Talk:Chrome plating

Hard chromium layers (over 10 microns)can be used in various applications and consequently subject to different types of quality requirements. Hard chromium layers of hard rods of hydraulic cylinders are tested on corrosion resistance in salt spray cabinets. Because these are destructive tests, only representative sample material can be tested. The salt spray solutions and the conditions in the cabinet are normed as well as the evaluation of the result after the test. The duration of the test is depending the agressivity of the test and the the general expectation the industry has developed for this type of materials.

Tone + possible copyvio
Quality requirements

"Chrome plate shall be uniform in thickness on all surfaces ..."

(1) The prescriptive tone of this seems highly inappropriate for an encyclopedia article.

(2) It's "obviously" (I could be wrong) taken from somewhere, and needs a cite or to be removed as a copyvio.
 * This is standard and can be found appended to every drawing and work order for chrome plate in any of the industries that calls for chrome plate. However as you say the tone is a bit prescriptive, I will reword it later to-day or find some generaly avalable source to reference it. --DV8 2XL 17:13, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Application of Chrome
This article could be more useful if it had some description for laypersons regarding the way chrome is applied to surfaces & explination of that to which all the technical terms refer.

What about guns? Chroming barrels significantly increases thier life. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.36.92.18 (talk) 19:30, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

Chrome and under metals -
Chrome uses various under plating to base metals. Two come to mind.

1. The quoted Nickel - which gives Chrome a blue tint. "Cold Chrome or Cold Steel" 2. A warmer and more typical undercoat is Copper. The pink color warms up Chrome.

If getting something chromed - consider the placement and use - talk to the shop expert.

72.26.8.143 21:59, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

from plater/chemist
0. we strip the existing plating off the part you bring in. If you don't do parts 1 & 2 right you can peel the cracked chrome off with your fingernails. With Copper and Nickel, the best result is to use a strike bath for adhesion and different bath for strength. 1. standard procedure is alkaline copper (cyanide) on steel/iron because nickel doesn't plate well on iron. 2. Acid nickel over the copper. Needed for underlying hardness and corrosion resistance. 3. Acid chrome. Microscopically peppered with micron sized holes to base metal nickel which together with thin layer of Cr2O3 provides the corrosion resistance of chrome plating. Note that Cr(+6) has poor throwing properties, that is parts or protrusions closer to the anodes get more chrome and holes and details less. 4. Acid chrome plating is dependent on a "slime layer" containing Cr(+2) that is critical, formed in the initial start of current. 5. Cr(+3) plating isn't new or difficult and has much better throwing power and adhesion to base metals. Problem is matte finish. Great for corrosion resistant plate of small parts but more common zinc-nickel etc are shiny.

Shjacks45 06:19, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Automtive Applications
"In 2007, a Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) was issued banning several toxic substances for use in the automotive industry, including hexavalent chromium, which is used in chrome plating." From the article makes it seem that chrome has been banned from cars, "....Trivalent chromium baths are not yet common, due to restrictions concerning color, brittleness, and plating thickness."

So is Trivalent chromium now used in cars, doesn't seem like it since it's brittle.

I think the article needs some clarification, especially since RoHS is only in Europe i believe, so U.S. still uses hexavalent chromium? 66.235.241.102 (talk) 19:15, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

Automotive use
The third and fourth paragraphs don't really seem like they belong here. Perhaps the third, with an appropriate reference might be an interesting anecdote, but even if it's there No doubt when the shops got on-line again these would be replaced. is not something one would expect to read in encyclopedia.

The fourth paragraph is just puffery. It doesn't say who the awards were from, nor does it give any reference to back it up. And even if it did, I don't think some industry awards for "the best chrome plating line" is worth including in an article about chrome plating.

I'm cutting the two paragraphs - if anybody wants to reference the third, make the language more encyclopedic & put it back, I'll be fine with it. The fourth would require a really convincing argument. CruiserBob (talk) 16:03, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Hard Chrome - Citation needed
I saw this:
 * ', also known as ' or , is used to reduce friction....

OK, I found a referenceQQ-C-320B. This is from page 14.
 * Class 2 plating, also known as “industrial chromium” or “hard chromium”, is used for wear resistance, abrasion resistance and such incidental corrosion protection of parts as the specified thickness of the plating may afford. Engineering chromium is usually applied directly to the basis metal and is finished by grinding to the specified dimensions. 

It would seem to me that this paragraph would serve as a good reference to the "citation needed" gripe. What do you all think? Alister 77 (talk) 05:14, 5 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Yeah that's a real good ref. Please add it. Wizard191 (talk) 14:17, 5 October 2010 (UTC)
 * The Mil-spec, nice. Your citation, it's ok, but not necessarily true as worded. Sometimes I used to send out progressive dies for hard chrome plating, either due to a mistake on my part EDMing a die opening too big, or rescuing a die from wear without making a new die. You can't really grind out complicated shapes in a monolithic die. (going oldschool. Prior to Wire EDM becoming fairly commonplace, sectioned compound inserts were the rule rather than exception in diemaking, but who actually makes such a jigsaw puzzle nowadays. The expensive endgrain parquet floors in old tool shops were there in-case of accidental dropage of these sectioned parts that sometimes took days to make. The idea behind the flooring is that a straight grained wood that split easily was ideal to help cushion and possible prevent damage to a ground steel part, check a pre WWII copy of Machinery's Handbook for a citation on proper flooring for various shops ) I suppose it's a niche usage of hard chrome. For cylindrical hydraulic parts, it most likely is true, for hard chrome as well as the plasma deposited carbide coatings. --2601:243:1200:9F29:9C32:DC83:9061:3621 (talk) 12:54, 28 August 2019 (UTC)

Tdmidget (talk) 02:55, 1 June 2016 (UTC) == Not a very accurate article ==

Written by a Chemistry teacher rather than real world experience? Lead? Barium? "Sulfate"? Plating is from Sulfuric acid solution of Chromium Trioxide. The Sulfuric Acid is REQUIRED to get high current densities. The high current density is required to form and stabilize the divalent Chromium at the surface of the part that actually plates the Chromium on to the metal. Interruption of current will oxidize this layer and prevent chrome from plating on the part. The Lead in your car battery does not dissolve in sulfuric acid. Barium does not dissolve in Sulfuric acid. They will form a precipitate that will damage the part to be plated. Shjacks45 (talk) 16:44, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

Absolutely right. Reads like it was written by a retard. Under decorative plating it states that thickness is from.002 mil to .0002 mil. The metalworking industry does not recognize a "mil" other than as .001" in sheet goods such as plastic film and paint film thickness. Metalworking has been working to millionths of an inch for over 60 years and a "mil" is .000001" inch. The article reads the same as " two thousandths of a thousandth. Ridiculous.

History needed
Who, where, and when was chrome plating invented?

What is its history in industrial use?

Phantom in ca (talk) 02:52, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

A good history can found at

http://www.pfonline.com/articles/history-of-chromium-plating

Could this be paraphrased and put in as history?

M Trigg-Hogarth (talk) 22:44, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

Current/voltage requirements?
What voltage, current per surface area is required to chrome plate? I assume it varies also by temperature; and I also surmise that  time as well as current is a factor in plating depth.174.18.25.165 (talk) 17:16, 25 September 2016 (UTC)

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less expensive imitator?
From the lead: "Sometimes, a less expensive imitator of chrome may be used for aesthetic purposes." Such as what? 82.24.247.127 (talk) 22:00, 3 March 2021 (UTC)