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Capabilities
and procedures at CCP
General
We work on steel, cast iron, stainless steel, brass, bronze, aluminum,
copper and zinc die castings. We specialize in the repair and
plating of difficult pot metal parts as well as damaged parts
made of any of the above materials. CustomChrome is truly a “custom”
shop and does not do any production type plating.
CCP’s tanks are large enough to plate bumpers, and we can
accommodate some parts longer than 8 feet. We do not have a hoist
line, so weight is restricted to what two workers are able to
lift comfortably.
CCP offers TRIPLE PLATING, which means three layers of plating.
CCP uses acid copper, bright nickel, and trivalent chrome for
the three basic layers of plating. Most often a part will have
more than three layers of plating applied before the job is completed.
This could be multiple thin layers of a copper strike, multiple
layers of acid copper, bright nickel as needed, and a final layer
of chrome.
CCP also offers Watts nickel, also referred to as dull nickel
plating. This is the original plating that was applied prior to
the introduction of chrome plating in 1928-1929. This type of
nickel plates on dull and needs to be buffed to achieve the final
luster of the nickel. The one advantage of this type of nickel
is that it tarnishes at a slower rate than the bright nickel plating
baths.
CCP has the ability to fabricate custom racks to hold odd shaped
parts and also the fabrication of auxiliary anodes that are used
to aid in the plating of deep recessed areas of parts that are
so difficult to plate without auxiliary anodes.
What we don’t do – CCP does not do one piece wheels.
We can do wheels that come apart, such as wire wheels that have
an inner hub and an outer rim.
CCP does not plate plastic, wood, ceramic, or any other non-conductive
part. And lastly, CCP does not plate parts made of magnesium.
Job processing
When parts are shipped in, we ask that a parts list be included
with the parts, and any special instructions. This can be repairs
needed, areas that will be painted after plating, areas with any
type of fit issues, quality of work desired, finish that is desired,
and time frame that you would like the job completed. Parts are
unpacked, laid out, and photographed and a base price is determined
for the job. Any questions or concerns that we have will be addressed
at this time by either e-mail, telephone, or note on a work order
mailed to you.
At this time a work order will be made and 3 sets of photos printed,
one copy of the work order and photo goes to the customer, one
set stays in our office, and one set goes out into the shop with
the job. This is how we keep track of every job. Whoever has anything
to do with the job must check off the photos when they are through
with their part of the job.
The work order will contain customer’s information, job
information, a stated quality of the work being done, a base price
of the job, a start date, and any other information that will
be needed to complete the job to CCP’s standards. Your job
will then be stored until your scheduled start date arrives.
When your scheduled start date approaches, your job will be pulled
and you will be asked to make a 50% deposit on your job. As soon
as we receive your deposit your job will be sent to the stripping
department.
Stripping
Your job will be checked in by our stripping department, then
each part will be appropriately stripped. We have a paint and
powder coating stripper, an acid bath that removes rust from steel
parts, an electrified acid bath that removes old plating, and
a caustic bath that removes anodizing from aluminum.
Any threaded holes or studs will be plugged or capped to protect
the threads. The parts may also be glass bead blasted at this
time to clean the backs to insure plating will adhere to these
areas. After the stripping process is done, the stripper once
again checks the photo of the job and signs off on the order that
his work is done, then the job goes to the polishing department.
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Polishing shop
The polishing department has many means at its disposal to process
your job. After a job is checked in by a polisher or polishers,
patterns are made of any part that may show signs of “moving”
during the polishing process, this is a key in retaining the correct
shape of the part. At this point the parts may be metal finished
in a variety of methods, either on a polishing lathe with various
wheels and belts, or with hand tools, such as a die grinder, disc
grinder, orbital sander, body file, or hand block.
For repair work, we can do MIG and TIG welding, brazing, silver
brazing, silver soldering and soft soldering, depending on what
the base metal is and what type of repair is required. As parts
are worked down extra care is given to make sure that any detail
on a part will still be there when the part is done. If a part
is too thin to remove imperfections, or if it is made of a cast
material that has voids in it, or if a repair has been made to
a part, or if the finish is just not good enough, we start plating
on thin layers of acid copper and working the copper between coats
until we achieve the finish that we are looking for. Parts are
then buffed to a mirror finish and are ready to be nickel plated
and then chrome plated. When the parts reach this stage the polisher
does a final check off of the photo and the parts go to the plating
department.
Plating department
When the platers pull the job to be plated, they also check the
photo and look for any special plating info for the job (plating
type, quality, and critical fit areas).
The parts are examined through magnifying visors to check for
any imperfections left in them, any threaded holes will have studs
or rubber plugs put in them, any threaded studs will be capped
off, and the parts will be racked using copper wire or copper
hooks to hang the parts for plating.
Parts are run through multiple cleaning tanks to assure that all
buffing compound is removed along with any dirt or oil from their
fingers. The parts must be totally cleaned in order to be sure
that the plating will adhere to the parts.
The parts will be run through a number of water rinses and mild
acid tanks to activate the metal on the way to one of the main
plating baths. The length of time in a tank is determined by the
size of the parts and current that is being run through the tank
at the time to achieve the desired finish. After the final layer
of chrome is plated onto the part it is rinsed and given to the
packer to be checked for final finish.
Packer/Quality control
This is where the final approval or rejection of a part occurs.
The parts are un-racked, waxed and inspected for any flaws. If
any flaws are found, the chrome is stripped off, the nickel on
the part is buffed with a very fine wheel and the part is run
through the final stages of the plating process again. If the
part passes inspection it is wrapped in tissue paper, newsprint
paper, or bubble wrap to protect the finish. The parts are checked
off the photo a final time and when the job is completely checked
off it is either packaged for pick up, or packaged for shipment.
In shipping the parts we try to use the same box it was sent to
CCP in, (if in good condition) or a new box or even a crate will
be used to insure it will arrive at its destination undamaged.
At this point the office will then let the customer know that
the job is completed and arrange for final payment before the
job is picked up or shipped. |
