Well, I can say I learned a lot with filing. Trying to file out the convex shape of the plate did not work great with the files I have, I need some that are more narrow I think. When i file one area, it digs in another. Polishing worked out great though. 

I had written this off as a good first attempt that is more than usable,  but not perfect.  I was reading this morning on electroplating and stuff came up about nickel plating plastic using conductive paint. I think I'll try and fill the voids and low spots with epoxy and sand it smooth and even. Then I'll try the conductive paint and plate it. 

Should be an interesting experiment!

Thanks! I think I got over zealous cleaning up my bad weld. Another lesson learned,  I should have welded on a thin piece of metal onto the sides, rather than building up the sides with nothing other than a stick welder. I have learned quite a bit on this project,  and have more to go! If it ends up bad, I suppose I'm only out a $35 plate, so I'd say thats worth what I'm learning!

These are the marks giving me a hard time

I'd reweld the pits before I'd fill with epoxy and try electroforming over them to support plating.

The plating you'll have as a result won't be very durable, and I'd expect it will be peeling before long.  Silver solder in the pits would be a better alternative.

Hmmm, i never thought of that. J don't have a torch, by my wife got me an outdoor broiler for my outdoor kitchen that goes to 1500 degrees.  That should do it!

A good polishing wheel and some compound will take a steel buttplate and make it look like it's plated. And once polished that well they retain the high shine forever. Jus wipe it off occasionally with any oiled cloth. I have a steel Farrow buttplate I polished up 30 years ago and still looks like new.

I just built this single prong buttplate for my current Ballard project so I can use it offhand, or at the bench. It's a repro Farrow style buttplate that was too large for the donor stock, so I cut the top prong off and trimmed about 1/4" off the top to fit this stock. I'll just polish it up with various grit sandpaper until it's smoothed up. Still needs a slight bend to match the stock perfectly.

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Jason, I bent that plate a lot to get the deep curve. It's also cast and I've beat on and bent a lot of cast plates with no heat applied. Brass, bronze, and 8620 steel bend without much effort and never cracked so far.