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  for Metal Finishing since 1989
  

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" Cold" Decorative Chrome Plating Solution

A client of my consulting firm is looking for a "cold chrome" plating solution. We have heard of this process which supposedly has superior throwing & covering power as compared to conventional hex. chrome. We would like either a formula or a supplier.

Thanks,

Bert J. Sherwood
- Los Angeles, California, USA
2000

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They are very probably talking about trivalent chrome which can be run at room temp or at an elevated temp. It does cover better and more uniformly. But, it is for decorative purposes only. There have been several articles about "hard" trivalent chrome, but it is very very thin relative to normal hexavalent hard chrome. It avoids the hex chrome EPA problems, but it is a considerably more costly initial startup. I have heard that it can be picky or touchy at times to operate.

There are lots of vendors. Check out the metal finishing guidebook or start with the vendors that are here supporting this site. Consider going to Sur-Fin in Chicago next month. It is the largest metal finishing trade show in the USA

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2000