- Joined
- Jun 10, 2003
- Messages
- 15,288
Electrolytic plating produces hydrogen .This will diffuse into the hardened steel and make it brittle .I've seen some great examples of this .Baking the item after plating is the solution.
Soft chrome consists of layers of copper , nickel and chrome .Not all that durable it's for decoration mostly.
Hard chrome is just chromium and it's hardness is about HRc 70.Very durable ,corrosion and wear resistant !!
A good plating job requires the metal to be chemically clean ! For hard chrome this is done by first reversing the leads and deplating which cleans off oxides and contaminents .It also etches the metal giving it a matt finish which is carried over to the final chrome surface.
Soft chrome consists of layers of copper , nickel and chrome .Not all that durable it's for decoration mostly.
Hard chrome is just chromium and it's hardness is about HRc 70.Very durable ,corrosion and wear resistant !!
A good plating job requires the metal to be chemically clean ! For hard chrome this is done by first reversing the leads and deplating which cleans off oxides and contaminents .It also etches the metal giving it a matt finish which is carried over to the final chrome surface.