Summary for chrome plated steel tubing Discussion
Chrome plated steel tubing is the focus keyphrase here: Robin Wong asked whether he could buy straight chrome plated tubing, bend it in-house to save shipping costs, and still keep the plating decorative. The thread excerpt shown does not include a technical answer or any follow-up discussion, so no specific bending method, plating limit, or workaround is provided in the source. The only named response visible is the site header attribution to Ted Mooney, P.E., but it does not contain an actual answer in the excerpt. Based on the available text, the practical issue is simply whether decorative chrome plating can survive post-plating bending, but the source excerpt does not resolve it. A fuller thread would be needed to know whether the recommendation was to bend first and plate later, or whether a special process was suggested.
Q. Shipping for the chrome plated bent tubing is expensive. I would like to bring it in and bend it in house, but I need the plating to remain decorative. Is this possible?
Robin Wong
Project Leader – Chicago, Illinois, USA
August 29, 2012
A. Hi Robin.
I don’t think this is a good path to pursue. Although plating which has good adhesion will not easily separate from the substate, and a small amount of deformation in incidental metal working is probably okay, this is a questionable route for any plating but most especially for a barrier layer anodic plating like nickel-chrome. If you induce any porosity, the steel will rust wildly in an attempt to cathodically protect the plating.
Now you’ve made me wonder whether my ludicrously rust-prone chrome bicycle fenders were plated before forming :-)
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com – Pine Beach, New Jersey
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August 29, 2012