Restoration & Refinishing of Chrome Plated Parts
Thank you for visiting our website. Many customers ask about the processes involved in replating their parts. Sometimes customers like the parts to be stripped of old plating as repairs such as welding and dent removal are easier and produce a better final result.
Founder
For your information we have put together some photos of a batch of Bentley wheel nuts during chrome refinishing (click on an image for a closer view):
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- Condition as received, parts have been photographed for identification and degreased. Note the deep rusting and edge damage from hammering off the wheel nuts, the wheel nut caps have been removed by stillsons at some time in the past
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- Parts are bead blasted to remove rust and loose plating. These parts have more than one layer of nickel plating .When restoring all the original plating must be removed, otherwise the new layer of nickel will not adhere.
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- The parts are wired up to remove the layer of chrome plating by electric current in a hot caustic soda solution.
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- Parts are placed on hooks or baskets in a vat to remove the nickel plating layers. This solution will also dissolve gold, copper, tin, and nonferrous material time to remove nickel 24-76 hrs.
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- Parts stripped to bare steel
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- Wheel nut being ground first stage
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- Showing stages of grinding 3 operations getting finer at each stage left hand unground right hand ready to stapol mop
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- Parts stapol mopped bright prior to plating. All rust pits and grinding lines must be polished off otherwise they will be more apparent after plating
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- Parts wired up after vapour degreasing ready for nickel plating. Nickel plating will take 14 processes before being finally dry as in the photo. Chrome plating would take a further 3 processes
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- Parts finished dried and ready to pack and return to customer.
The thickness of nickel plating for this level of service is 20 microns (0.00075”)
If chrome plated this would add another 3 processes, thickness 2 micron
Conditions of parts vary considerably; work is priced on time and material basic, the labour content for polishing being the largest variable. Our minimum charge for strip and replate is £120.00 + VAT The above illustration cost £340.00