Chroming?

Right now I am trying to decide to get an anodizer kit or a chrome plating kit... What are your oppinions on these? What can I use more and something that will make me more money. The thing I do not like about anodizers is that you can only anodize aluminum and the thing I do not like about chrome plating is that you can only do chrome and smoked chrome, no color chrome like anodizing... or can you? On chrome plating or electroplating (same thing) you can chrome any kind of mild steel and all right? Any info and oppinions would be great. I am going to wait about 2 or 3 more weeks before I go about doing this to get some more info on it.
Thanks in advance.

Anyone in your area do powder coating?

That it why I mentioned powder coating.

The machine I am getting won't need to involve the EPA. I looked into that. I talked to the owner of the company that makes these and they said that this machine isn't like most places because it's a small in my garage type of thing and having a little business so the EPA won't bother. Even if I couldn't how would the EPA find out? lol I can get a powder coating machine but I don't know lot's about it and it's a lot of money for the guns and the oven so it's between the anodizer and electro plating. What do you guy's think?
Got a site about powder coating that I can read and learn about? I might try to invest in one.
Thanks again.

Check out Eastwood's site, they seem to be right on top of what works.

Eastwoods site? What's the link? Right now I am checking out the Caswell site... they have everything from chrome plating to anodizing to powder coating, etc. I will be free to look around more and might be able to find a better deal somewhere so another site won't hurt. Thanks.
Oh yeah check out the www.caswellplating.com site and see if they have good deals or not.

www.eastwood.com

Actually I was just looking at the powder coating kit they have here on this Caswell site and it's cheap.... I am not sure what to do here now, maybe I can do both. My only problem is getting business and making my site. I am not great at sites and noone here in NC will wan't anything powder coated or anodized, well not many anyways.

Don't be so sure. Until one of those shops opened up around here, all my stuff was just painted. This guy has so much business now he had to hire an extra guy.

Damn. Well that sure would be nice man. I plan on being a dealer for a place that makes parts for these little CR50 dirtbikes that are for little kids and these parts are to make the bike for adults like bigger bars, bigger engine, etc and I wan't to start anodizing or powder coating first. Any more tips or anything would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the site and everything man.

I just checked out that eastwood site and it looks pretty good but that powder coating kit is expensive... also what about the oven? I am not sure on how to use this thing so I will need to learn about it more before I get myself into this.

Read as much as you can before jumping into anything. It's time well spent. But I didn't have to tell you that.

Lol, yeah I am going to go on the forums at caswell since they have their own forums on their own parts and ask for all the steps and any info on it and read about it all. I did that with anodizing and learned a bit and still learning. That is why I want to wait 3 more weeks or more before I do anything. It has taken me over a year now to get my own business license to start this stuff and still don't have the license yet but getting it once I get the powder coating machine or whatever I decide on, I am glad I take my time on this stuff because I have changed things around and changed my mind so many times and if I were to rush into this a long time ago then I would be screwed. It's all hard to explain and I got so much stuff going through my mind right now I can't even think. Keep the oppinions and all comming, they are helping a lot.
Thanks a ton again.

I'll probably stick with the powder coating.

I remember reading somewhere that you can use a conventional Kitchen oven for powercoating. Just buy one from a Salvation Army or something and set it in the corner of your garage.

I have experience in anodizing and plating Cr, Ni, Cu, Ag and Au. The anodizing involves highly caustic solutions that eventually cannot be reconstituted and you have to consider disposal or waste treatment of the used solutions. Cr plating involves acid solutions and concentrated solutions of Cr-salts which are VERY TOXIC! Worse, Ni, Cu, Ag and Au usually involve concentrated CYANIDE solutions and if you ever get even a drop of acid in the cyanide baths you are DEAD due to HCN gas which is what some states use in gas chamber executions. If you want to get mobbed/mauled/tackled just walk into a plating shop carrying a bottle of water with an acid label and they will go berserk! Waste treatment is a major problem with plating shops, but the shops that get set up properly can make money if they know what they are doing because nobody else wants to mess with the hazards. There is a way to plate Cu using formaldehyde reduction and Ni using hypophosphate without any electrodes, but constant exposure to formaldehyde can eat away the mucus membranes in your nose and sinuses in a matter of months if not years. Why mention Cu and Ni? Well a good Cr plate involves Cu then Ni first for corrosion resistance and for each metal there is a two step process, first a "strike" and then a "plate" step. Further, NOTHING COMES OUTOF THE BATH ANY SHINIER THAN IT WENT IN! This means that you have to have a good buffing machine to make the surfaces smooth before plating and a mirror finish before plating may have some "haze" after plating. As I say if you are serious about making the investment in a good plating shop and provide for waste treatment of CYANIDE solutions you can make money because most people do not want to deal with the toxic waste. Look at powder coating which is a much safer process or even baked ceramics. There are a lot of people on this site who know more than I do on other subjects, but I have done a lot of plating of various types and believe me the toxic chemicals and waste treatment are heavy duty problems as Tech1 tried to tell you above. Stick to powder coating unless you intend to establish a reputation in quality chrome plating. A lot of people want chrome plating but do not realize the hazards in the process.

Best Wishes,
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder