Chrome removal

[mmoore]

powercoat over chrome

sorry I aint been around warming up outside and working too much. anyway I found a guy that powercoated a chrome wheel last year. It worked great nice and smooth. Im going to pick up my brand new chrome wheel I had him powercoated today. he has a process to get it to stick on the chrome without removing it. so im giving it a try. we will find out as i lace it up and put a tire on it. I wanted a black rim but never found one I liked or fit. I bought some stainless spokes but they looked bad as the die that stamped the head tried to put a B on them but the B was so worn it looked awful. I ground it off sanded it down to 600 grit paper and finished by polishing up. 2 hours a nite for the last 8 days but they finally look good

[bmh]

The "B" on your nipples is ( or was , last I knew) the mark of Buchannons Frame Shop. Those were some of the very best stainless spokes around.
Brian

[mmoore]

spokes

your right the spokes came from them but I think the b in thier die is worn out as it looks awful. since these went into a front drum the heads were not hid by a brake disk and were highly visible on a black drum. many hours of grinding and polishing gave me a nice clean head.

[Steve Slocombe]

Dear All, my regular chrome plater also strips chrome by reversing the current. I wouldn't try this at home. If you strip the chrome down to the nickel then this surface will take paint. If there is no nickel under the chrome then you need to change plater.

By the way, I took some parts down to an old powder coater the other day, and he said they parkerize (manganese phosphate) the metal first to make a key for the powder coat. I suspect Harley did this on their frames/forks, as old original paint wears straight down to the metal with no primer visible.

[Erdos]

Here is a link to a good method for stripping chrome down to the steel. Use the instructions link on the page to download a instructional pdf.

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/Sto...l.aspx?p=20613

[mmoore]

Here is a link to a good method for stripping chrome down to the steel. Use the instructions link on the page to download a instructional pdf.

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/Sto...l.aspx?p=20613

this is a interesting link here as this place is only 4 blocks from my house. I never knew they had this stuff.

[gmarakas]

Caswell plating

I have acquired a great deal of products from Caswell plating because they are really great. I have been using their triple chrome kit for about six months now and I have saved a fortune by not going to my local chromer. In most cases, the in-house work in better because I can control the thickness of the plate to ensure manufacturer's marks come through clearly.

I also regularly use Caswell's chrome stripper with a reverse current rectifier. The 25 amp unit works really well for positive plating and negative stripping. The product make chrome stripping easy and the nickel remains intact.

I highly recommend their Copy Cad and cold parkerizing products as well.

[Snakeoil]

I'm no chemist and no expert on this. But lately I've been looking at Electrolysis methods for removing rust. One of the warnings regarded using stainless steel as an electrode. The problem is stainless contains chromium and it will go into solution in the process. I would expect that if you remove chrome plating, especially old stuff, it too will go into solution and that old stuff is probably hexavalent chomium. If my suspicions are correct, it is nasty stuff and your solution his highly toxic. Not only that, but even at the hobby level it is controlled by the EPA and you are breaking Federal laws if you do not dispose of it properly. The legality part aside, the health risks associated with it are serious. It was this stuff that was in the Love Canal, if anyone remembers that issue.

My understanding is the govt has banned all use of hexavalent chomium by 2009. If you are planning on stripping chrome in your garage, you should research it well before you proceed. Caswell is probably a good place to start. My guess is with the right electrolyte and the right amount of DC current, it is relatively easy to strip. The question is what do you do with the electrolyte when you are done?

[mootch]

This thread just kind of petered out..... I was hoping someone might have some good ideas for removing chrome from aluminum parts, such as 'Glide lower legs etc. Any comments?Doug.

i believe it sthe same a metal but not sure.....my neighbour is a chrome plater in montreal,quebec,canada.....i always get my chrome off with him......i believe chrome can be removed from aluminum,but he has to keep a close eye on it so it doesn't disintergrate.....if it stays in too long,you will not have anything left !!!!!!!!

[len dowe]

I'm no chemist and no expert on this. But lately I've been looking at Electrolysis methods for removing rust. One of the warnings regarded using stainless steel as an electrode. The problem is stainless contains chromium and it will go into solution in the process. I would expect that if you remove chrome plating, especially old stuff, it too will go into solution and that old stuff is probably hexavalent chomium. If my suspicions are correct, it is nasty stuff and your solution his highly toxic. Not only that, but even at the hobby level it is controlled by the EPA and you are breaking Federal laws if you do not dispose of it properly. The legality part aside, the health risks associated with it are serious. It was this stuff that was in the Love Canal, if anyone remembers that issue.

My understanding is the govt has banned all use of hexavalent chomium by 2009. If you are planning on stripping chrome in your garage, you should research it well before you proceed. Caswell is probably a good place to start. My guess is with the right electrolyte and the right amount of DC current, it is relatively easy to strip. The question is what do you do with the electrolyte when you are done?

i just take mine to the plater and get the chrome,nickle off. i don't feel qualified enough to handle highly toxic chemicals let alone the waste material. i let the professionals do it. some money spent at the plater more than justifies the health risks that could happen to me. it only takes on time to ruin the rest of your life. but parkerizing is another issue. i do it all the time in the shop and it turns out great. len 765

[Chris Haynes]

Ya gotta remember one thing about the process of chroming a part. POLISHING. Once a part has been polished its original finish and texture are gone forever. On aluminum parts a lot of metal is removed during polishing. You will notice this when you put a set of chromed/polished slider legs on a bike. Suddenly there is a big gap between the slider and the cowbell. Nuts and bolts that get polished no longer are the original size and wrenches don't fit well anymore. In most cases, like with fork rockers, once a part has been chromed it is no longer suitable to be used on a restoration.

[Neil74]

Good point Chris, just like paint chroming is only as good as the finish beneath it.I've seen a lot of old parts ruined by a heavy handed polisher. I stopped having chrome applied to aluminum 30 years ago, it never seems to last and polished aluminum has a much nicer appearance. If I build a bike with chrome on aluminum I always send it to the platers and polish it when it comes back. I usually send it to Browns but have used Classic Chrome in Clearwater, good work at both.

[Neil74]

I have been known to trade a person who insists on chroming an old part, they get a part that's been plated I get the original unmolested part and pay half their plating. That way everybody wins an another part hasn't been ruined.

[Robert Luland]

Screw the chrome, my plater charges me squat to take it off. It’s the damm copper plating that’s the problem. I have spent hours parkerizing and rebeading to get it all off. My platter says the EPA won’t let him use the cyanide mix anymore. I know we’ve gone on about this here a few times but no solutions. Bob L

[harleytoprock]

I've removed chrome on aluminum parts by first soaking in muriatic acid. This removes the chrome layer in about 10 minutes but be careful that there is no exposed aluminum like in holes as the acid will violently eat the aluminum. Then to remove the nickle and copper, I soak in Nitric acid. The nitric acid does not harm the aluminum. Do not put steel parts in nitric acid, they will disappear on you. To remove copper on steel, I used ferric chloride solution used to etch circuit boards. I've purchased this stuff from Radio Shack in the past. It takes many hour for the copper to come off but it does. All of this stuff should be done out doors wearing rubber gloves and a face shield.