DIY Spray On Chrome

[freethinka]

Originally Posted by ramtough_63

very cool i guess i am gonna break down and start trying it need to wait for a paycheck then I am gonna order some stuff and give it a try. keep posting

Hi ramtough,
I'm with you mate, can't wait to get started.

[freethinka]

Originally Posted by nicamarvin

this is the first test using a set of plastic door visors, I wanted to do this test to show you
guys how thin is the layer applied to spray on chrome(this is true for both angel gilding and alsa corps)

before


after



how thin is the silver layer? here watch it for the first time ever..(I new how thin it was way back 2 years ago, but never had the chance to upload a video)





hope you guys like it

Mate, the result on these visors are awesome, to have a reflective chrome look on the outside with a see through look from the inside! that is real interesting isn't it!

That continues to give me new ideas, wild!

Keep up the good work man, they look great.

[nicamarvin]

Originally Posted by freethinka

Keep up the good work man, they look great.

Thanks mate!

[terrynbama]

This sounds very interesting. Have you tried this process on metal objects. If so, what kind if results did you have?

[Brads MONSTER]

Can't wait to see how it works

[nicamarvin]

Originally Posted by terrynbama

This sounds very interesting. Have you tried this process on metal objects. If so, what kind if results did you have?

this process can work on any surface(Metal,Wood,Plastic,) but you need to prep the piece just as you would any object about to be painted, meaning you cant spray on chrome directly to metal..

Originally Posted by Brads MONSTER

Can't wait to see how it works

you are waiting on what?


hey guys this is Alsa´s ChromeFx Top coat, let me tell you that as soon as I have enough money I will be geting a galon of this clear, it will only add about 20% of the total cost, but the way it turns the piece into a true chrome look its amazing... not even my best efforts are as good, the can come close but not as much.. so my future system will be a hybrid of alsa´s coating and Angel Gilding inexpensive silvering chemicals...



this is the video showing the difference between the tinted clear(violet tinted on the left and a none tinted clear on the right)


and a bunch of spray on chrome spoons(and a chrome painted spoon for comparison)

[HyePo66]

GReat Stuff... so let me see if I have this right for chrome-coloring plastic

Krylon Fusion any color thats shiny like silver? (for primer)
then the glossy black base coat
then the 2k clear coat (sherwin wiliamns 2k urethene clear)

let cure for normal period???

then clean,
spray with distilled water
wetting agent
then more distilled water spray
then tin
then more distilled water spray
then sliver dual pump spray
then more distilled water spray
then hair dryer

then apply tinted 2k clear coat or the pre-mixed stuff from alsa's

did I get it right?

[nicamarvin]

Originally Posted by HyePo66

GReat Stuff... so let me see if I have this right for chrome-coloring plastic

Krylon Fusion any color thats shiny like silver? (for primer)
then the glossy black base coat
then the 2k clear coat (sherwin wiliamns 2k urethene clear)

let cure for normal period???

then clean,
spray with distilled water
wetting agent
then more distilled water spray
then tin
then more distilled water spray
then sliver dual pump spray
then more distilled water spray
then hair dryer

then apply tinted 2k clear coat or the pre-mixed stuff from alsa's

did I get it right?

almost.... the krylon fusion can be of any color, I use white or black, the comes the basecoat(mate white or blak or grey it does not matter) then 2k automotive clear coat(I use sherwin williams because I am used to it already) let it cure for 24 hours.....


in the rinsing stages(just before the silvering) you can use tap water, only your very last rinsing before the silvering you have to use Di water because if there are traces of ion on the water(tap water have lots of them chloride is on of them) it will turn your silver nitrate into silver chloride and you just dont want that....I do it that way to save money on Di water but you guys only pay 1 dollar per gallon and I pay about 2.50

[HyePo66]

got an email from Angel Gilding... said they discontinued the sale of their dual spray bottles because "...the silver builds up inside of the spray chamber and blocks it after onl a few uses"...

have you had any problems like that or is that just expected?

I guess they are cheap enough even if that were the case...

I'm planning on casting my part that I'm making for the Mustang and applying the silver (chrome) to it... any plastics I should avoid that you know of?

Ordered some Smooth-on Onyx (slow) for durability and thin wall ability.

I can't wait to see this stuff work first hand...

[nicamarvin]

Originally Posted by HyePo66

got an email from Angel Gilding... said they discontinued the sale of their dual spray bottles because "...the silver builds up inside of the spray chamber and blocks it after onl a few uses"...

I havent had this issue as of yet, but I clean all of my equipment all the time with water, and after a while I use hydrochloric acid and pump it to remove any silver left.. so far nothing bad has happened

Originally Posted by HyePo66

I guess they are cheap enough even if that were the case...

true, you could also buy their drip silver kit, but I have not tested it myself..

Originally Posted by HyePo66

I'm planning on casting my part that I'm making for the Mustang and applying the silver (chrome) to it... any plastics I should avoid that you know of?

all plastics have work just fine with me as of yet, but remember that how you prep the part is the key here..

Originally Posted by HyePo66

Ordered some Smooth-on Onyx (slow) for durability and thin wall ability.
.

what´s Smooth on onyx?

[HyePo66]

Check 'em out... I'm gonna try to just "sliver-chrome" the piece as it comes out of mold, then polished, then primed like you suggested to see the difference... If I can get a good chrome finish right out of the mold... yeee hawww!!!

http://www.smooth-on.com/Urethane-Pl...325/index.html

[HyePo66]

here is what I'm making and will hopefully get a rapid prototype of

66 Mustang 6-gauge "Pony" Bezel... carved out of existing Pony bezel... set up for 6 gauges... nobody has one that looks like it belongs in the car... only need outer edges and rim chromed... rest is black paint or wood grain... we shall see what transpires..

still a bit rough but i'm taking my time and the lines should be near perfect when I'm finished... hopefully....

[nicamarvin]

Originally Posted by HyePo66

Check 'em out... I'm gonna try to just "sliver-chrome" the piece as it comes out of mold, then polished, then primed like you suggested to see the difference... If I can get a good chrome finish right out of the mold... yeee hawww!!!

http://www.smooth-on.com/Urethane-Pl...325/index.html

its possible that if the piece comes out shiny you are good to go right from the mold, I have done it before, but the coated piece have shinier look to it, the only drawback is that with the coating you will see faint orange peel(even if you dont see it on my videos, they all do have some minor orange peel) silvering directly over the shiny plastic takes care of this..

oh I thought another reason my hand triggers aren´t getting pluged is because I dilute the chemicals more, to spray on chrome you will have to use 2ml of concentrate(2ml of silver concentrate, silver activator and reducer) per 100ml of Di water, how do I know what works best? I´ve been playing around with their chemicals sinse way back 2009, what was messing my outcomes and giving me lots of heartaches was the lack of wetting agent, not untill now that I was able to silver without any issues... the wetting agent is "the" key here, unless you use alsa´s Fx or other spray on chrome chemicals, they already come with a wetting agent, wich angel gilding lacks(because they are made to silver glass not a coated surface)

[HyePo66]

Originally Posted by nicamarvin

its possible that if the piece comes out shiny you are good to go right from the mold, I have done it before, but the coated piece have shinier look to it, the only drawback is that with the coating you will see faint orange peel(even if you dont see it on my videos, they all do have some minor orange peel) silvering directly over the shiny plastic takes care of this..

I will give it a try, the mold and resin just arrived yesterday... I'll see how shiny it is then I'll do another and buff it as well.

Originally Posted by nicamarvin

oh I thought another reason my hand triggers aren´t getting pluged is because I dilute the chemicals more, to spray on chrome you will have to use 2ml of concentrate(2ml of silver concentrate, silver activator and reducer) per 100ml of Di water, how do I know what works best? I´ve been playing around with their chemicals sinse way back 2009, what was messing my outcomes and giving me lots of heartaches was the lack of wetting agent, not untill now that I was able to silver without any issues... the wetting agent is "the" key here, unless you use alsa´s Fx or other spray on chrome chemicals, they already come with a wetting agent, wich angel gilding lacks(because they are made to silver glass not a coated surface)

when my silvering stuff arrives, i will just follow your measurments rather than messing with theirs... no time to reinvent the wheel so to speak...

[nicamarvin]

Originally Posted by HyePo66

when my silvering stuff arrives, i will just follow your measurments rather than messing with theirs... no time to reinvent the wheel so to speak...

well here check this link, goes back to 2009 at the time I was experimenting with different coatings(lacquer, wood polyurethanes, oil enamels..) at the time I bought the 500ml kit, and I wasted ALL of the chemicals, half of that was using their measurements, then I started to dilute them and gave me better results but I was still getting poor results due to bad coating choice(need it to do it, thats how I found out how good the automotive coatings can be) at the time they did not offered any wetting agent and I thought their sensitizer could come already mixed with some form of wetting agent.. but I was wrong and I wasted the entire 500ml kit... but I didnt gave up, I just dont know how to....

here is the old link
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...8&postcount=18

[Flathead Johnny]

subscribed

[nicamarvin]

well guys Alsa Chrome Fx pump system just went up to $399 ouch..! thats $100 more than I paid on january...
http://www.alsacorp.com/products/chromefx/

I am back to spoons.. but only to show how good they look to my future customers...





my own tinted chrome cleared spoon vs real chrome

[HyePo66]

looks good... been busy with taxes this week.... esh..... should be done tonight... then back on the chrome thing....

[ramtough_63]

I have been off work since febuary just doing odd jobs to make the bills but I am still working on coming up with the extra funds to get started.

If I got this right my color sanding and buffing skills are pretty good

with the wetting agent and the super slick highly buffed painted surface tinted clear topcoat the angel guilding supplies diluted I should get good results?

obviously after wasting a lot of product to perfect the silvering?

i have been obsessing over getting started to the point that with money being so tight right now I have to really limit my mistakes to a minimum

I do a few custom paint jobs (Motorcycles) here and there i think if I can get this down pretty quick it can help me generate the extra cash and services I need to

make painting and chroming my lifes work.

where I live there are guys custom painting motorcycles on every corner but no one has even heard of this system or if they have they dont understand it

the guys that do understand it look at the spectra chrome dvd and see 8000.00 for the machine or 1500.00-2000.00 in equipment and the training so they dont persue it any further

or do you think order the alsa setup 1st and then experiment with the angel guilding supplies?

Which process would you recommend starting out

but the angelguilding supplies with wetting agent my own double sprayer or

399 for alsa's set up then supplies from them or
Alsa set up and angelguilding supplies

my fear is spending 399 waste all the product learning then buying more supplies at a higher price before i make my 1st dollar if that makes sense

[nicamarvin]

Originally Posted by ramtough_63

I have been off work since febuary just doing odd jobs to make the bills but I am still working on coming up with the extra funds to get started.

where are you located? in the USA? cause you only need like $200 to get started.. thats alot of money here in Nicaragua

Originally Posted by ramtough_63

with the wetting agent and the super slick highly buffed painted surface tinted clear topcoat the angel guilding supplies diluted I should get good results?.

you dont need to buff the glossy basecoat or the clear coat at all if you do it right, 2 coats, one light coat, after 5 minute one wet coat.

Originally Posted by ramtough_63

obviously after wasting a lot of product to perfect the silvering?.

you dont need to waste or go thru the same issues I did if you just read this thread, my tears will not be your tears if you read this thread

Originally Posted by ramtough_63

i have been obsessing over getting started to the point that with money being so tight right now I have to really limit my mistakes to a minimum .

yeah I know, I still make some mistakes but I try not to, but they will happen from time to time, this is the nature of the beast, this process has 3 stages(prep/basecoat, chemicals/silvering, protective coating/tinted clear) if any of these stages goes bad, you need to start over again(unless is the basecoat, in that case just sand and recoat), I have cases where I ruin the entire piece on the last stage(clear) and its heart breaking, but I learn from it..

Originally Posted by ramtough_63

I do a few custom paint jobs (Motorcycles) here and there i think if I can get this down pretty quick it can help me generate the extra cash and services I need to.

if you are going to do this as a business as I do, dont sell it as spray on chrome, people tend to believe is real chrome been spray over it(as if was that easy), what I tell them now is, its a special chrome paint that comes from the U.S.A there is nothing like it here in Nicaragua, but its paint and as such is subject to the same durability standards as automotive grade 2k paints are. they get the point, so far so good

Originally Posted by ramtough_63

make painting and chroming my lifes work.

that´s what I want also, its kinda of slow at this moment, but I am going to hold to it till the end of the year, I hope that by that time I will be doing 3 to 4 medium pieces a week

Originally Posted by ramtough_63

where I live there are guys custom painting motorcycles on every corner but no one has even heard of this system or if they have they dont understand it

same here, but so far I am the Only Nicaraguan doing this, and they dont get it also,

Originally Posted by ramtough_63

the guys that do understand it look at the spectra chrome dvd and see 8000.00 for the machine or 1500.00-2000.00 in equipment and the training so they dont persue it any further

but now anybody could build a pro system for about 2k with chemicals and all, the kit I show here is for little guy that can do small to medium pieces as a hobby or make some cash, or to start small and grow as you go like I did

Originally Posted by ramtough_63

or do you think order the alsa setup 1st and then experiment with the angel guilding supplies?

people on a tight budget like us have only one road and that´s the Angel Gilding road, their least expencive chemicals will give you enough to practice

Originally Posted by ramtough_63

my fear is spending 399 waste all the product learning then buying more supplies at a higher price before i make my 1st dollar if that makes sense

dont waste your money just yet at this stage, maybe when your business start to grow