Chrome plating

Bill Edstrom

Bill Edstrom

Member
I have a trunk rack that I need to get Chrome plated. According to the judging standards the inside of the rack where the trunk sits should have the dull chrome finish like the back of bumpers and the outside should have a shinny finish like the front of a bumper. Christensen plating in Calif used to be the place for chrome plating bumpers, has anyone used them recently since Steve Conners left or does anyone have a recommendation of a plater that does the Watts nickel chrome process. Any help would be appreciated. Bill Edstrom
 
Hi Bill,
Talk to Craig Riker, 419-290-4442. He is a plater and a Senior Judge for Fine Point judging.
 
Bill, I have had several replated and the issue I have is making the backside uniform as there always seems to be unsightly watermarks left from the tank. The best that I can offer is tape off all the properly plated surfaces with duct tape, then beadblast the plated backside lightly followed by a light coating of Eastwood's Cadmium spray paint. This makes the entire backside look uniform in color & texture.
 
Hi Bill,
I am restoring a 30/31 Deluxe luggage rack and will use Brents method. I was wondering if you knew of someone who does the correct walnut woodgraining of the metal slats. Per the JS it states the walnut grain was diff.than the interior walnut grain. Do you know if Grain-it Technologies has a plate for the L/Rack Walnut grain? I will give them a call next week to check. Any inf. would be appreciated. Thank you. Jim Sinclair
 
Hey Jim, they do not but they have the capability to etch it onto a plate if you have something for them to scan. My take is to use a piece of Walnut as a guide and after using their Butt Walnut plate, then use a modified paint brush to tweak the ink (grain).
 
Jim
I do my own wood graining using Grain-it equipment. The wood graining on the trunk rack on my original A 400 is very good after 82 years and I will be using it as a guide to wood grain the rack slats. Yes it is a straight grain walnut and looks very nice. I am sure Grain-it could do a nice job as they have wood grained A 400 dashes. Bill
 
Brent
I have a couple of Grain-it strait grain plates that I plan to use. I have already wood grained a set of slats oak as the standards use to call for and the oak plate is a strait grain. The grain on the original cars rack slat are a little finer and I have another plate from grain-it that looks like it will work. It may take some playing around to get it right but that is part of the fun in doing it.

Thank you you your suggestion for getting the correct finish on the inside of the rack, it sounds like it will look great.

Bill
 
Hi Bill,
Would it be possible to take some photos of your original rack slats showing the original walnut grain and email them to me? I plan on doing all my wood graining on my the rack slats and 400A. I also will be using the Grain-it process. My email is (jsinclair31@icloud.com) Thank you for your reply

Jim


Hi Brent,
Also thank you for your thoughts on the plating process.

Jim
 
I used PAUL'S CHROME for my bumpers. Did the backs by myself. The late Roger Kauffman told me to use Aluminum paint.... but i used 1000 black sand paper and CAREFULLY block sand the chrome off [it took some nites] to the nickle. Used a dremel tool with a sanding wheel to get to the low spots... All worked out well..that and being NUTS ! I did not go that far with the rack..just lightly sand it to a satin finish... Now the cross bar to that rack came in 2 finishes... unpolished chrome and finished chrome...
 
Not to interfere, but please, in general post any pictures onto the thread for the benefit of the general community rather than exchanging them only in private Emails.

Midwest Tin said:
Hi Bill,
Would it be possible to take some photos of your original rack slats showing the original walnut grain and email them to me? I plan on doing all my wood graining on my the rack slats and 400A. I also will be using the Grain-it process. My email is (jsinclair31@icloud.com) Thank you for your reply

Jim


Hi Brent,
Also thank you for your thoughts on the plating process.

Jim
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