I have some rare, pitted but repairable die-cast pieces. If I were to send them off and have a chroming shop 'do them', it would be cost prohibitive. I have the ability to do the work, as I used to do it for a relative who owned a plating business before he retired out closed down. Looking for a shop that will be okay with me sending them the parts to copper, send back to me, I do the filling of the pits, send it back for more copper then chrome. I realise that since they aren't doing the prep work no gaurentees, but I understand that and trust my own abilities and willing to live with the outcome. Any suggestions?
Yeah just ask. Most platers will agree to do the plating if you do the polishing and prep, they hate doing the polishing. I have had them offer to strip a few parts just so I could practice. Doing your own polish should cut the cost by half.
I've been looking into this... I talked to "Advanced Plating" in TN, and also "Speed and Sport Chrome" in Houston... They both said they would do a plate only job if I did the polish/prep work and it would be significantly cheaper... Speed and Sport said half price... Advanced Plating said even less than that. I don't know about exactly what you mentioned though as far as sending it back in between stages... Hopefully ChromeplaterJosh will see this and add his input...
I think you will need acid copper for build up on pitted pot metal, make sure whover you go to has that tank.
I can't speak for any of the Chrome Shops but I have had a good bit of pitted pot metal replated by Advanced Plating and I am extremely happy with the results. Chrome Plating is expensive and I suspect there won't be too many shops willing to do part of the work because the finished results will reflect on their quality of work! Before,, After,. HRP
Exactly... this is why I was surprised that the two places I mentioned actually agreed to do a "plate only" job... I kinda figured they would be afraid of someone doing a poor job, and it running down there work... maybe when you get right down to it, they will refuse it if you send them something ****py.?
Yeah you can do your own polishing/repairing work, no problem. It sounds like you know what needs to be done, since you have actually done it before, so you are lightyears ahead of most to start with. Every plater is different, so make sure you know exactly what needs to be done to the parts before they are allowed to run through plating. (stripping/blasting/degreasing stuff) As far as possibly ruining a plater's reputation; we've done many plate-only jobs over the years, some turning out ****py to me because of less than desired polishing, all with no known ill effects. Its also a very small percentage of people who actually do their own prep. As far as platers hating the polishing; not me. Its my favorite part. www.ChromePlatingIN.com
You can buy small kits to do your own copper and nickel plating at home. I would buy one, let the chrome shop strip the parts, do repairs, copper plate and polish at home then let the shop do the chrome. Chrome plating requires some nasty chemicals like cyanide. I don't mind doing copper at home but chrome seems too dangerous.
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