Fred: I know that industrial cyanide plating has been pretty much phased out by now. But brushplating with cyanide solutions on a very small scale is still being done. The 'effluent' in this case consists of a small amount of residue remaining on the applicator brush. The solutions are made into a gel using microballoon. This way it can be shipped without a chance of leaking out of the container.
I don't nickelplate zinc or aluminum because nickel is the only solution that is not cyanide based. The base solution is another chemical that attcks the diecast and aluminum during electroplating. So I use silver instead which in a short while will look like nickel.
The smoothness of the plating is determined by the quality of the surface. This is why the parts to be plated have to be cleaned and polished.
