Re: plating xmas balls

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Nick Andrews" <nicothefabulous-at-hotmail-dot-com> 

For motorcycle show chrome, the part is plated with copper first, which can 
be built up to hide defects.  Then nickel goes on, then finally a thin 
layer of chrome.  Caswell sells kits to do it, about $700 I think.  I was 
going to buy a setup to plate small stuff for my bike, just never have done it.

Nick A


>From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
>To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
>Subject: Re: plating xmas balls
>Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 12:02:08 -0700
>
>Original poster: dave pierson <davep-at-quik-dot-com>
>
>
>>Xmas decorations now fill the shops. I have seen silver 8-inch diameter 
>>globes, which are probably aluminum coated plastic. Discharges strip the 
>>coating. Now if I could metal plate one it may make a nice topload for a 
>>small coil. I know its possible to plate almost any metal on any other 
>>but some processes require nasty chemicals. The only simple solution I 
>>could think of was ammoniacal copper. It will deposit copper and will not 
>>dissolve the aluminum. Anybody else got any suggestions involving readily 
>>available chemicals and anode material. Chrome would be nice.
>
>
>    What little I have read is that chrome is tricky to do.
>    Requires HIGH currents and many/most chrome compounds are
>    toxic/carcinogenic or both.  Yes, commercial shops do it...
>    In General chrome goes on over an undercoat of something else,
>    typically (ahemmm) copper.
>    (Some metals do not plate well on some others, use of
>    an intermediate is routine....)
>
>    best
>     dwp