Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Chrome Plating/Spraying
Q. Current applications of Chrome within the Automotive world seem to be increasing daily. Unfortunately the same problems with chrome plating persist: high scrap rates and manufacturing costs eat at profit margins.
A limited range of base plastic materials has forced to limit our range of products in Chrome. Diecast products and decorative finishes are only available. If we could spray a Chrome finish onto our standard components and achieve all of the test requirements it would be the answer to my prayers. Can you advise on the feasibility of sprayed chrome finishes, such as Fantachrome, and their performance in comparison with standard chrome Plating? Also are there any other alternatives?
Regards,
- Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom
2003
A. Hi Richard. "Chrome look paint" is a 3-layer paint job (base coat, silver nitrate ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] or aluminum flake, clearcoat) that looks a lot like chrome plating; but it is not "sprayed chrome" -- it has nothing to do with chrome. That is not to say that it is bad or poor, or necessarily unsatisfactory as a cosmetic finish . . . rather, that we don't want to obfuscate things and have aircraft & automotive engineers substitute paint for chrome plating, and have every landing gear and shock absorber immediately fail :-)
Chrome-look paint gets better each year, and it's probably okay for interior parts already. If they reach the point that the clearcoat is radiation or UV cured, it will probably be quite durable like the coatings on auto headlight housings. For now a lot of people feel it's pretty good.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Multiple threads merged: please forgive chronology errors and repetition 🙂
Want to try water-based "fake" chroming
Q. Catalytic Plating ... Fantachrome, Cosmichrome ... What's the big secret? I want to try out the materials used in this process, and it seems you almost end up trying to buy into a franchise. Anybody know how to get the info needed to get into doing this process on a small scale, on Fiberglass parts to be exact? It's a water based system, or so I have read. The finish I require is a decorative one, not really wanting to depend on a Vac Deposition company every time I want a Chrome/Gold finish. Any thoughts, info on this..?
Cheers..
Aerospace&Communications - North Brookfield, Massachusetts
2003
A. Hello, Tom. You can buy 'chrome color paint' in a spray can at your hardware store. If that produces good enough results for someone, then there's no investment or secret anymore.
But if you need better than you can get out of a can, a general technology that will work is no big secret at all: 3 layers -- a base coat, silver reduction from silver nitrate, and a clear coat. Mirror silvering based on silver nitrate and a reducing compound has been around for close to 200 years now.
The practical problem is that you need:
1. - a 'proper' base coat that will have good adhesion, lay down super smooth, be readily sensitized so the silver nitrate will uniformly wet it instead of bead up, plus
2. a silver nitrate layer that will react really well with that base and will come out perfectly even, which might involve viscosity control or control of other parameters, plus
3. a topcoat that will not react with the silver layer, and will be super clear, and hard & protective, but will offer good UV resistance.
That involves a lot of meticulous development work, the results of which are still held as trade secret rather than being in the public domain.
So the present situation is that unless you want to duplicate those years of development you must in some fashion buy the intellectual property. Some may sell it by the gallon, some only via franchise arrangement. Some day this technology will be public domain; meanwhile nothing prevents you from trying to develop an equal quality finish yourself, but some good chemists have tried it and abandoned the effort :-)
Good luck
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Multiple threads merged: please forgive chronology errors and repetition 🙂
Chrome Plating of non metallic items
Q. Alsa Corporation of California offers what appears to be a spray-on system that results in a chrome look finish on items such as footballs and fabrics, among others. We would like to use this system on some products we make. What is the name of this process? Does it require any special equipment? Are there wholesale sources other than Alsa Corporation?
Don Pennington- Portland, Oregon USA
2005
A. The generic description of this process is probably "high quality chrome-look paint". We can't print responses that purport to rank one system against other systems (why?), but other suppliers of "chrome-look paint" include Gold Touch [a finishing.com supporting advertiser] (Cosmichrome), G.J. Nikolas [a finishing.com supporting advertiser] (QuickSilver), and Fantachrome of Italy; there are others if your google 'chrome-look paint' or 'spray chrome'
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2005
A. Ted,
The Gold Touch system and whatever Alsa was selling before (Fantachrome?) use silver nitrate. These systems require special guns and expensive equipment. The silver nitrate also oxidizes very quickly and is difficult to clear coat to prevent this problem.
Now for liquid paint, there are some companies out there that sell "chrome" paint. Nikolas sells "Quicksilver" because we don't want to mislead our customers into thinking they are buying a chrome paint. Nothing out there will duplicate chrome. You'll get a finish comparable to sterling silver.
G. J. Nikolas &Co.,Inc.
Bellwood, Illinois
2006
Q. Hello, I have a question about Fantachrome. I would like to know is Fantachrome and Alsa Chrome FX the same products? Hope you can help me.
best regards
- Vojens, Denmark
March 7, 2009
A. Hi, Kristian. My understanding is that Fantachrome is an Australian company unrelated to Alsa -- but just contact one or the other and ask them; we live in an age of rapid corporate buyups and spin offs, so no answer would be valid beyond this week anyway :-)
You may wish to expand your inquiry as we don't know where you want to go next. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
March 9, 2009
December 5, 2020
Q. I am writing to request a technical suggestion on Fanta Chrome method.
As a matter of fact, requesting the required technical information from a reliable source about this method, plays an important role for stepping on the right path.
Regarding the above mentioned, we would really appreciate it if you could assist us to find the correct information on the following matters:
- What is the Activator and how does it work in Fanta chrome?
- Regarding the " A " and " B " solutions, what is the main function of these two in the chroming process?
- Our products are made of plastics like ABS, P.P, and etc., is it necessary to apply a primer before chroming process?
- How can improve the scratch resistance of a chrome plated plastic?
- Mashhad Khorasan, Iran
A. Hi Kayvan. We added your inquiry to a thread which explains the general 'chrome look paint' method (although we cannot respond on Fantachrome specifically). The general method, as noted on this page, includes a base coat, followed by the bright layer which is probably parts 'A' and 'B' in most systems and which is probably basically silver nitrate in one part and basically a reducing agent in the other, followed by a clear coat.
We cannot post answers to any specific question about a particular brand as these are trade secrets.
Luck & Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
December 2020
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