De-Chroming ?

[Gaylord]

Don't  know if its possible and might be a stupid question but ?

Can you remove Chrome from an Alu frame thats been Chromed badly ?

i bought a F/F with redline flights fitted off gaybay and when i removed the b/b i then realised they had filed the b/b cups down to fit into the frame as the chrome plating had gone inside
and that the chrome on the  rear triangle of the frame was starting to peel off in big flakes 
so i started to peel more off the rear triangle (it was like peeling flakey sunburnt skin off your arms i just couldn't stop myself) till i got to the point where no more would come off
so now i'm left with a frame thats half chrome half bare alu 

So i'm sending out an S O S

Regards Gaylord

[markyp]

really you need to send it to a chromer to strip.removing chrome isnt as simple as paint,youre lucky you got as far as you did,im afraid its a trip to a chromers now ,apparently they have to reverse the process,hope this helps 

[MartyC]

Are you sure it's an alloy frame?  They don't usually chrome alloy frames as the alloy oxidises and peels/flakes.  You can definitely get it removed, it's a reverse process and whatever you do DO NOT GET IT BEAD BLASTED as you will fook the frame  .  There's a few threads in here (see the stickies) about chromers so you should be able to find on close/not far from you  

[Gaylord]

Thanks for that chaps 
 
it sounds expensive, but it'l have to be done then powder coated me thinks

will post some picks when i get it all sorted, unless the chromes hiding a dark secret 

[Glynnyboy]

I really don't know what a chromer would suggest here. I know a guy that uses 2 chromers , one blast strips and the other chemically strips. The chrome it's self is stripped by reverse polarity but then you have the nickle to contend with. If your wanting to get it down to the frames original composit i.e the alloy as you say here then the nickle has to be stripped. That's done in a chemical strip bath and can be very invasive. It can increase any pitting under the chrome/nickle plate of a rusted chromolly or steel frame. So i don't know where you would stand with an alloy frame as the nickle plating would be harder than the alloy.
It's not the chrome your going to have to worry about it's the nickle on alloy.
If your frame is chromolly then no problem because the chromolly steel composite is harder than nickle. I believe the process is called Strip and pickle.(strip = the reverse polarity de chrome ...... pickle = the chemical pickle of the frame to strip away the nickle )

[b45t4rd]

Never seen a chromed aluminium frame before, stick a pic up.

[Gaylord]

I will try and get some pics up as soon as I work out how to do that 

And Glynnyboy  your right there is nickel plating underneath the chrome

And if the process to remove it won't harm the frame then I think I will go for that

So I could have a polished finish to the frame

 

[Gaylord]

Here's a few pics of the flaking chrome frame
<a href="http://s838.photobucket.com/albums/zz310/chewy66_123/?action=view&current=flovalflyer003-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i838.photobucket.com/albums/zz310/chewy66_123/flovalflyer003-1.jpg" border="0" alt="floval">[/url]

[Bob_Acid]

First time i've seen a chrome one of them, i wonder if it's factory? 

[bmxr]

You could mirror polish the exposed alu to get a similar finish as the remaining chrome.

Chromed alu never has the same mirror finish as plated 4130; if it looks shit then get it stripped............or if you're getting it powder coated, just sand the chrome to get a key, then apply the powder/paint.  It'll save you the ball-ache of a trip to the de-chromers

[M5AT]

Yeah, what he said.

My Ripper looks like its been stripped & polished, has chrome forks & there int much difference between the frame & the forks finish wise.

http://www.radbmx.co.uk/forum/index.php'topic=107807.0

Only a show bike though so its never exposed to the elements.

But its been hung up in me office for a few years now, & hasnt appeared to lost any of its shine.

[Gaylord]

I think i'm gonna strip it

i need to know whats under the chrome ?

has it been chromed for a reason is it hiding something

or am i just being paranoid

by the way nice bikes M5AT   

[Bob_Acid]

Chrome's not going to hide anything mate.

[ron burgundy]

Oooh, that's odd and rare.

Well... it is while the chrome is still on it.

[Gaylord]

Oooh, that's odd and rare.

Yeh a bit like myself 

[MartyC]

has it been chromed for a reason

Yes, because it looks cool