The usual finish of these was cadmium-plated. But have other finishes been used, such as black? My plater suggests a black zinc coating on steel and even stainless

email (option): viaconsu # planet dot nl

Hi Hans..Zinc plating has been used as a substitute for cadmium for some time now. However, it is a vastly inferior finish in terms of its ability to prevent corrosion...just take one ride on a salted road to prove that.
Also it is visually a poor match in its basic form.
I haven't tried it but I think dull nickel might be a better choice.
The fact is all readily available plated finishes these days are inferior to the original finishes.
I spoke to my plater about it and after sticking to the 'everything is plated to British Standards' line for a while he admitted that, in the case of chrome for instance, times in the tanks for copper, nickel and chrome have been reduced (so less material is deposited) and therefore the protection is not as good.
He actually said 'I can do 'traditional' plating for you..but you might not want to pay for it'...say no more.
This is the reason that I have moved to mainly stainless fasteners...I only want to do it once, want it to be able to handle all operating conditions and think it is visually the best match available for cadmium plating when bead blasted...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com