Chrome
 

I am thinking of chroming the forks, seat stays and chain stays on one of my bikes. Anyone know a California frame painter who can do this and how much - ballpark - a job like this is likely to cost?

The frame painter won't be doing the chroming, but some will do the polishing and sublet.

Chroming forks and some seat stays can be a problem, the vent holes often used for brazing are effective catchers of contamination for a plater, cross contamination of tanks is what platers hate most, (besides the EPA)

The basic steps are polish, copper, polish again, sometimes more copper, nickel, then chrome and more polishing. Areas on a frame that can snag a buffing wheel, such as cable stops are DANGER to a plater.

To do it correctly is expensive. Cyclart in Vista does chrome plating, and has a description of the process on its website HERE.

Also, heat treated steels such as True Temper OX Platinum, Reynolds 753 and 853 should not be chrome plated. The plating process compromises the benefits of heat treatment (see Waterford Q&A).

You can see what Cyclart charges for chroming (and everything else) if you download the order guide.