Chrome polish that takes off bluing?

Does anybody know of a product that will clean up bluing chrome?
What are your favorite metal polishes? I usually use mothers, but I'm curious if there a better product/technique...
thanks.

 

If it's not too huge Andre, bring it by and we'll hit it w/ the polshing wheels and a super fine rouge. That'll take it off.

 

I'm thinking of my rear bumper for the chebbie...Though it would be a hoot to see you polish it on a bench wheel! Call me in the am...I'll be at Erics late afternoon.

 

Wenol

 

Rear bumper on my F-1 turns blue, from the exhaust I guess??.......OLDBEET

 

Lemon juice on the cold metal.
Wash it off well before "cooking" it on!

 

Check a motorcycle shop. Eastwood also has a product that is supposed to take blueing away for chrome headers and motorcycle pipes.

 

i bought my headers because they were already blue. the guy said something about patina.....

are they supposed to be shiny??

 

i used some polish i got at a sickle shop, but the real trick to removing bluing on chrome, is ELBOW GREASE! best bet is a buffing wheel on a bench wheel, you need to get some RPM's up to do it. else use a hand held tool, maybe a smaller wheel in a die grinder. you'll be at it forever by hand polishing.

 

(SemiCrome) the stuff is magic. Pogo

 

DONT POWERBUFF CHROME !!!
You'll remove it.
You've got some Hot Environment Chrome polish or Metal polish and Restorer.
That'll do it.
Works on stainless to remove the gold coloring too.

 

Simi chrome and wenol attack chrome.
Buffing will remove it and expose the nickel.
Chrome should be polished by hand with non acidic or anhydrous polishes.
Even windex will remove chrome if you leave it on it long enough.

 

In addition to Wenol and Simichrome, any good motorcycle shop will stock both "Blue Away" and "Blue Buster". Steer clear of all of them.

Ask Polisher for his informative e-booklet. He knows what he's talking about.

Buy a bottle of his Chrome Polish.

--Matt

 

The blueing is the chrome oxidizing. That is what happens with heat, especially headers. You can polish it off, but it will come back. Each time you polish it off, a small amount is removed, eventually the chrome is gone and you will have the nickel underneath showing. Nickel has a yellow color appearance vs chrome.

 

Chrome doesn't oxidize, that's why it is put over the nickel.
When an exhaust gets hot, carbon and iron from the steel underneath will etch through the expanded microcracks gather on the surface, the goldern areas are nickel oxide, same as you get on a stainless exhaust, the blue a combination of crabon and iron.
Any chrome polish should be neither acidic nor alkaline as modern chrome is susceptible to just about anything. Old fashioned hex chrome is much harder and will often stand a light buffing, but it is getting scarcer every year as shops convert or close.
Even windex will strip chrome if it is soaked long enough as I said before.
Once the exhaust is polished the mixture should be set up properly, and timing corrected if necessary to prevent or at least reduce it's return.

 

Like I said, Polisher knows what he's talking about!

 

I don't want to get into a pissin contest, but I disagree with polisher's statement. It is not carbon and iron etching through. That is impossible, even if it did it would be diffusion, which is not what we are dealing with here. All metals oxidize, even chromium. That is their preferred form, and how most all metals are found in nature, as metal oxides. Why does steel become rust? it is becoming iron oxide. Chrome plating is for appearance, the nickel is the primary corrosion protection. It does have microcracks and that allows the moisture to get to the steel surface below, which then sets up a galvanic cell and the iron corrodes preferentially to the nickel and chrome. Ever see an old chrome bumper with the plating all flaked and no steel underneath? The chrome does add to the overall corrosion resistance vs nickel without chrome, but the main protection is the nickel by providing a barrier to the moisture. You can not change the laws of physics and chemnistry, and galavanic reaction states that the iron will corrode to protect the nickel and chrome. The blueing is an oxide, not due to galvanic. Heat makes it easier for the oxide to form. That is why you typically see the blueing on hot parts like headers and exhaust.

This is getting beyond the subject. I do agree that hexavalent chrome is better than trivalent chrome, thank the environmental controls for that. I am not a polishing expert, but I do know WTF I am talking about with corrosion and metals. Before this new version of the HAMB i was the official HAMB metallurgist under my name, for a reason, because I do know about metals and provide help that is accurate. Fuck this, back to building hot rods.

 

Beet, yeah most of the bluing is from ther exhaust...Though a bird crapped on the bumper and THAT even left a mark on the chrome. What the hell are birds eatin in WA? I'll try the lemon juice trick Dr.J thanks. I've tried wenol...don't they make a few different grades of polish?

 

38Chevy454, I know that you know what you're talking about, too, simply based on your past posts. But isn't chromium oxide green?

 

Well since you all are hijacking........I'm gonna do it too! I have a really nice chrome bumper on my 58 Chev, but it looks like it was split and welded back together with some big nasty weld. Can I grind this down flat and re-chrome it? Right now its ugly ugly ugly! The area around the weld--about 8inches in circumference----is bright blue and just an eyesore! Any solutions or is my bumper crap?
x
Brandy

 

Yes in my experience you could just grind it down and then use some fine discs on it to get it good and smooth, then finish it with those little discs of scotchbrite that you can buy at welding supply shops will work. They should be able to tell you what discs work best for preparing metal for chrome.

 

Chromium, like gold does NOT oxidize.
That is a scientific fact!
That is why it is put over nickel.
Nickel makes a corrosion seal over the base metal.
However, when chrome is plated it has microcracks.
The heat makes the metals expand and the pores become larger.
Initially the bluing is caused by carbon in the steel under the nickel, and it travels through the expanded microcracks and pores to appear and oxidize on the surface.
Because the carbon below the surface has not reacted with the oxigen it can be polished off.
The same applies to the nickel oxide.
The carbon however, once exhausted from the steel is replenished by carbon in the exhaust gasses, which create an on going supply, while the nickel tends to stabilize with age.
However if you look at on old bumper you will find it will have gold flecking appear in it, they will get stronger with age as the chrome breaks down or is removed by polishing.
This is where the chrome no longer makes a perfect seal, or the micropores have expanded, and the nickel is oxidizing.
Chrome oxide is a man made oxide, created by fusion, that does not apear in nature in any way shape or form.
Gold oxide is totally non existant.
So as regards the laws of physics, how is it that rust can appear on the surface of chrome and be polished off to show perfectly good chrome underneath? Does it run around the unsealed edges to gather on the chrome or etch through?
Not only do I run a polishing and chrome plating shop, I supply the most respected museums in the world with their metal polishes.
But I am not and do not have any claim to being a metallurgist.
I am a polisher / plater.
No more no less.

 

Yes, you can, flat your weld and solder any pores, then flat the whole thing to 320 grit before you send it to a shop.
Then you'll get a decent deal.
Advanced out of nashville normally do a good job on bigger pieces.

 

Hey thanks! I'd hate to buy a new one!

~Now back to the bickering! ~

Oh yeah well my rod's bigger then your rod! Well my rod puts out more then your rod! But my rod hooks it up better then your rod! Na uh, uh huh, na uh, uh huh!


Brandy

 

Is our bickering that bad, Brandy? Sorry.

All I know is that you can buy acrylic paint in a green color called "chromium oxide". Just like white acrylic is called "titanium" for the Ti Oxide.

 

I think that while we were blabbing, jetcitysicko stopped by and said he was going to use DrJ's lemon juice idea.

Oh, well...

 

Gold does not oxidize, and neither does chrome.
Chrome oxide is made by fusion.
Sorry Mr. 38 chevy, but you got your facts wrong.
If chrome oxidizes what is the purpose of putting it over the nickel?
To prevent it oxidizing.
While I am not a metallurgist and do not pretend to be.
I supply the most respected automotive, marine and steam museums in the world with metal polishes.
I also run a polishing and plating shop.
The statement that chrome oxide is green was correct.
Chrome ore is silver coloured.
Hex chrome is blue green coloured because of the boric and sulphuric acids.
While chrome crystals are either yellow or green.
There is no blue.
If chrome oxidizes with out fusion you need to tell the automotive manufacturers and scientists that they got it wrong.
In 30 years of polishing I have seen rust gathering on chrome, which is of course ferric oxide,and comes from the iron substrata.
I have never, ever seen any oxidization of any nature on chromed aluminum.
Eitherway, if you can come up with a formulation that allows chrome oxide to grow on old chrome, I'd like to see it.
While not a metallurgist I am pretty good with chemical formulae.

 

posted the same response twice,
sorry folks, guess I had better have a drink and put the head right.

 

Chromium is put over the nickel for appearance, it also does provide a passive layer on the surface that reduces the corrosion potential. Some plating, such as chrome or nickel, have a residual tensile stress and microcracks, this can be the path for water to get to the surface below. You are right that chromium does not oxidize in air at lower temps, but it can at high temps, i stand by this statement. Polishing old chrome to remove the rust staining is exactly that, removing the staining, but the rust is from the iron below. The chromium is unaffected by the rust, as i said earlier, it is protected by the iron. Aluminum also can corrode under the chrome if there is a path for the water to get there. Same principle, the aluminum will protect the chrome. Alum oxide when thin is clear and you won't see it. Carbon is not what is causing the blueing, i have to disagree with this statement. Heat can cause different color oxides and types of oxides to form on iron, and some of the blueing may be the different iron oxides that have different color than red rust. Carbon that reacts with oxygen makes carbon dioxide, it does not leave any corrosion product behind.

Actually, aluminum, magnesium, zinc and cadmium all are used as sacrificial protection for iron. They will corrode preferentially by oxidizing and keep the iron from oxidizing. This is all from the galvanic series, you can predict the metal that will corrode and which will be protected.

Gold is found in nature as the pure metal, not as an oxide. It is very difficult to get gold to oxidize unless you react with acids or other strong chemicals. That is why it is so good for corrosion.

Let's let this discussion die and we can each be convinced that we provided some technical help and understanding to the readers and each other. Your expertise in polishes and plating is far more than mine.

 

All electroplating incurs stresses.
The more amps that a metal requires to plate the more severe the stress.
However Carbon will only unite with oxygen while it is in a gasseous or liquid state.
The only thing that is able to dissolve pure carbon is molten Iron.
Ferric and Ferrous oxides are both red, The colour of rust depends on the oxygen and iron content.
The more oxygen it contains the lighter it becomes, which is why when we use electolysis the rust is neutralized, the oxygen is released, loose iron falls away,and the black residue goes back to iron.
You are correct in the statement that most metals plated with nickel or chrome become sacrificial.
This is because they oxidise and chrome does not.
Eitherway, it is time to lay this subject to rest.
An interesting discussion, and good liason of differing opinions.
That is the way of HAMB.
Thank you for the rapport Mr. 38 chevy, it has been interesting.