Removing chrome from brass and bronze

I have several marine parts, some are bronze, and some are brass. They are all chrome plated. I would like to get them both down to bare metal and polish them out .What is the easiest way to do this?

See letter 12962.

Mark Fortune
- Shalimar, FL

The easiest is to buy new ones-unplated. A 20% pool acid (muriatic) will strip the chrome in a few minutes to 2 hours. But, there is very probably nickel underneath that. A nitric acid mixture will take that off, but it may damage (etch or pit) the base material. Metalx (Ronatec.us) [a finishing.com supporting advertiser] sells very good strippers for the nickel on various substrates.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida

By far the easiest way is to take them to a plating shop, which will have the necessary chemicals to strip the chrome and strip the nickel.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Ted is available for instant help
or longer-term assistance.

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