At 05:01 PM 03/11/2007 +0000, hersefan@comcast.net wrote:
>I'm not a paint expert, but paint if I understand correctly is not usually
at its happiest when sitting over smooth chrome. It is more likely to chip
off. Therefore on frames that sport full chrome under paint, the painted
areas have sometimes I believe had the chrome "burnished" (is this the
right word?) - which leaves faint swirl markes that gives the paint
something better to grip onto. Therefore if one removes all the chrome,
the surface is not finish-grade chrome.
I should have added that the chrome under the paint on the fork I stripped did not appear to be exactly a perfect mirror finish (but good enough). Parts that are chromed are usually buffed to high lustre before plating (although sometimes this is done after the copper because it's softer than steel). If you look at tooling or cylinder bores that have been "hard chromed" you'll see a more matte rather than a mirror finish. I suspect only my dropout faces were polished before chroming. Similarly, when you see chrome lugs and fork crowns, only those areas would have been buffed before plating. The paint still won't adhere to the rest of the chromed frame as well as it would to sandblasted bare steel, but it still has a chance.
John Betmanis
Woodstock, Ontario
Canada