What is the process for chrome plating a used Item

In order for us to chrome plate a part, based on it's current condition and what finish it currently has, this is the process:

 

1. Strip
2. Linishing
3. Polishing
4. Copper Plate
5. -Possible re-polishing
6. Bright Nickel
7. -Possible re-polishing
8. Chrome Plate

1. Strip

We use various strip processes to remove existing plate such as Chrome, Nickel, Gold, Copper, Paint etc. We don't generally shot blast parts. Exiting finishes are either removed with a reverse plating process or a chemical strip. This causes less abrasive harm to the part. Once a part is stripped the true condition of the metal can be assessed. 

 

2. Linishing

This is a key stage in obtaining a good finish. Our skilled polisher will remove all rust, pitting, scratches and blemishes from the part. Bare in mind they can't sand away all the metal, a decision has to be made as to how far a part can be sanded in-order to remove in-purity's. Often parts that are old and have rusted can have be pitted deep in-to the metal. No amount of sanding can remove these only uncover more. Further more heavy sanding can distort the true shape of a part. The trick here is not to over do it for a lot of house hold parts this stage can sometimes be skipped.

 

3. Polishing

People think that chrome is like a paint. You dip the part and like magic you have a chrome mirror finish. Wrong! The mirror effect is created by making the metal smooth, flat and reflective: Like a mirror. This entails a great deal of skill on a polishing machine by a skilled professional.

4. Copper

Now we need a base coat, like an undercoat when you paint. A coat of copper is applied. This helps us see how good the part will look. We can polish the copper and if we need to apply more. By no means will it cover all in-perfections, but it will go a long way to making it look a lot better. If the first two stages were done well it should be looking pretty neat.

 

5. Bright Nickel

Nickle is silver like, this gives the chrome that deep silver glow. We apply this next. if we need we can give it a gentle buff, but it should be fine.

 

6. Chrome

We are almost done. Finally we chrome plate the part. If the final part is not up to our standards, We reverse plate off the chrome and try again. It is not a simple process and we know our customers want it done right so the trick is to examine and check as we go. The chrome is electroplated on and some complex shapes can not get perfectly covered. Like the last 5 steps it takes a pro.

 

That's it!