Removing Chrome
 

Hi Guys

i have a dmr sidekick frame as shown below:

http://www.bionicsports.com/acatalog...kick_frame.jpg

i would like to remove the (what appears to be chrome) paint from the frame

basically i want to take it back to bare metal in order to then respray.

i considered getting it shot blasted

has any body else had experience simlar to this and how did they remove the paint

thanks

If its just chrome paint then you can use oven cleaner of paint remover but if its real chrome I can't help on that.
Anyway good luck on it.

Oven cleaner won't remove paint very well. Use an aircraft paint-stripper. Wear thick rubber gloves.

Real chrome (which looks likely) is extremely difficult to remove because chrome-plating starts with a copper electroplate, then tin, then finally chrome on top. No way to dissolve all three of those metals easily. Mechanical stripping by sanding is the only way to get it back to bare steel. But that's not easy or even necessary. Just sand the chrome to a 400 finish, primer then paint like regular bare steel

As DannoXYZ suggested...check to see if it's really paint or actually chrome plating. If it's chrome plating...leave it there...follow his suggestions above.

=8-)

With chrome, the outer layer (the chrome look you see) can be bead blasted away quite easily. It's extremely thin and brittle. The copper underneath, however, isn't so easy. I'm not sure if it has to do with the thickness of the layer or the softness of the copper, but you'll likely give up trying to blast it away just I did before you even begin to see the underlying metal. Take Danno's advice.

the only way to effectively remove chrome (and the Cu and Ni underlayers) is to electrolytically strip it, i.e.reverse electroplate it. This is not cheap or easy and you must have access to a plating shop that knows what it is doing.

Otherwise just wet sand the surface to achieve a bit of "tooth", prime and paint as Danno recommended.

BTW, are you sure it's really chrome plate or, possibly just regular paint made to look like chrome. If the latter, paint stripper will remove it just like any other paint.