Polishing Hard Chrome?

V

verti89

New member
Just acquired a 'new' gun and it has been hard chromed with a matte finish. I am ok with the appearance because the durability of hard chrome is fantastic. But i would like to polish it up if doing so is possible without losing the durability of the chrome. Any suggestions?
 
Two problems - one, the hard chrome is VERY hard and there is no polish that will cut it that I know of. Two, the chrome is so thin (maybe 1 or 2 thous. of an inch) that you are very likely just going to go right through it if you do come up with something that will cut it. If you really hate the matte look you're probably going to have to have it stripped and refinished. Sorry. Hard chrome is pretty much a final finish.
 
There are ways to polish it but as mentioned you risk polishing away the plating.The matt finish is more appropriate for the gun but it also means a better plating job. First step is to reverse the leads and "deplate" .that means removing oxides and other surface things to produce a chemically clean surface rather than just a 'soap and water' clean surface. This etches the surface which produces the matt finish.Good plating is all about plating on a clean surface otherwise it may peel off in use.
 
Don't polish it?! I would try some of that paste chrome polish and do it by hand to see how much if any it helps the appearance. Not like it will shine like a new dime being matte to begin with. But if polishing it with paste would damage it or wear it off, it is certainly worthless as a finish to begin with!
 
I had several old nickel plated guns that I used

a jeweler's cloth on to get spots out of, but I would not recommend anything more than that - you MUST do it by hand if you do it at all - it's very thin, and once you break through it, you have serious ugly.

mark
 
No...the finish you see is the finish under the chrome.

If you want high gloss, the underlying material must first be polished to the high gloss, then new chrome plated over it.
 
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