Art & Inspiration How old is chrome plating?

having seen really old nickel plated firearms in person, I believe this statement.

 

For the most part,chrome was and is about shiny flashy looking good !
As for how long shiny has been thought of as looking GOOD= From the first thing that was shiny an got the eye of humans.
I could not pay for chrome { Except when it was already a part,that was low cost. ,
So I think I did it the older way> Polish anything that could be made to shin !!!
Shiny for most,shows great care has been taken,to make something!!
"I love shiny"

 

you might be confusing fire gilding
or mixing mercury and gold and burning off the mercury to leave a gilt gold finish
something like that
plating but with gold

 

The first car to use chrome plating was the 1928 LaSalle

 

^Think it was actually Oldsmobile on their radiator shells around 1926-27. In one of their sales articles from feb 1927 mentions it.

 

The first commercial process for chrome plating was developed in 1924 at Columbia University.

 

Ain't no sech thang az too much chrome!!!!!

 

I've heard and read this too. The AACA Museum has a '23 Cadillac chassis that is a cutaway used at auto shows when new. It was built be the factory. Many of the parts were chrome plated, mufflers, engine parts, etc. Neat as shit.

 

Yeah I'm probably wrong but I think in the article they called it chromium permanent fixture plate?

 

This is a 1911 Stanley Steamer, everything on it thats not painted was nickel plated. Once a year it needed a good polishing. It would dull up pretty much like any silver does. The nickel has a deeper look to it when polished up.

 

“The copper can also level the surface and fill in pits. After cleaning the copper-plated part, a thin layer of nickel is added to provide more luster to the part after the final chrome layer has been added. The final layer of chrome protects the nickel from tarnishing and provides the part with the chrome appearance. “

Hello,

Based on history and nickel surfaces, the area does need upkeep once plated. My wife and I were in the middle of a total refurbishing of this ancient 30s oak cabinet called a flour mill hutch. It was a kitchen cabinet that had a steel coated table the came out under the tall two door cabinet. It was used for rolling dough, making cookies, etc. if that is the only surface around for such things.
But, also inside of the tall left side top cabinet was an actual metal flour sifter/holder. Once the crank below was turned, out came the flour into the bowl or mixing apparatus. Below the sliding tray surface were the wide drawers to keep the mixing tools and next to that area were the deeper drawers.
The thing we were concerned was with the shiny or fading shine metal hinges and door openers. Our neighbors suggested chrome plating them, then letting them get finger oils and it would turn into “old” looking hinges. Our comment was, Why? They are plenty old and that is why we wanted to change it to look old but, new.

So, our chrome plating shop suggested nickel plating. Just before the final chrome dipping process, the item is covered in nickel. Then taken out to wash/rinse and dry. Once dry, the surface was tender to the touch. So, we wrapped each one to take home. once home, I polished each one with a good coat of wax and that solved the finger print deposits.

Jnaki

So, this flour sifter hutch was in that corner of our extended old kitchen until we could save enough money to re-do the whole kitchen with new cabinets, raise the tall roof and add in a new skylight.
The whole thing came apart in three pieces and they all fit in the rear bed of the El Camino for transport. A little tight, but it did fit.

How did the nickel plated hinges and cabinet door openers do with just the nickel plating? When I washed and waxed family cars, I also waxed the hinges and door latches. It stayed pristine for the whole time we owned it. No fingerprints, fading, blemishes or scratches… Not as shiny as chrome, but that was the look of antique cabinets and hardware… YRMV

 

Don't know about the rest, but afaik, Studebaker used mostly nickel in '28, w/chrome on small details in the interior, & chrome everywhere else in '29.
Marcus...

 

That flour mill hutch is really cool! I've always known them as Hoosier cabinets, used to be a very popular kitchen item before the advent of more modern kitchen designs.

 

Hello,
Yes, "Hoosiers" is the name associated with that old oak Hutch we had. That word slipped my mind as I was typing and it was faster to label it as flour sifter. Ha! Thanks for the correct name. The first one we had did not have a flour bin and sifter. The shops we went to and the old antique places out in the country, travels also did not have the requisite steel flour bin with a crank. So, we were satisfied with the Hoosier Hutch without the bin. I built shelves to accommodate stuff for an early version of a kitchen pantry.

But, as our antique oak collection grew, we wanted one with a real flour bin and sifter. So, again, we were on the prowl. A friend who owned an antique store had one "in the back" where most things not finished was stored. He showed us and we bought it on the spot. Inside was a shiny flour sifter with a working crank. It took a week or so to get the whole thing stripped and refinished in our backyard. That was the one with the nickel plated hinges, door latches and other shiny items.

Jnaki

We knew from before, that we wanted a clean look on the hinges, handles and latches. Shiny, but not chrome shiny. Our chrome plating shop only did the nickel process and when I finished the coating of protectant, it stayed shiny and new, until we sold it, years later. YRMV

 

I believe Julius Caesar had a low slung lowrider chariot that was laden with magnificent painted panels & tons of chrome plating, it was said it was the fastest ride around with it's 8 horse power, he showed it a few time but his old pal Marcus was always giving him hell about chrome won't get ya home, that was like a stab in the back to one of the senates hot rod pioneers. HRP

 

Our chemist at work could whip up small batches of nickel. He was flat out amazing, I would do his titration work when things were slow. He nickel plated some model cat parts I made from aluminum. He did a bunch of wheel trim rings that have held up for almost 15 years.

 

We had some relatively simple pins at work, used on some BRU (bomb release units) assemblies. The size was critical (after plating). This was an older drawing and the plating specs were right in the drawing notes.

There was one vendor who kept screwing these up, I got on board to see what he was doing wrong. The spec was nickel and chrome, no copper. So he was in a fab, plate... and then strip the chrome off when it was out of size.

The drawing had a provision to add centers to the ends, which this guy failed to do. So... there was no accurate to determine how much plating was on the parts, he was centerless grinding them. I said, scrap all these parts, there is no way to salvage them. Oh yeah, jaws hit the table. We found a new vendor, I talked to them and they agreed to use lathe centers on the parts. I found a new plating vendor, Erie Hard Chrome. The parts were ground between centers.

To make my long story short, the parts came in and I was on the team that looked at them. In the lathe centers was a flash of copper, not on the drawing, so I said nothing. Nobody else picked it up. So tes, I feel that the copper under-strike is a key element of a quality chrome plate process.

 

The internets makes instant "experts" out of some that are not the brightest bulb in a string of Xmas lights. They are "educated" past their level of intelligence.