Black Chrome Plating Q&A, Problems & Solutions

A. Hi Craig. I don't think I agree. Decades ago when smoked glass was "in", black chrome was a popular finish for the tubular metal frames and legs of coffee tables and dining tables, and I don't recall complaints of it rubbing off onto hands or white clothes, and I had such a table. I don't want to raise suspicions, but can't tell just from the picture that the finish is actually black chrome plating rather than, for example, a cold black oxide which is very well known for its smuttiness.

But what is fact is that the current finish is not satisfactory to your customer, so action must be taken in one direction or another. The major plating process suppliers will often plate sample parts for you for free (perhaps in an effort to get you to switch to their chemistry). I think you should get some samples from a process supplier or another plating shop to determine whether black chrome can satisfy your customer or whether you need to switch to a different finish.

Luck & Regards,

A. Hi Bob.
John's posting was from many years ago, so we don't know if our notification to his e-mail will work, but all suppliers of black chrome processes have addition agents to produce the black color. Since John is from Malaysia, the B400 he refers to might be an addition agent from JCU Corp in Tokyo.

Luck & Regards,

A. Black chrome is a beautiful color, is very weather durable and is done by a fair amount of shops. It does have a tendency to show a silver color if it is significantly scratched, but nowhere as bad as black nickel or dyed or chromated parts.

A. Hi, Wayne. Check our jobshops directory for plating shops that do black chrome

'Black chromium' has a couple of different looks. If you are old enough to remember when smoked glass was "in", there were residential and commercial dining tables and coffee tables which were 'black chrome' plated and the chrome looked like gray tinted glass--hard to describe--bright, sort of like chrome, but smokey. That's for decorative use like on a car.

The reason it is "out" is that tastes change and it's costlier than bright chrome. But it's having a resurgence of popularity.

There also is "optical" black chromium; it looks almost like carbon black, sort of like black wrinkle paint ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] but with exceptionally fine wrinkles; it is used to absorb light and stop reflections on the inside of optical stuff like microscopes and binoculars. Black chrome finishes also make for effective passive solar collectors.

A. I'm not real familiar with handguns, so I can't say too much, but I have heard of it and I don't know any reason why black chromium wouldn't be an excellent finish for a handgun.

A. Hi, Johannes. Sorry, I don't know of comparison pictures on line, and pictures of reflective items don't work well anyway. Black nickel can be used for interior decorative parts, and it can be used for exterior wear parts, but I don't think you'd find it satisfactory as a decorative finish for exterior parts.

Regards,

A. JOHANNES of KLERKSDORP, SOUTH AFRICA asked about comparison pictures. This is a website I stumbled upon that may help. It shows different types of chrome plating done by one plating company.

www.reliableplating.com/blackchrome.html

Click on the dropdown list to see some other type of plating.

I hope it helps.

Hi, Rob. Thanks. These appear to me to be just computer generated graphics rather than actual photos  :-) ... but I guess anything is better than nothing. Thanks again.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Yes, Glenn. The shop will strip the existing chrome, probably buff and activate the nickel plating, then do black chrome plating on the parts.

A. Yes, the chrome must be removed; but ninety nine percent of the plating is the underlying nickel, and it will probably be possible to save that. Both "smoked glass" look and jet black are available, Bruce. Feel free to listen to our Podcast Interview with Willie World. We also have an Introduction to Chrome FAQ that you might find interesting.

A. The Japanese motorcycle manufacturers used black chrome during the 80's. I just put on a set of Russel steel braided lines that are that way.

A. Chrome has a history . The original chrome was brighter and more a blue tint. The original chrome process had a number of limitations. Notice most recessed areas of older vehicles were painted or hidden. The term chrome rob means the chrome did not go there, so you would see a chrome color to nickel color definition line. A new chrome -more environmentally friendly is also chrome but less in brightness, longevity, and scratch resistance. The new chrome being thinner tends to not show the nickel definition line as well. The new chrome has more a gold or brown tint. Black chrome is an extension of the new chrome. Therein relatively speaking the black chrome will scratch like the new chrome and the scratch will be more apparent because it is a darker color on nickel. The typical attraction to black chrome is the change in degree of black brought on by the surrounding change in light. Platers have their own individual black so be careful with a generalized request or expectation for black chrome.

Shadow Chrome Black-out Coating
(paint to simulate black chrome)

on eBay or

Amazon

(affil links)

Thanks, Trevor. Lots of good info in your posting. But you are not correct that black chrome started with the new environmentally-friendly trivalent chromes. Black chrome was around long before the more environmentally friendly trichrome (I was with Atotech when we were marketing CromOnyx black chrome, way back when, and later on when we became the first supplier of trivalent chrome plating). I'm confident that most black chrome is still hexavalent chrome -- but that is not to say that trivalent chromium, which is a normal contaminant in hexavalent chrome plating, plays no role in the blackening.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Hi, John. Black chrome is quite durable, but I can't say what is worth it to you. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi, Chris. It sounds to me like you are a getting chrome colored paint, not real chrome plating. Please see our Introduction to Chrome Plating for a fuller explanation. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Here's a picture of a black-chromed wheel, next to a standard polished wheel.

www.hummerproducts.com/Black-Chrome-Wheels-Both-We.jpg ⇩

If you go to Google Pics, and try "black chrome", you'll get a tremendous selection!

Hope the link works.

Ed. note May 2016: Sorry that link is now broken.

A. Hi Jason.
Anything is possible, but detaching those rubber seals and re-attaching them is probably a lot more practical.
Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. I noticed a question here about black chrome finish on firearms. Back in the 1960's, black chrome was a pretty popular custom finish on firearms, particularly handguns. It has excellent resistance to wear and corrosion, and looks a lot like a blued finish. With the popular use of stainless steel in firearms today, you just don't see much plating being done.

A. Hi, Andy. PVD coatings like those that you mentioned can be used on guns, and sometimes are, but the rest of your statement isn't quite accurate.

Well done electroplating can adhere perfectly. There is a mechanical procedure called the Ollard test which can be used to attempt to pull the plating off the part; when the plating is perfect, the plating or the substrate will rip apart rather than the interface between them. The inside of gun barrels, including huge caliber naval "guns" is often chrome plated. Electroplated coatings chemically "grow" on the surface so that there is actual metallurgical connection to the substrate (as opposed to paint, which adheres only through mechanical keying). Nickel plating, electroless nickel, and chrome plating are very commonly applied to firearms, but lower reflectivity black coatings like black oxide and salt bath nitriding are ofter applied as well.

Regards,

A. Hi, John.

No, I don't think that is the problem. Heavier nickel plating produces more brightness and reflectivity, but the thickness of the nickel plating should not drastically affect the adhesion. You haven't yet described the substrate, the pretreatment, the other layers of plating, etc., and I think the problem is elsewhere. When the plating peels, what do you see on the inside of the blister and on the substrate underneath the blister?

But remember that chrome plating without good nickel plating under it doesn't have much corrosion resistance. Regards,

A. Hi Christopher.

Getting the powder coating 100% off might be an issue, so if you are intending to one day apply black chrome, I'd go with the stainless steel. Stainless should also prove very corrosion resistant. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi Jim. We appended your inquiry to a thread about black chrome plating which should answer most of your early questions. Feel free to follow up with further questions.

Regards,

A. Hi Cameron. I have seen black chrome plated decorative trim on automobiles, although I don't recall seeing a black chrome bumper. There was a time, back when I first started driving, that bumpers were bumpers, and expected to occasionally kiss, so a scratch in a black chrome bumper, which revealed shinier nickel plating under it might have been a problem. Today, it seems that cars are never expected to touch each other, and reimbursement of damage is expected if they do; so "bumpers" is an oxymoron today, and black chrome bumpers are probably acceptable.

But color matching may be another issue, as black chrome ranges from a very subtle smokiness to quite dark.

Regards,

A. Hi Frank. Short of sending it back to a plating shop, trying a very light spray of high temperature paint is probably your only fix.

Regards,

A. Hi cousin Shafi.

In principle, you clean the parts, activate them with a Wood's nickel strike process, bright nickel plate them, then chrome plate them in a chrome plating solution that has been deliberately contaminated with materials that cause the deposit to be black.

Taber Abrasion Tester

on eBay or

Amazon

(affil links)

The testing methods are not arbitrary, but are done to try to insure that the finish will meet your needs, and we're not sure what those needs are: Are you trying to make internal optical parts for binoculars, telescopes, & cameras, or are you trying to impart a decorative look to automotive or bicycle components? Are they interior automotive parts or exterior? Why is wear resistance important -- is it a machine part, or do you just want reasonable resistance when people touch it? Generally a CASS accelerated corrosion test is run, informal adhesion tests like bending sheetmetal around a dowel to look for peeling and/or more formal adhesion testing is usually done, and there are wear tests like Taber abrasion, but they may be more severe that the chrome can withstand or needs to withstand.

Although hundreds of friendly & knowledgable readers would like to help you, your request for "complete step by step procedure" is probably not fully reasonable. Chrome plating books run well over 200 pages. If you want an answers that can be given in fewer words, fine; but if you don't already have substantial plating experience, try to find someone in Pakistan who knows how to do black chrome plating and retain them ... or you're looking at months of work. Best of luck!

Regards,

A. Hi John. Going just from appearance, while ruling out finishes that are not suitable for exterior automotive application, my guess is that it is indeed black chrome plating.

Regards,

A. Hi Kieran. I don't know whether nickel + chrome plating is appropriate for rifle cartridges, both as a finish that will function properly, and as one which will not embrittle the brass.

Further, while nothing is impossible, and a determined artist or hobbyist can achieve wonders, I also don't want to leave you with the false impression that black chrome plating is a casual hobby; it's an industrial science that involves carcinogenic processes, and the whole world is working to minimize or eliminate it :-(

I don't think anyone can even tabulate all the millions of dollars that have been spent by the aircraft industry and the U.S. military in working to find less toxic substitutes for it. Good luck.

Regards,

A. If you are seeking the black for cosmetic reasons, there are blackening agents that will color/oxidize the brass for you. Otherwise, like Ted said, the process for nickel and black chrome plating is rather not safe.

A. You could blacken them a lot easier by just dipping them, after cleaning, in some liver of sulfur ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] solution. What effect this would have on the firearm I don't know - but the coating (unlike plating) is of negligible thickness and won't change the dimensions of the cartridge much.

A. Hi Kieren

When a cartridge is fired, the neck expands to seal the chamber against the high pressure gasses. As the bullet leaves the muzzle, the pressure drops and the neck contracts to allow easy extraction. The spring properties of brass is ideally suited to this which is why it is universally used. Chrome plating is hard and cracks easily under stress which explains why the few 'silver' coloured cartridges are nickel plated.

Ted and others have pointed out the hazards of chrome plating but not the expense of setting up, disposal of used chemicals etc.. It gets worse. A cartridge is a small deep bottle shape and will fill up with each station of the process and transfer contaminating chemicals to the next stage ( there are several!)so each must be plugged (including the primer pocket) and then jigged to get current to each.

I would go with Dave and use a sulfide process - but do make certain the cases are really clean. That is chemist clean not engineer clean!

A. Kieren, may I ask why you want to plate your brass? If you do your own handloads, that entire process may result in scratching the finish. Cleaning your cases by tumbling will polish raw brass. What will happen with a plated part? It's a known fact that nickel plated cases, like some .357 cartridges I have, show scratches when you resize. When you re-trim your cases to the proper C.O.L. of .010" under maximum length as prescribed by SAMMI specs, you're going to remove any plating at the edge of case mouth. Crimping while bullet seating; if you do that, could also remove some of the plating.

Plating build up in the primer pocket may add enough material to make primer seating an issue, too, provided the plating process will throw enough into that area. It isn't true "blind hole", hence no air pocket to impede flow of the plating bath.

Depending on the rifle, you may even find a definitive scratch at the case mouth from what I believe is caused by the extractor. My Ruger American does this but my Springfield '03-A3 doesn't. Then there's the embrittlement issue that's been brought up previously. Brass cases have enough problems, split cases through work hardening from repeated uses, without introducing a plating process.

But, hey, this is my humble opinion after I checked a bunch of my recent brass that's gone through my tungsten carbide dies maybe 4 times already. Of course, I have no experience with black chrome. When I was in the military connector industry, we used zinc, gold, cadmium, electroless nickel and anodizing on all those connectors you'll find in Boeing aircraft.

"Chromium Plating"
by Weiner & Walmsley

on AbeBooks
(rarely)

or eBay
(rarely) or

Amazon
(rarely)

(affil links)

A. Hi Ali. To my knowledge most black chrome plating is done with proprietary formulas. One of the better known is Econo-Chrome BK, originally from Macdermid / Canning, with operating conditions described in The Canning Handbook [on eBay, Amazon, AbeBooks affil links]. I think, however, that multiple vendors now offer that process.

If you are restricted to generic processes, there are at least some starting points in Weiner & Walmsley's "Chromium Plating" .
There are also some simple formulas in the Metal Finishing Guidebook.

These black chrome processes involve hexavalent chrome plating, which is toxic and carcinogenic, and may not be appropriate to a small gunsmithing operation. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi Roy. Most shops rely on proprietaries from the major plating process suppliers, and we naturally could not tell you exactly what those proprietaries are, but thread 10818 is concerned with generic additives and operating conditions for black chrome plating. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi Michael. If the finish you want on the springs is not commercially available you would have to send them for stripping and replating to a plating shop which offers black chrome plating. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Just a humble opinion offered in good faith. I own a 2001 Harley Davidson FXDX Superglide motorcycle. 13 years ago I ordered a set of Mufflers from Cycle Shack in black chrome. Had to send in exhaust pipes and heat shields to match. 13 years later they still look like brand new shotgun barrels. When getting caught in wet weather up in the great northwest, the pipes will turn a blue gray after a few miles of wet roads and rain. Applying WD-40 ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] to a rag and wiping to clean the pipes restores the glossy black properties of the black chrome to it's original sheen.

An inquirer in the Bay area was looking for black chroming. After three weeks I located M&M Metalizing Sales [a finishing.com supporting advertiser] in Westminster, Ca. and they do strip chrome and apply black chrome. No job too big or small. I'm replacing a front exhaust pipe, heat shield and both mufflers after a minor tumble. Thanks for providing this page for lost gypsies who ride like they stole em.

Hi Nicole. Black chrome is the subject of the thread so I'm not sure how to answer your question without simply repeating what has already been said : black chrome is chrome plating which has been modified to produce a gray to black tint to it. There is no technical reason that bright chrome and black chrome cannot be combined on a single rim, although it would be more costly because of the need for masking and processing in two different tanks. But I don't know whether the rims flooding the market in all their designs include any that actually combine the two finishes and, if so, whether it's done in a way that would please you. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi, Maged. You used the word "paint" but I assume it was a typographical error and you actually meant "plating"? (Chrome plating and "chrome-look paint" are completely different things).

To my knowledge conventional chrome plating is harmless; it has been used in kitchen utensils for many decades (compounds of metals, like chromic acid, are a very different thing than the metal itself). Exactly what contaminant is causing the black coloration, however, might vary... and I've seen black chrome that ranged all the way from a slightly smokey color to a lamp black look. Personally, I would not be much alarmed about black chrome plating in a still but I would want to know more about it like what is causing the discoloration and whether it is tightly adherent.

Regards,

A. Because black chrome is very, well, black, and not very reflective.

Unlike a paint, it is part of the surface, and is going to conduct heat a little better.

A. Hi Maged
The black coating is to absorb solar energy. It is most unlikely that it would be used on the internal surface of the still.

A. Hi Huw. The black chrome finish is usually done in a hexavalent chrome plating tank, but the finish is not banned anywhere in the world to my knowledge -- since the finish is metallic (zero-valent) chromium metal regardless of what was in the plating tank. However, you might be right that you can't get such a finish done in the EU.

You might investigate whether your customer would be satisfied with black anodizing, since this would be cheaper, more available, and probably just as robust.

Regards,

A. Hi Steffen. I think you are clearly right to dismiss black oxide; that sounds inappropriate for the tough environmental situation which motorcycle parts will face.

Zinc plating is sort of a decorative finish, but perhaps not decorative enough for use on motorcycles; it probably depends on what kind of parts we're talking about. I suspect that you already realize from this thread that black chrome plating is very expensive.

I don't know what features on your parts are making repeatable high quality powder coating difficult; electrocoating would probably solve that particular problem, but if powder coating is too expensive, this might not help because I would suggest electrocoating followed by powder coating rather than as a standalone finish.

You know more about the cost sensitivity of your product line than I do, but as an old guy I remember so many inexpensive types & brands of accessories that are long gone, replaced by higher quality and far more expensive ones. Speaking of highly visible auto accessories for example, the first few car-top carriers I bought were 'no name' from K-Mart for $19.95 or less; the only ones I see anymore are Thule, costing 20X as much and up. I think the long term trend for most vehicle accessories is upscale.

Regards,

A. Hi Steffen. Some black zinc uses a silver-based black chromate, which is indeed light sensitive. My understanding is that the chromate on zinc-iron alloy plated parts is silver-free and thus not light sensitive. I wouldn't expect that inorganic, non silver, processes like black oxide or black chrome would be light sensitive.

Regards,

A. Hi Darrell. Although nothing lasts forever, black chrome ought to be just fine.

Regards,