Whats the trick to finding a GOOD chromer?

My first chroming experience was with Advanced Plating. Sent them a pair of aluminum valve covers that I had already prepped myself. Came back with everything wrong with them...added grooves in the aluminum, pits, discolored everywhere. I was very upset and spoke to Steve Tracy on the phone and had to send them back. Came back a lot better but still had some grooves that I didn't put there. I won't use them again.

 

I agreeh Advanced out of Nashville I've used them 3 times and the work is fantastic....Done right on time

John

 

The Chrome Shop in Menasha (Appleton) does excellent work; I've done service on some of their equipment and can tell you the owner Dennis is a stand up guy and will do your parts right. They end up actually doing alot of chroming for some of the chrome places that advertise in the big national magazines, I've also seen them work on weathered old trim until it looks like new. They spend more time in prep and polish work then some places spend on the whole process. That being said they are not cheap, but you'll get what you pay for. Call them or stop by the shop, they'll answer any questions you'll have.

The Chrome Shop
565 Midway Road
Menasha, WI 54952
920-727-9444

 

It looks like a lot of opinions here, with Advanced getting mixed reviews. QUESTION - since some of you say word of mouth sometimes works - has anyone in the southern Michigan area had chrome done locally? I need bumpers and park light housings done for my '56 & would prefer to have them done close to home.

 

Yep, B&L Plating off Grosbeck and 8 1/2 Mile Rd. They did all my work, and are good, till I determined that the cost of paying for AWESOME plating from Advanced Plating was worth the increase in cost.

Ask for Gino (owner) or Victor (son) and tell them you are a friend of Denise Sheldon's.

B&L Plating, Inc.
21353 Edom - Warren, MI 48089
http://www.blplating.com
Phone: 586-778-9300
Fax: 586-773-4366

 

custom chrome plating in Grafton Ohio does excellent work.

 

Let me see if I can clear anything up...

It is very true, you get what you pay for. Prep work is about 95% of the final outcome. Then there is the plating itself, which is, by nature, extremely fickle, and can make a perfectly copper-buffed piece of beauty come out of the nickel bath with any of a large ***ortment of possible plating issues. All chromers WILL have plating/personell troubles, the good ones will fix 'em and keep in business. Guys who are good at custom polishing are hard to come by. They need to have the "eye" for it, it is an art. If they don't have it, they will ruin parts.

EPA ****s, and loves to take money, lots of it.

Make sure your potential custom chromer has:

-Cyanide copper strike-. This goes on first, creating a suitable base for the thicker acid copper to adhear to. It also allows pot metal to be soldered with out fancy pot metal rods. If this plating doesn't apply correctly, nothing applied over it will.

-Acid copper- this is like a high build primer, very useful and neccesary on most old parts. I don't think it really helps durability because of the porous nature of copper. If this plating doesn't apply correctly for whatever reason, cursing ensues. it is thick and hard (not impossible) to remove when bad, without hurting the base metal.

-Bright nickel-, this is another fairly thick layer of plating that is essentially the final finish and the majority of the final finishes' durability. If this plating screws up for whatever reason, see acid copper above.

-Chrome- A flash plate of very thin chromium. This replaces the nickel's yellow hues with blue, and protects the nickel from oxidizing. Its also an extremely hard surface. If this plating screw up, its easy to electrostrip, rebuff, and reapply. The actual chrome layer is so thin, an abrasive liquid polish can hand buff through it if not careful. Do not use abrasive polishes on new chrome.

Differences in Chromes:
-Hexavalent Chrome is what all cars from back in the day were plated with and makes the "blue hue" in the chrome.
-Trivalent chromium is a bit of a blackish tint and most anyone will be none the wiser until the 2 are put next to eachother. Durability is identical as far as I know. It is a more eco-friendly plating.

Make sure they are not just a polishing shop prepping and sending parts off to be plated. This setup can get ugly really fast if the polishing shop gets in financial trouble and their plater holds your parts for ransom. This happens. Also, plating issues will most likely be more common and harder to fix.

Make sure that they can properly plate nickel over nickel. This one is easy for them to lie about. It is not absolutly necessary, but very easy to do and if they don't bother to know it, they are probably lazy. Improper activation of nickel plating is the reason for most new finishes to delaminate.

Ask to see examples of work that they have done waiting for customers to pick up. This will show if they are doing a better than typical job on parts they show off. They should be happy to show off their work, although many shops offer different qualities, and that must be taken into consideration when viewing finished parts.

Triple plating is not going to ensure a nice job, but is a must for any custom chromer. It's also not a must for nice steel and br*** parts; extra nickel plating can be subs***uted for copper, but its a more expensive and time-consuming process for the plater that way. It is a myth that triple plating is the only way to a show-quality finish on all parts. But in almost all cases, triple plating is used, sometimes just because the copper plating makes it easier and less expensive to the chromer, usually because it is necessary.

Pot metal NEEDS triple plating to ensure proper adhesion and to allow proper repairs. Some try to cyanide strike pot metal, then go directly to nickel, then chrome. This skips the acid copper/copper buffing stage, not good for quality.

Another thing. If you have had plating done in the past, and the plating starts to chip off/peel. It is the platers faut (poor adhesion) and they should take care of it. I can't belive how many people have came in with parts that have been rechromed in the last 10 years, and the nickel is delaminated to the point that you can peel it off in sheets. And the place that originally did it said it was not their problem.

The plating process is VERY fickle. Sometimes **** happens that doesn't show up right away (like delamination.) This happens to all platers. Not all will admit that they are a slave to their plating solutions, but they are.

The polishing process is dangerous. Some parts are inheritly more dangerous to the polisher due to shapes, protrusions, etc. and that should be taken into account in the pricing. I got a finger crushed and tore off when I was 19, when copper buffing an oval Stude grill. It got caught in the wheel and took my hand with it. The Doc put the finger back on, but it still aint right. Minor injuries are almost an everyday thing.

I haven't given out contact info for our plating shop because that's not the reason I joined here, but if someone is interested, just PM me. I figured since chroming is like Voodoo magic to many, I would try to clear up the basics as well as my gray matter can. I don't know much, but I know this business. What I don't know, my pops or older bro will.

I need a break. whew.

-Josh

 

Great tutorial Josh. This will help many here. Thanks, Mike

 

I used Advanced. Was VERY pleased. I called the shop at about 6:00 pm. Talked to the owner. Was very surprised to find anyone to answer the phone. Told him I needed valve covers done and back for the Starbird show. He told me that I would have them back in one week. Six days after they received them they were back on my deuce. To say they are beautiful would be a understatement.
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Like I told the kid, "Your music's not too loud, it just ****s and so does OKC."