Chrome plating

noelo

Hi , I am rebuilbing an old TORKER TWIN BAR 80's BMX that i bought on ebay.now as a child i had one in chrome with skyway mags wheels and all the trimming,but this one is/was black and rusted. now i had it shot blasted and its now down to the clean steel and looking great, but i want to get it chrome plated and can't find a platers in the country to do the job. Is there any?????...... any input is welcomed

DualFrontDiscs

Check this thread on a motorbike forum.

DFD.

SubLuminal

Super cheapo option : rub it with the shiny side of tin foil, from tescos.

Seriously. It works.

noelo

SubLuminal wrote: »

Super cheapo option : rub it with the shiny side of tin foil, from tescos.

Seriously. It works.

really ?I AM ALL EARS, go on......... this sounds deadly. i love neat tricks.

SubLuminal

Thats really all I know about it - you rub the shiny side of the foil onto the metal and somehow the shiny stuff comes off and adheres to the surface of the metal you're rubbing it against. I do it from time to time on my front forks (they're bare metal) and it works a treat, leaves them looking lovely and shiny. Give it a shot! I basically

1) use a very very fine grade sandpaper/glasspaper to get rid of any rust/discoloration
2)spray / clean area with Wd40 to get any grease/crap of
3)rub with shiny side of tin foil
4)???
5)Profit! (by which I mean the forks look lovely and shiny.

Don't know if it only works with steel, no idea why it works or how, but it defo does something!

noelo

cool ill try it in the morning,sound s like there some electrostatis charge being produced by the rubbing action, attracting the foil ?

SubLuminal

Its prolly something like that. Just get all the wd40 off the forks or whatever after you're done using it to clean the metal - I dont think its greasey/oilyness helps

kumate_champ07

SubLuminal wrote: »

Thats really all I know about it - you rub the shiny side of the foil onto the metal and somehow the shiny stuff comes off and adheres to the surface of the metal you're rubbing it against. I do it from time to time on my front forks (they're bare metal) and it works a treat, leaves them looking lovely and shiny. Give it a shot! I basically

1) use a very very fine grade sandpaper/glasspaper to get rid of any rust/discoloration
2)spray / clean area with Wd40 to get any grease/crap of
3)rub with shiny side of tin foil
4)???
5)Profit! (by which I mean the forks look lovely and shiny.

Don't know if it only works with steel, no idea why it works or how, but it defo does something!

after steps 1 and 2 you could rub it with tissue and it would still come out shiny.
I always spray wd40 on the sandpaper, the grain breaks down even smaller and doesnt fall away because it clings to the oil

kumate_champ07

cheapest option would be, dark primer >chrome/silver/mirror effect paint>clear laquer

sand blasting frames on bmx's Im not sure about but its not a good idea with steel racing frames as some of the tubes are very thin and have different thicknesses at different places, you could take too much steel off

Hermy

My experience is that the only chroming available in Ireland is poor quality and expensive.
There's another thread about it in the Classic Car forum.

noelo

Hermy wrote: »

My experience is that the only chroming available in Ireland is poor quality and expensive.
There's another thread about it in the Classic Car forum.

really! but the process is simple right? clean the steel, electro nickel plate and then the copper plate and finally chromium plate? na?

Hermy

noelo wrote: »

really! but the process is simple right? clean the steel, electro nickel plate and then the copper plate and finally chromium plate? na?

You would think so but that's what my classic car and motorbike friends tell me.

noelo

Ive heard that ****. would it be soft or something or just start flaking of after a while......... id like to get an old bicycle frame done.