In the basic electroforming process, nickel sulfamate plating is extensively applied for the preparation of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) devices. For this application, nickel films are required for their low internal stress and high hardness. We investigated the influence of bath composition and plating conditions on the mechanical properties of deposited films in the presence of sodium saccharin and 2-butyne-1Ј4-diol as a brightener. Among the several influential variables, the concentration of nickel sulfamate had the greatest influence on physical properties such as hardness and tensile strength of the plating films. The hardness and tensile strength were improved by decreasing the concentration of nickel sulfamate. Consequently, pure nickel films having a hardness of 459 Hv and a tensile strength of 1,306 MPa were obtained from a bath formulated with 50.0 g/dm 3 of nickel sulfamate without brighter. Moreover, we successfully made good cantilever properties using a low-concentration nickel sulfamate bath.