How too apply a brushed finish....

[nicholas900]

Thought this might be helpful to some. For this demo I'm just doing a chromed stamped steel air cleaner. But the procedure would bethe same for anything. If your starting out with polished aluminum use lighter grit scotch-bright from the start. But for chromed steel this works good:

Grey scotch-bright pad first, followed with green.

I really should have snapped a picture of the chromed part first. But we will start here. I taped off the piece, then cut it out with an exacto knife. The most important step is to tape off areas you don't want brushed at this time. Otherwise it will look messy. So tape it up first.

Here it us taped up:

Then I scuff it with the grey pad in one direction following the contour of the part. Once it gets uniform looking I switch to the green pad. This gives it a nice satin brushed look. After my scuffing:

Then I remove the tape:

I re-tape the part to cover my freshly scuffed area. And scuff the middle section in the same manner. In one direction until happy with the result.

Sometimes chrome is cool. Sometimes a brushed texture is cool. Either way this is easy to do. Just don't go to far with it. Keep in mind most chromed parts are called "triple chrome plated". That means it was first plated with copper, then nickel, then chrome. If you go to far you will hit the copper. Which could be cool too for a vintage worn look.

 

[snrusnak]

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[anrkizm95]

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[oh9bolt]

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[Internet Annoyance]

looks good,. A+

Just thought i would point out, that Chrome is a clear coat, Chrome itself has no color, the copper underneath is a filler and base, just like heavy build primer paint, in show chrome plate operations, the copper is dipped for a long time to build up thickness then the plater will buff it out on the Buffing and cutting wheel to get it perfectly smooth and even. Just like you would wet sand heavy fill primer in a paint job. (Where the skill really lies) THEN its Nickel plated for the shiny silver, followed by the chrome clear coating.

In straight plate they apply a thin copper coating, or even on some crappy plating lines flash coat it, then a quick nickel just enough to give it color then a chrome clear coat. which is why crappy straight plate chrome jobs look shitty in comparison to show chrome

Its all in the labor and amount of materials... So, if you scuff too hard, you will burn thru the thickness of the Chrome clear coat. If so the nickel will oxidize and slowly corrode, In the early days of motorcycles prior to the 1940s EVERYTHING was Nickel, zinc or cadmium plated - coated. no Chrome. look carefully at a properly restored mid 1930s American bike or earlier, all the fasteners and trim was nickle or the other coatings or just painted. Thanks to the Korean war in the 1950s, there was a worldwide Nickel shortage so many bikes traditionally featuring chrome rims, headlights or chromed sheetmetal were instead painted. Especially English bikes. Many BSA and some Triumph models had chromed tanks, rims,. handlebars etc.. those years often saw that chrome work curtailed or eliminated. BSA resumed plating everything that would hold still. but Triumph never did resume chroming gas tanks after that.

Now, you know some more info, perhaps useless info, on chrome and plating

 

[toolmaker98]

Very interesting. I did not know chrome was just a clear coat. That you really only seeing the nickel plating. Learned me something today

 

[BuellyBagger]

[up] good advice, and nice job.

 

[Internet Annoyance]

I used to build a lot of vintage bikes and cars, used to be 15 plating shops in the regional area, now only 2 that take in anything from the public. Because of enviromental laws and really high expenses, most chrome shops are gone,
and the ones that are left have to pay thru the nose for expenses so you pay when you use them. In most cases its easier to replace a part or paint it than rechrome it. For my wifes 69 Chevelle i can buy NEW straight plate bumpers pretty cheap, they look okay, and with a lot of wax/polish they hold up okay, but will never look like the originals with good chrome.
Finding a shop with low prices, good quality and fast turnaround is impossible, (plus the skills) often you can pick any 2 of the above but not all three.