Preparing items for chrome plating

[laidback]

Hello chaps,

I took delivery of these early Kneesavers for my Team Master build today:


Although straight, they are a bit scabby in places:



There's no deep pitting, but the chrome is shot and that rust will not be polishing out

I plan on stripping them and getting them cleaned up and then re chromed.  They will then be sent off to SBD to powder/paint the lower section up to the cross bar (this lower section is the worst part, so a good job they'll be painted).

Does anyone have any tips for stripping/cleaning them up, or is this best left to the chromers to do the whole job?
Also, would you suggest getting the whole bar chromed, or just the sections that will be visible after paint?
And finally...can anyone recommend any good chromers in the N London/Herts area, and a guideline price i can expect to pay for bars/seat posts etc?

Thanks, Paul.

[stidds]

The chromer will do it all for you as all the old chrome will be removed and then the bars cleaned,  polished and chromed. 

The new bars will be minty when they come back from the chromers as those bars are in pretty good nick.

I would say to get the whole thing chromed and then ask SBD to powder the bits you want.

[rex]

As stidds said, your plater will take off the old chrome leaving the raw metal,  let the plater do his work,   

[stidds]

Also you say the lower section is the worst so good job they will be painted/powdered.  Well they won't be a bad section after plating, so you will not need them pained (unless that is what you need).

[Gary72]

I reckon an Oxy bath would make the world of difference to them.
If you get them stripped, polished and re-chromed you could lose lots of weld detail and the Haro Chevron detail.
Have a look in the sticky section for some guidance.

[pickle]

I reckon an Oxy bath would make the world of difference to them.
If you get them stripped, polished and re-chromed you could lose lots of weld detail and the Haro Chevron detail.
Have a look in the sticky section for some guidance.

Would agree with what Gary says

[brummie]

I have had some great results with wd40
use a wooden clothes peg or a small bit of soft wood to rub the rust ( little circular motions works well ) keep spraying on a little wd40
polish up with peek

[martin46]

Yep, just to echo what has already been said.
From the look of the bars in your pictures they would clean up nice with a bit of time and effort. Much nicer to keep the original chrome finish if you can. Will save you a load of money too 

[john4130]

as said above, clean them up as best you can then get the lower part painted or powdered. you only see a small part of the chrome anyway from just above the crossbar to where the levers sit. 

[laidback]

Good advice lads, thanks. I think I'll order some Oxalic Acid on eBay and try my luck with an OA bath. Seems a bit pointless forking out for rechrome when most of it will be painted. It doesn't matter if I rub through the chrome when cleaning them up if they'll be painted, as long as they're smooth.

They're not perfect in the areas that will show, but they are going on a survivor, so
not really an issue. Watch this space!

[laidback]

Well, i took your advice people.

Yesterday i took delivery of some Oxalic Acid (£3 from Ebay) and set to work!

Firstly i removed the grips and cleaned the bars with soapy water.  I then blasted out all the crap from inside the bars with my compressor.

Here's how they looked before the bath:


I then added a few heaped tea spoons of the Acid to a tub of water, with the parts placed in it and left it for about 6 hours.  The Water goes cloudy and gives off an eggy smell, so i did this in my garage, which is well ventilated.

I checked on them after 6 hours, and then because i couldn't sleep, i gave them a stir and added a bit more acid at 5 am!

After about 18 hrs, the container looked like this:


I then removed the parts and scrubbed the rusty areas (most of it had disappeared) with a tooth brush and old scouring pad.
They were rinsed in fresh water thoroughly.

This is what i was left with after a clean and a polish:

Old dominator before:


After:


Bars Afterwards:



As you can see, the bars are far from perfect, but much better.  They will be good enough to be painted, and it required little effort. OA baths are a neat trick

[BMX1973]

............me too. Oxy bath first then polish, see how they come out .

I reckon an Oxy bath would make the world of difference to them.
If you get them stripped, polished and re-chromed you could lose lots of weld detail and the Haro Chevron detail.
Have a look in the sticky section for some guidance.

Would agree with what Gary says

[insectbones]

World of difference for very little outlay, nice