Turning Polished Chrome finish to a Satin Nickel

A. It's not quite the same process. The muriatic acid will dissolve the chrome almost instantly; 30 seconds should be enough time. That will leave you with nickel. The nickel won't look radically different, just a little yellower and you might not even see the difference if you don't have an eye for it. But the nickel will get more tarnished, more yellow, within a day or so, and even darker over time. It will never get 'antique gray' but it may please the eye.

Please send us a before and after photo.

A. Hello Bret. You probably will not achieve the result that you want that way because it's not something that is done within the chrome layer, which is only a few millionths of an inch thick. Depending on the particular effect you are looking at, it was done either by brushing a pattern into the substrate before plating, or by using a finicky nickel plating solution that includes special ingredients to satinize it.

People are familiar with painting things, and then they see or hear of school science experiments in electroplating, and begin to think that this is something they can do at home, but realistically it isn't. I'm not here to discourage the very serious hobbyist who wants to try it after years of experience, but electroplating is mostly a high-production industrial science, and you probably won't be able to do what you want. A plating jobshop can do it for you (although getting an exact match is tough), but you may find it cheaper and more productive to hunt around for a new one that matches. Good luck.

Many years ago I used a product called BlueAway to take the blueing discoloration off Harley exhaust pipes (before they were double-walled). It took the blue away but left a dull chrome. This may be what you're looking for.