Please tell us WHO you are, WHAT you do, & WHY you want to know!

Abstract Questions are often misinterpreted and usually boring. Pretty please, with sugar on it—

• Spend time on your question. Tell us whether you're a 3rd grader or post‐doc, hobbyist or pro, working on a watch dial or a Winnebago, doing one for yourself or millions in a factory, a new process not yet successful, or something you've done for years that suddenly went south. When potential helpers can't even start without a long list of "ifs, ands, & buts", most won't.
• Not "What happens if?", but what are you actually experiencing?
• Tell us something we don't know! Say "my formula of so & so gives such‐&‐such a problem", not "I want the best formula".
• Interesting questions get answered! Say "I have a brass trunk from an ancestor's sea voyage …", not "How do I clean brass?". Say "I need the lugs nuts from my '55 Belair show car chrome plated", not "What shop does chrome?".
• Include a photo/sketch if you can.
• A pic of yourself encourages responses by personalizing things.
• Hurried postings are set aside for editing — and sometimes get buried under new mail.
  
  
• Anonymity is incompatible with camaraderie! Ever since its founding in 1989, a basic aim of this forum has been to be *a place of camaraderie* for those with an interest in metal finishing.
  Apologies, but postings with missing/fictitious names, cities, or e‐mail addresses must be discarded. If your company doesn't allow public postings, please feel free to read everything here ... but retain a consultant when personalized help is needed.
  Now, more than ever, we need respectful public discourse; please don't be the one who poisoned the well and killed the aloha spirit by posting fictitious info.