[CR]Polishing scratches out of chrome

What Raoul Delmare Wrote ( but forgot to send to the whole List ) :

David ,

One thing that's worked for me , 00000 Steel Wool .

"Five Ought" steel wool may not be the easiest to find .

Three or four ought may even smooth things out faster .

But , I have a HUGE fear of making the chrome ( or even more scary , the softer nickel ) go "cloudy" by putting in millions and millions of microscopic scratches .

I've taken bare aluminum , done what I needed to do with whatever ( files , different grades of abrasive paper , different grades of abrasive cloth , different grades of steel wool , etc. ) , then as the final two steps :

large amounts of 00000 steel wool with large amounts of Simichrome

( wipe it ALL off )

large amounts of paper towels with medium amounts of Simichrome

It puts a true mirror finish on the fairly soft aluminum .

So , I now have no fear of doing damage to chrome with 00000 steel wool .

I know many folks use "S.O.S." pads on chrome .

I would never do that on anything I actually liked .

A tip when working with something as soft as 0000 or 00000 steel wool , don't make a wad .

Look for the edge , on the roll of steel wool . Just like a roll of paper towels , a roll of steel wool has an edge . Carefully unfold the whole roll of steel wool . Separate what you need . Take more than you think you'll need . Gently fold up the amount you're about to use , to make a small pad of steel wool .

When you use it , it will tend to make little balls , or "pill-up" .

That means it's time to throw it away .

You can't do a smooth job , with a rough and lumpy surface .

You'll be surprised at how that pad of ultra-soft steel wool can be ruined by just a few seconds of sloppy treatment !

"Chrome-plating" is ( traditionally anyway ) a "triple-plating" process . It's Chrome on the outside , Nickel in the middle , and Copper next to the steel . The Chrome serves as a hard protective layer . The Nickel supplies most of the shine . The Copper is there to help "glue" things together , and to fill in the all the microscopic , or not-so-microscopic , surface problems of the steel .

Expert platers can "save" a rough steel item , by putting on more than one heavy coat of copper , with a lot of heavy polishing after each layer of copper plating , then the final coats of nickel and chrome .

Such things require a lot of very careful labor , plus access to the plating machinery . It's not cheap .

The REASON I mention all of this is , with ultra-soft steel wool , and Simichrome , you can EASILY put a mirror shine on whatever metal is there ! Even if the scratch goes all the way down to the steel , you can polish whatever metal is exposed . When the chrome , and the nickel , and the copper , and the steel , all have a bright and sparkling shine , the color differences are not that noticeable !

( yes , chrome , nickel , copper , steel , and the new hard "electro-less nickel" , are all different colors from each other , but in scratches , from 5 feet away , it's hard to see any of those color differences ! )

Best of luck .

Raoul Delmare Marysville Kansas

P.S. Hope to work on uncovering Jack Taylor stuff later today .

P.P.S. Got to ride on an all-chrome , fixed-gear , vintage Frejus , once . Still smiling from the pleasant experience !

What Mr. Brian Bayless wrote ( stated it much better than that Raoul fellow ! ) :

David,

Chrome itself is only microns thick. As soon as it's gone you will be polishing nickel, which is softer than the chrome and a bit thicker. Once that's gone, you will be polishing copper. All you will succeed in doing is removing the chrome. Leave it alone. Have it restored if an when you're inclined. Also, some of what you may be seeing as scratches are actually cracks in the chrome. Either way, they will not "polish out".

Brian Baylis La Mesa, CA Wishing there was such a thing as polishing out chrome. It would make my life MUCH easier.