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Q&As since 1989


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Cobalt-Chromium Electropolishing

Dear Sir,

I want to electropolish cobalt-chromium alloy. I am already dealing with stainless steel electropolishing. I want to know which electrolyte should be preferred to electropolish cobalt-chromium. For better and smooth finishing, how should the parts be precleaned?

Vijay Nath
metal finishing - Alahabad, UP, India
2003

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2003

Back in the archives we see this response in Spanish from Tom Pullizzi's mother, Vijay:

  No quiero nada por nada
  No te lo quiero tomar
  Qué por entendido tengo
  Qué él que toma-tiene que dar.

Your inquiry will surely get a better response if you are able to start by briefly describing your experience with stainless steel electropolishing, including the electrolyte you use.

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

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2003

Dear Mr. Mooney,

An english translation Please? expectantly,

Khozem Vahaanwala
Saify Ind

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

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2003

Sorry, I know only English, Mr. Vahanwala

But the point of the poem is that people usually get poor results here if they ask others to share their knowledge with them, without sharing their own.

I think that if Mr. Nath phrases his question in terms of what he already knows, he will be more likely to get good help. For example:

"I electropolish stainless steel in a solution of ______ at _____ degrees and _____ASF. I pretreatment it by going through a ____oz/gal caustic electrocleaning tank, and I get good results. Now I would like to electropolish cobalt-chromium. Is my solution a proper one for cobalt-chromium? Would I use about the same current density? Is electrocleaning a sufficient pretreatment, or do I have to activate the material in some way?"

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