Bruce,
Having done environmental work for a couple of platers in my area, I can tell you that preparation is crucial. Not only will bare metal preparation affect the chance of the plating adhering to the base metal, but it will also affect the chance that pits and other defects show through the plating once its finished.
Also, find out the method that the plater is using. If they are a high volume shop pushing out product cheaply, chances are that they are using lots of "brightener", and not a build up process (nickel, copper cyanide, acid copper, chrome acid) to speed up the plating process. This will increase the risk of flaking.
Lawrence Kurtz Toronto, Canada
brucerobbins@supanet.com wrote:
> Since a very large part of the cost of chrome plating is in the preparation of
> the bare steel, how easy is it to do this work?
>
> A local chrome plater has quoted me between £20 and £50 (a fair bit of leeway
> there!) to rechrome a pair of 26-inch 1940s Dunlop Special Lightweight rims
> but said that it would cost only a fraction of that if the rims were prepared
> elsewhere.
>
> However, he then said that my chances of getting them to the required polished
> state for a good result are practically nil. Is this true? I wouldn't have
> thought that rubbing steel rims until they were smooth and very shiny would
> have been too difficult.
>
> Can anyone suggest the best way of preparing the likes of rims and cranks for
> the plater? What about frames and forks? And just how good does the
> preparation have to be?
>
> Thanks,
> Bruce
> Dundee
> Scotland