Steve,
Much of what relates to plating bike frames is information the builder needs to know about the plating process and how to do the things that help eliminate problems for the plater. Each plater is different. One must form a tight working relationship with them and you must also clue them in to the type of work you are doing. If they don't want to hear it or don't care; you at the wrong place.
But like I said, there are a number of things that can make the job go smoothly. It would take a pretty careless plater to not properly flush out a frame; but you can make the job easy, impossible, or even make it a non issue, if you know what you're doing. The more you know about the process and the more experience you have, the better when it comes to plating. The process works. Human error and/or indifference is the enemy.
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA
USA
I'm not an "expert" on chroming by any stretch of the imagination, but I've read that if the frame isn't properly "flushed" after chroming to remove all of the (highly corrosive) solution from the tubes that the frame will literally turn to rust. Unfortunately, most electroplaters in the U.S. are not used to working with thin-wall steel tubes.
Colin - I saw your frames for the first time in a mid-1970s issue of Bicycling magazine. Your work is beautiful!
Steve Whitting
Prairieville, Louisiana USA
http://ciocc-cat.angelfire.com/
From: Colin Laing <colin_laing@yahoo.com> Subject: [CR] Chrome plating To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Saturday, June 13, 2009, 5:47 PM
Following on from Brian's experience, on the bicycle frame plating,,,
When back in Britain, the Chromers could do an excellent job and could do partial plating, i.e Head-lugs, forks, rear-stays etc and not get anywhere near the rest of the frame.
Over here Stateside, the platers seem to only know the art of plating Truck bumper bars and the like. From the off-go it is always a losing situation, breathing in the toxic fumes in the reception area ( and that is merely cigarette smoke) then dealing with insensitive morons who should of been stangled at birth.
The most recent time I had such work done in the Phoenix area was the most unpleasant ever, It was a very nice Columbus Max frame with all hand cut and designed lugwork of which I was proud....The plater took about 6 weeks longer than estimated and was most annoyed when I enquired about the work,,,Subsequently it was finished and I went to collect it,,,It was by far the worst job that anyone could imagine...but I paid the guy and left the pall of blue cigarette smoke behind..
I drove straight over to his competitor and asked if they could please put the job right at whatever price and he aqreed that it was a mess,,,,but the blue smoke still hovered..A couple of weeks later, a phone-call told me to come and see the frame, they had left it in the strip-tank too long and the tubes were like Edam Cheese ( no kidding ) before he let me have the frame back I had to pay for his time...
I went back to my workshop and replaced three of the tubes effected...I thought this would be the end..Took it back to the plater and paid him again ( this was the second guy) and he promised expedient work...and he did and it looked like a wonderful job...I then masked off what was needed and painted the rest...all done and ready for collection, it hung in the showroom looking very elegant,,,,,then I noticed a sort of dust piling up under the frame so I took it down and shook it...more rust and crap came out and I soon had the idea that all that was holding the frame together was the chrome,,,,the steel had all but gone,
Sorry to say, I gave the customer ( who was now irate ) his money back and gave the piece of junk to a university Student for an art project,
O.K that's it,,,I will NEVER go through all this again, and sorry to bore you all.
COLIN LAING, CHANDLER ARIZONA, U.S.A