Professional systems are described on our website.Ĭhrome plating comprises several consecutive steps of spraying, and involves a non-hazardous chemical reaction (product not listed as carcinogenic, contains no heavy metals).Ĭan be implemented on any type of surface, once the substrate has been correctly prepared (cleaning, degreasing, sanding, applying an adhesion primer if necessary). I specifically aimed for the shops that specialized in things like automotive and motorcycle parts- they're used to handling small fiddly bits, rather than, like big industrial parts or thousand-part runs.The "Chrome At'Home" method gives the means to achieve easily and quickly chrome plating, in the garage or in the garden, without equipment or machine, on any type of support! I asked around, I think maybe here and/or over on HSM, and did a bit of Googling. The cross slide hand crank (which I had to customize and modify) the dials (which I had to make from scratch) the way wiper covers (just for the bling ) the speed range levers, etc. That said, one of the things I've been wanting to do to finish off my big Springfield, is to send off some of the various controls to be chromed. If I were in your shoes, that's probably how I'd do it. You will need a functional lathe (you're getting there) and of course a mill, but it's all easily possible. Once brightly polished, they were as good as chrome, and likely even more durable. A fellow over there, a number of years ago, made himself new knobs, from scratch, in stainless steel. Ask around- it may not be cheap, but you should be able to find somebody. The one you spoke to probably gave you the "I don't want to do it" price- but there's hundreds of others around the country. My two suggestions: Ask around for other chrome shops. Never tried potmetal, but I'm told that's both tricky and relatively short-lived. It's great on steel, and a bit tricky on brass and copper. Grant: I've used Caswell's electroless nickel kit with good results. Now it's possible my shop just didn't take enough time and care with my handles, but I still can't imagine a DIY chrome plating job would turn out better results than a professional shop on pot metal, but who knows? Just a heads up in case you aren't already aware, and good luck on your project. Fortunately, I've since purchased perfect reproduction handles. Within a few weeks the handles developed bubbles under the chrome. I had already researched and read about the possible problems associated with plating pot metal, but I had it done anyway. I had a pair of door handles for my El Camino re-chromed at a local chrome shop about five years ago, and it was a complete waste of money. It can look perfect to the naked eye, but still not perfect for the chroming process to stick. I'm no expert on the subject, but a Google search states that pot metal needs to be perfectly clean, no oxidation, corrosion or imperfections before plating. In my personal experience, even chrome shops can have difficulty chrome plating pot metal. You mention chrome plating the pot metal handles. Thus, aluminum turns slightly whitish from the pure silver color of unoxidized, and then doesn't oxidize further very fast. Aluminum oxidizes almost instantly in air, but the aluminum oxide formed is very durable and tends to protect the underlying aluminum from oxidizing. If it's removed quickly enough and then protected by clear coat or wax, rust freckling on chrome, once removed, is almost invisible.Īnother anomaly is aluminum, which is very negative, and thus quite reactive. The pinholes are tiny, and the rust produced is a very small defect in the chrome. That's why you get a rust bloom scattered all over chrome parts, and when you clean off that rust bloom, it almost disappears. Once it pinholes, though, the steel underneath oxidizes readily, and quickly. The plating tends to exclude oxygen and water from the steel, and protect it from corrosion. So, both can be used as a protective coating for steel, by plating them onto it. In physical reality, chromium has a much slower reaction rate than nickel, and nickel has a reaction rate about 100 times slower than steel. The electrode potential states which metal will react most easily but it doesn't predict the rate the reaction will take place at. However, here's where physical chemistry comes into play. In other words, to be technical, chromium has more negative electrode potential than iron, and nickel has less electrode potential. It's odd to note that nickel is only slightly less resistant to corrosion than iron, and chromium is actually less resistant than iron. The more negative the potential, the less resistant to corrosion it is compared to other metals. The tendency for a metal to corrode is in general measured by its electrode potential. Interesting tidbit about plating, rust resistance and physical chemistry vs analytical chemistry:
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