Chrome or Nickel Plating?

[090]

Which is best to coat a frame in? I see a lot of special frames are nickel plated. Is there a reason for that?

[LWC82PE]

Plating is in 3 steps, much like painting

first coat is copper
second coat is nickel
third coat is chrome

With Nickle, they just leave off the chrome. If you want more protecton, then you get the chrome on top of the nickel.

Nickel has a more 'yellow' look and chrome as a more 'blue' look.

[090]

What I need to know is if it is okay to use chrome on an mxer. Will it flake off etc? Seeing as most are nickel.

[LWC82PE]

It all depends on the chromer and how good a job he does with preparation and how thick the plating is. Some platers will often skip the copper and thats when i have seen adhesian and flaking problems. I personally know 3 people in the electroplating industry, 2 that do chrome/nickel and its a way more complicated process than you think it would be and takes lots of learning and practice to get it right. There are so many varibles. I recently had probs getting a tank done at one chromer ive used for 9 years who has done several hundred for me before but this particular one was a nightmare for him. They kept getting bubbling chrome at the front of the tank and could not figure out why it was doing it in that one spot. The tank had to be chromed about 4 or 5 times before they could finally get it right. Never had that problem before and it had everone baffled.

I think i would probably go with nickel if thats how it was originally done, but just make sure you really look after it to keep it in top condition.

Shop around for a good plater and steer clear of the real cheap ones.

[firko]

Brad, I've been told that they nickel plate frames rather than chrome them as the process doesn't affect the molecular structure of the metal as much as with going the full chroming process. I don't know if that's right or not but there must be a reason that most of them use nickel rather than chrome. CCM are the only major manufacturer to chrome their frames to my knowledge.
As the owner of four nickel framed bikes I'll tell you up front that it sucks. You're continually polishing them to keep away tarnish and to keep 'em bright. Sure it looks good but it's a chore. Chrome is a lot more user friendly as it doesn't need to be polished as much.

[Davey Crocket]

I think your right there Firko.....the chroming process hardens the metal.....great for Harley shitboxes but not mxers that are copying a flogging.....especially with an overweight clogwog on board!!!! ...ring Ron Russ Brad, he knows a shitload about metals.

[Nathan S]

I'm stuffed if I can recall the details, but sometimes chrome plating can cause "Hydrogen embrittlement", which basically wrecks anything more structural than a tea spoon.

Google will help you, no doubt.

[Freakshow]

LAst time i asked this on the forum i got a big nooooo unless it was a new frame and bare metal, as cleaning an old one starts the rot and the top coat nickel bakes the acid in.........

[LWC82PE]

I believe chromers have stuff that can block off holes/mask things off that you dont want chromed. Ive seen structural stuff chromed from the factory eg heaps of jap road bikes had chromed axles. it can be a tough decision. Chome looks good, but nickle is a more period finish but nickel is also high maintenace. Maybe silver paint is an option? The deciding factor for me is the maintenace of plating and the paranoia of rusting so i would go for paint if it was a race/ride bike. if it was only going to be a lounge room councourse bike and not ridden on a dirt track and constanly washed, then yeah i would go the plating route for originality but for a race bike thats gonna get wet and dirty, then paint would suit me better. A  bit of dust left on chrome in a cool shed quickly starts the rusting process. Seen it tonnes of times.

[GMC]

Standard electroplating causes Hydrogen embrittlement.
Either copper, chrome or nickel.
It's the process that causes it, not the coating itself.

You can heat treat the frames after plating to cook the hydrogen out but it must be done straight away so you have to tee up the platers and heat treaters to work together.

The horror stories you hear about plated stuff braking is because it hasn’t been treated post plating. I forget what temperature it needs to be done at but it’s low enough not to damage the plating and it needs to be cooked for about 8 hrs

Electroless plating doesn’t have this problem but you will find the prices from places that do this will look similar to their telephone numbers.

Standard electroplating won’t get into the nooks and cranny’s that well. Up in between the head stem gussets for example, whereas Electroless plating will.

[E74]

Brad, use these guys;

 Electroless Nickel Solutions Pty Ltd

40 Cameron St CLONTARF QLD 4019

(07) 3283 5482

Tons of Drag Racers use these guys and their work is great and prices are reasonable.and it give good peace of mind and allows a lot more flex before it cracks, hence why drag racers use it on their components

However ,Chrome would be OK too use as well , hydrogen embrittlement plating causes only becomes a problem when the rated tensile strength of the material is above 145,000 psi, which is far more than the material the frame is made of. i.e Chromoly Annealed is rated  52,200 psi and Chromoly Normalised is rated  63,100 psi