See if you can find somebody that does industrial plating. I had 36 small pieces done about 20 years ago (3 sets of machined keypad buttons for a gate entry system) and got them all done for under $100. Granted, prices have gone up, but this was a straight plate job, no polish. A light flash of copper (remember, this won't be polished so it doesn't have to be thick at all), then nickel, then chrome. They still look good today...
I remember that post !!! I called my local shops that listed electroless nickel and got the run around there too. What you have there would be great! And "Hard chromers" won't do car parts, Do you know I had over a dozen steel suppliers tell me that 19ga aluminum killed draw quality steel doesn't even exist before I found a supplier that even knew what I wanted. He couldn't get it here at reasonable prices but he knew. Then it took me a bit more to get it here at decent prices. I'm sure I'm just talking to the wrong folks.
Cripes, you have got to be kidding! You're in Cleveland Ohio, big industrial city to my knowledge. This stuff was done right next to all kinds of machinery parts. They do Zinc plating also. BTW Vicky I was a machinist for 30 years at a company based in Painesville.
Nah, all homegrown Oregon B.S. Company was 150 years old, had a division out here, they started about 1960.
Hi! Nice idea! Actually i was few times in USA for a fun, travel and i like there. I like weather in LA. But i like to live there too. It can be a little complicated to reopen all workshop in states ;(
For all who get in discussion about- not so good chrome, corrosion resistance..... 1. There is no difference in first surface preparation -show chrome or whatever chrome, it is 100% that same. 2. In both situations plater must to - Remove old plated layers (copper,nickel,chrome) and this process damage the base metal and open much much much more bad places than u can see when part is plated. 3. Plater must to sand, weld pits, file part to get it straight and and and..... and yes, this part still is not good enough for plating. 4. COPPER- can easy run for 10-20 hours. Its means 2hours copper, than sanding, than 2 hours copper, sanding..... What i want to say-- If some part is plated its means that REplating will take much more time than first plate. If part is new, newer plate than it is much easyer and can do that faster and cheaper...
That's it, I'm hauling all my stuff, wife and kids to Latvia ! I'm going to make her a nice bra and you can chrome that too!
I spent a $gazillion and a half on all the chrome for my Mysterion clone. It had to be perfect since chrome IS that car. I did all the grinding and smoothing of the parts I built but no way was I going to try to 'final finish' them. Mark Moriarity says he did that for his Outlaw clone but I can't even fathom the amount of time he spent on that. Stop ad think; why do you suspect designers have designed chrome out of modern car designs? It isn't because chrome isn't popular. It is because it just isn't economically feasible. Electro-plating can't make any advances lime paint technology or metallurgy. It is stuck with basic physics that says it will ALWAYS be expensive. Layer onto that the government regulations that say "this was legal yesterday but illegal today and we are shutting you down and filing criminal charges", and it just isn't a business anyone but the extremely hearty would eve consider going into. plating shops are becoming VERY hard to find. Stop and think; do the shops and the guys in the chrome shops look like they are raking in the profits?
I recently had a pot metal front fender molding plated for my 53 Chrysler. I bought the part off eBay, this is the third molding that I have bought a second I had chromed. The 1st one ended up being not economical to plate due to pits, this one came from a junk yard in Arizona. The 2nd on was original to the car, had a couple of dents and was broke. At my request they went ahead and plated it. It looked terrible. The 3rd on I bought off eBay and after hours of prep by the chrome shop due to wavy metal (common pot metal issue) and plating it twice to get it right it is beautiful . The shop charged $400. for this molding and I thought it was a bargain. Plating prep is the deference between good and bad jobs and most of us aren't capable of doing it right. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
So I am avid hamb reader but I thought I would post my three chrome stories. I live in California and finding a good plater has been really difficult since the mid 90's. 1. Back in the 90's there was a really great plater (Lodi Chrome) about 2 hours from where I lived. They only had Monday to Friday regular hours so I would leave work at noon on a Friday with all the other Friday traffic and try to get to Lodi Chrome before they closed. Then I would do it all over again to pick up my stuff. I did this many times but their work was top notch. Unfortunately I think the EPA got to them and they closed. 2. In about 1995 or so my company was sending me for a week of training to El Paso Texas. I started researching chrome platers in El Paso. I boxed up what I could take with me as checked luggage. I arrived on the weekend and Monday morning I was at the platers shop to drop the stuff off. I was clear that I needed to pick up the stuff on Friday because I was flying home on the following Saturday. On Thursday morning I stop by to check on the status and find that they had not even started. I again told them I had to pick up my parts Friday afternoon. When I stopped by on Friday my parts were chromed. The quality was questionable. My bad. 3. A friend shipped his trim for his 54 corvette to a reputable plater and the trim somehow was "lost". 4. Another friend had purchased NOS stainless rock panel trim for his 57 Bel Air. It needed a light polishing so he took it to a polisher who overheated it and warped it.
Thank God the EPA is defunded and put on hold right now. I hope things keep going in that same direction for the sake of all things we hold dear. I don`t even want to imagine not being able to ever again be able to have parts chrome plated. Its bad enough that they made it harder and we have to go further away and pay more to get it done.
Some time no updates! busy busy...! But some photos of latest works Porche 956 speedster set Cadillac 1947 full set (http://williamhorton.zenfolio.com/p538001234/h342B9890#h24fbae8d) This caddy, old photos from USA.
Have commented on other chrome threads and all I can say is WOW on today's $$$ for a decent driver quality job and No Shit, are you kidding me for Show Chrome. Understand the time involved, materials cost, EPA costs, shop rates today and the shop owners in that business are not nearly as rich as we might think. Admire a really chromed/polished SS ride and realize what a bucks up ride they have become, Being an Old Timer now and can remember prices from 60's/70's/80's is a good thing and a bad thing because we can remember, not much chrome work anymore for me as today's chrome $$$ is today's $$$.
Hii Long time again. With chrome all is good, same as always. There is new options in this business. We now opening new features- part coping. Ok, it is hard to understand, but in easy words- u lose some part, or it is broken, it is missing and u know someone who have this part. I just take tis part and after some week u have 2 or whatever how much parts and they are all identical. This is new process, there is no mehanical manipulations, there is no 3d printers. I talk mostly about decorative parts. Lamp bodies, etc, etc. In future will make more videos, have no time now
If you are in the Detroit area give ABC Chrome in Waterford, Mi a shot at your chrome. Talk to Bob and ask hom for the H.A.M.B. discount. They do bumpers ,a s well as pot metal. They did all the chrome on my 53 Chrysler Wagon and I am very well satisfied with their quality and pricing. Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
Hi ! As i said before, next parts will be more interesting! This Mercedes Benz grill mask is 1:1 copied from original
Now, THIS I like..... But I do have a few questions. I assume these parts are investment-cast out of bronze then plated. Is there any reason you couldn't duplicate a fiberglass part that's been properly prepped? Size limitations? And the big question, what's the cost? How much for the Ferrari taillight housing to get an idea?
Hi! I do it totally different way. This is new process. Of course there is some size limits, but only in imagination and budget I can copy any material- fiberglass, glass, steel, wood and make perfect copy from copper or steel and chrome it. Or leave in base material. Price is reasonable
I just become used to the idea of received front and rear bumpers is either $1,500 or it ain't ever going to happen. Maybe this will change that line of thinking.
The Jalopy Journal
