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

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

• Spend time on your question. Tell us whether you're a 3rd grader or post‐doc, a 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. If a potential helper can't even start except by composing a long list of "ifs-ands-&-buts", very few will.
• 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 will encourage responses by personalizing things.
• Hurried postings must be set aside for editing — and sometimes they get buried under new mail.
  
  
• Anonymity is not compatible 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 or fictitious names, cities, or e‐mail addresses must be discarded. If your company doesn't allow public postings, please feel free to anonymously read everything here ... but retain a consultant when confidential help is needed.
  Please recognize that posting fictitious info poisons the well of civil discourse we all want to drink from.