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Dec 10, 2008 21:22:20 GMT
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often wondered if you could plate small brakets n bits n bobs cheaply at home not talking about show quality chrome , just like how the factory coats stuff ..maybe cad plating?  i know frost sells the gear , but can it be bought for cheap |
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91 golf g60, 89 golf 16v , 88 polo breadvan
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Dec 10, 2008 21:30:55 GMT
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I bought a kit from a place I found on a google search. It was an american supplier but they had an agent over here because you need a permit to import some of the chemicals.
Everything has to be very clean and you really need to take your time and follow the instructions to the letter but they do work. The kit I bought done the 2 spotlight brackets I needed it to! It was about £30 a few years ago.
The kit I bought done steel but you can get a kit to do alloys or aluminium. The place also sold thin paint to allow you to do plastic!
Cant remember the name of the company but you'll find them with Google or in a few of the Scootering mags. Worth a go at £30!
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Dec 10, 2008 21:43:32 GMT
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sounds ideal ..what colour plate did it leave?
cant find nowt on google tho...only ££££ frost kits
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91 golf g60, 89 golf 16v , 88 polo breadvan
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lae
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,045
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Dec 10, 2008 21:43:37 GMT
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Gyeaahhh my old chemistry teacher helped me with trying to re-chrome stuff, all we used was some stuff you can easily get over the counter for very cheap. We couldn't do chrome very well, with some experimentation I think it could be done easily, and nickel plating was fine,
It's basically just electrolysis (not the method for hair removal mind), you can also use it to remove rust.
Basically you plop the plating metal (the anode, poz) and the part to be plated (the cathode, neg) in a solution of dissolved metal salts, and transfer a current between them. The anode metal oxidizes into cations with positive charge and 'dissolve' in the solution, then as they touch the cathode they are returned to a zero-charge state and form as a thin layer.
You need to have enough anodes to face all angles of the cathode, and we found if you do it with a low current over a really long time period it works better.
If you know a friendly chemist they could help you out with what metals and salts you need
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Currently:
Mk1 Focus blandmobile
Formerly:
1969 MG Midget
1972 Avenger GT
1981 Datsun Cherry
1989 Corolla
1979 Mercedes W123 200D
1995 Ford Falcon
1996 Ford Telstar (bet you had to google that one)
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Dec 10, 2008 21:59:44 GMT
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Dec 10, 2008 22:33:08 GMT
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