Thinking out loud...Chromed Ford Wire Wheels?...

If it was easy to do it would have been done so long ago it would now be "traditional".

 

What about hydrogen embrittlement ? Not sure I'd take the risk on something as important as wheels .

 

I've got a couple vibratory finishing machines. Starting with aluminum parts having a much better finish than you'd have on a stripped wheel, it takes 80 to 100 hours running time to get to the kind of polished finish you'd want prior to chroming. On steel, I couldnt even guess the time. I've run some steel parts 24 hrs a day for a solid week, and it'd be a stretch to say they were halfway there toward a polished finish.

Vibratory media attacks all your corners and edges first. On a wheel, you'd need to put rubber plugs in the lug holes and valve hole. You'd also need to cover the rim lips with some sort of rubber or plastic beading, as well as the hubcap opening. Otherwise, all those edges would be knife sharp long before the wheel has an overall polished finish.

Overall, it could be done, but the cost would still be high. A vibe big enough to process a single wheel would eat $1.50/hr or more just in electricity. Doesn't sound like much until you consider each wheel would probably have to run at least 150 hours even with a cycle where the optimum time with each grade of media has been worked out. All done, probably about the same cost as just going at it with a die grinder and a sack full of flap wheels and felt bobs.

 

Anodes need to be placed precisely to get the chrome to "throw" at each and every angle at the spokes, hubs, rims... it won't work unless it comes apart.

 

Early in life I worked in a plant where we did chroming- the parts had to be buffed to absolute perfection before you could plate them -it hides nothing....
can a wheel like those be polished thru an abrasive extrusion process?
Also can you imagine the upkeep they will require?
I have two words of advice here Larry.....
POWDER COATING

 

note to self...stop thinking out loud...

 

Don't sweat it, at least we're entertained. And it's time for a good pooh.

 

NEVER stop thinking -- I always thought that chrome '35 wires would be the ultimate wheels, but stopped pusuing the idea due to the 'wires' being high tensile and not being able to clarify the possible hyrogen embrittlement problems. Had a set of '34 17" wheels that had been hot dipped galvanised, which is possibly a harsher treatment than chroming, but chose not to use them, again due to the hydrogen embrittlement issue.

 

so, with a lot of $$ to spend and even more spare time to spend keeping 'em polished you must be living the good life. (Ha!) just an off the wall, not traditional , idea how about the really good chrome spray on process that has been used on mnay parts including hi-tech wheels? maybe can be done with tires deflated but, sill on rims so as not to disturb finish with mounting tires. or a a can of $1.99 chrome in an aerosol can from hardware store? oops-stop thinking out loud.

 

Yes...I was just about to type: think silently.

 

Ok, guys it has been done before. I have been looking for an old 32 5 window that I built and I remember it having old ford chrome 16 inch wires from back in the day. Somebody recenently found it's location and had a tone of pics. Here is an old chrome 16 inch wire.

 

You guys have pretty much pointed out all the reasons it isn't feasible. Now of course one could polish all the accesable areas of the wheels, and run them through the process, but the plating will be very thin where the spokes will rob current from the surfaces around them. Turning up the current will only result in a slightly better throw while burning all the outer edges horribly.

I can't imagine the time in trial and error it would take to build an auxillary anode setup to force the chrome down to the tight areas without burning (overplating) the chrome in other places. All Electroplating takes the path of least resistance; it always wants to go to extrusions and avoids recesses.

I wouldn't even accept the job unless the wheel was broken down into pieces. The wheel is essentially an assembly of parts. Electroplating from the factory is virtually always done on individual parts before being assembled; for very good reason. The plated one in the pic cleary shows how much thicker the plating is on the outer rim, cmopared with how rusty the hub and inside of the hoop is. Most of the hub likely never had more than a thin nickel layer.

Now if you can find someone willing the apply an electroless nickel plate, you will gain a very uniform plating everywhere and avoid all hydrogen embrittlement concerns. No such luck with chromium though. The steel would still need to be sanded and buffed as perfect as possible for a decent final product. We don't offer electroless plating, so thankfully, I cannot be convinced to do a set, lol.

Never stop thinking! Always ponder and learn...

 

Sorry to take so long to respond but I just got the pictures today I wanted at the Orange County Pancake Breakfast. They are 19's which is close. I think I like the painted wheels.

Charlie Stephens

 

saw this at the round-up this year

 

Would they be Daytons?

 

Anyway, so I can do this. About $200 each to do yours, give me a call at 559-322-2128. I have cores also available.
Thanks
Jimmy

 

Who built these wheels?? The lacing pattern is all messed up, the top spokes are supposed to be at a greater angle and cross twice. Wow...

 

As I started reading this I immediately thought of this car from The Model A Pancake Breakfast yesterday - then I saw the post from Charlie with the picture. We spent a long time looking at it and discussing, and decided it just didn't work. I think the reason being is the fact that there are so few spokes it it just didn't look right - made them kind of spindly looking, like something was missing. I made the comment, they look all right but a dark red would have looked better.

 

we had chrome spokes on a harley we had and they had to be polished and we could do it; just took awhile. Just an FYI

 

Larry: I ran across this thread looking for the 3wbuild. I didn't read any comments from anyone about the Rollston Fords. Its got chrome '35 wheels on it. Here's a pic.