results. It's not rocket science and it's not expensive. You have to remember, companies like Caswell make a fortune on making people believe this is some mystical science that requires all kinds of special products and kits ....that's just not the truth. It's a simple, straight forward process that has been done by hobbyist for decades with products that are mostly commonly available.

JohnnyB