HOME FAQs BOOKS JOBS: Help Wanted Suggestions you are here: Hotline/Forum => Letter 14058

Steel, Aluminum, Plastic Chroming

I am beginning a study on automotive exterior parts like wheels and bumpers. Can someone explain the differences between chroming steel, aluminum, and plastic. What are the major process steps for the three and what differentiates them. Many thanks for any help.

David Matthews
- Chicago, Illinois, USA

Once you have the first layer of electroplating on the item, nothing substantially distinguishes the process for nickel-chroming steel from the process for aluminum from the process for plastic. There are many letters on this site that cover the pretreatment and first layer of plating on these three substrates. Which ones are most appropriate for you to review depends on whether you are a high schooler, a metallurgy major in a university, a co-op student at an automobile manufacturer, etc. Please talk in forthright fashion instead of saying you are "beginning a study" and I may be able to help you further :-)

Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com
Brick, New Jersey

ANSWER or FOLLOW UP POST an unrelated QUESTION HOT Topics

Disclaimer: It is not possible to diagnose a finishing problem or the hazards of an operation via these pages. All information
presented is for general reference and does not represent a professional opinion nor the policy of an author's employer. The
internet is largely anonymous; some names may be fictitious and some recommendations may be deliberately harmful.

If you are seeking a product or service related to metal finishing, please check these Directories: