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Can't find Plastic Chrome Plating in California

2003

Hello, I would like to know the process of chrome plating plastic and why has this trade died out in California.

I would like some plastic products of ours chrome plated but I am finding it very difficult to find a business that still does this. They seem to be out of this country.

Thank You. Jason

Jason Conde
- West Covina, California, USA

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Hi, Jason. Please start with our FAQ, "Introduction to Chrome plating", and then see if you can find a copy of "Standards and Guidelines for Electroplated Plastic".
-- it's a terrific book covering just about everything about chrome plated plastic. Good luck!

You are correct, of course, that chrome plating is dying out in California. The environmental hoops to be jumped through became unmanageable. Some of this is due to actual problems in plating chrome without damaging the environment, some of it is non-existent problems imagined by officials, some of it is elected officials who know better but get mileage out of "protecting us" from hobgoblins, and some of it is pressure from university law schools who get grants of your tax money to harass businesses (it's apparently valuable training for ambulance chasing, and who needs small business anyway?).

But the end result is that, yes, an entrepreneur has to be loony to try to open a new chrome plating shop to serve buyers and employ people. So businesses that require plating services are finding it impossible to keep their manufacturing in America when the essential support services they require are only available offshore. :-)

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2003

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