How to Rapidly Age Chrome?

[Cagey]

I'm putting together a Tele where the hardware is mostly dull in keeping with a theme. Not trying to "relic" it per se, just making the whole thing sorta subdued in presentation. The body and neck will still be deliberately new. But, the neck pickup cover is stubbornly refusing to age. I tried the vinegar trick for several days, to no effect. In fact, the brass parts, springs, etc. included in the exercise didn't respond to it, either. So, the next trick was the ammonia gas treatment. The brass responded to that, although not dramatically...

...and that effect only came after several days of exposure. The parts were on a platform in a sealed container to hold the fumes. My understanding was that for that kind of exposure, they should have been damn near destroyed. Obviously not. What's weird is the chrome acts like nothing's going on at all. After all this abuse, the cover still looks like new...

I'm just curious. In looking around the world wide wibble, I see all kinds of examples of folks tearing up metal using these techniques. Why isn't it working for me? Am I not holding my mouth right? Is there such a thing as the "wrong" vinegar, or "depleted" ammonia? The most aggressive technique I've seen uses muriatic acid to terrorize the parts, but I couldn't get it when/where I needed it, and frankly, the stuff scares me a little bit. Am I going to have to get some of that and go medieval on this cover? There's no coating on it - I thought of that and if there's a finish over this chrome, it's harder than the metal because I couldn't scratch it.

If anybody has any experience ageing chrome, I'd sure like to hear from you.

 

[Fat Pete]

Get a cheaper, nastier pickup cover?

 

[Cagey]

I'm not opposed to that idea, if I knew where to find such a thing.

I'm still curious why the standard methods aren't working, though.

 

[Logrinn]

Could it be that the chrome needs to come off before the ageing of the nickel underneath can happen? And that you might need stronger stuff to get the chrome off? Just guessing here

 

[Cagey]

Yeah, maybe. I know I could get it off with oven cleaner, but I don't know what I'd be left with, or if the oven cleaner would eat the underlying metal as well. Besides, the object of the exercise is to make it look dull, not eaten alive by the Langoliers. Plus, these are not only specialty pickups, they're not mine - I can't afford to experiment with them. I need to have some assurance that I won't destroy the things.

 

[Fat Pete]

Maybe drill some holes or otherwise cut through the plating where it won't be seen, to give whatever method a chance to 'get in'?

 

[Fat Pete]

...Or just have at it with something abrasive? [edit] Your caustic wit perhaps?

 

[Cagey]

Oh, now you've done it. Where's my gun?...

 

[AirCap]

Could it be that the chrome needs to come off before the ageing of the nickel underneath can happen?

Chrome is applied over copper - not nickel. Besides, nickel is harder than chrome....

Cagey, try some Scotchbrite or soak it in Coca-Cola.... the carbonic acid in that stuff does some crazy stuff to certain reactive materials.

 

[BigSteve22]

Coca-Cola.... the carbonic acid in that stuff does some crazy stuff to certain reactive materials.

True that, Coke does a job on a lot of finishes.

I've also accidentally taken "gold" plating off a badge with a torch. The wallet clip broke off the back, and I brazed it back on. When I turned it over, it was covered in what looked like ash, but when I wiped it off, I quickly realized that the "ash" was actually the gold plating, and I was now the proud owner of a "silver" badge! Don't know it that would work for chrome.

 

[swarfrat]

1) instead of ammonia you could try an acid. Muriatic acid is pretty potent stuff available in small quantities. (Just don't buy your rope, plastic sheet, diesel and matches at the same time unless you want the cops showing up.) I'd try it pretty dilute until you figure out it's not going to be too aggressive.

2) You could also try electrostripping, (ie electroplate something else using the pickup cover case as the anode.)

3) Brake cleaner dissolves every known substance in the universe with the exception of the containers they ship it in. The center of the earth is not solid iron as scientists theorize, but all the brake cleaner ever spilled, as any mechanic knows good and well. It ate its way down there, where it also ate away the solid iron core it found. Don't use too much though or you risk accelerating the weakening of the earth's magnetic field and the end of life on earth.

4) I like the scotchbrite suggestion - you should at least be able to dull it - which if you simply want to "age" it and not "relic" it, then it's probably a very good bet.

 

[Sovereign_13]

Wiki says that chrome is indeed usually applied over nickel plating, which may itself be applied to copper, steel, or aluminum.  It also says it's highly durable and corrosion-resistant.    :doh:

You might try chlorine bleach.  I've seen pitting and such develop on chrome-plated stuff (like a razor handle) that was cleaned with a bleach-containing bathroom cleaner.

 

[BigSteve22]

Just a dumb, devil's advocate question: Are you sure it's chrome plated steel and not "German-Silver"? The nickle-copper alloy is damned hard to effect in any way. I've carried pocket knives with bolsters made of that stuff. After years, they still look great, not even a bit of tarnish. Just a thought... :confused4:

 

[Cagey]

I was just going to ask since Amazon returned 12,872 results on Brake Cleaner, and 12,869 of them say "non-chlorinated", I assume I want the chlorinated version or it won't work? But, I saw Steve's question which made me wonder if he's on to something. The cover is almost as shiny on the inside as out, and actually, if it was made out of chromed steel it wouldn't work as a pickup cover. Or, more to the point, the pickup wouldn't work as a pickup. So, I put a neodymium magnet to it, and it just laughed it off. Not steel, for sure. Neo magnets will damn near attract plastic.

So, I could scuff it up with some scotchbrite, but then it won't look old, it'll just look like it's been scuffed up with some scotchbrite. I think we're gonna leave it alone and just let it age naturally. And if it is German silver, we can say it's already 54 years old, but it looks new because that's how German silver rolls.

 

[swarfrat]

It it's something homogenous, then all the stripping and abrading in the world won't help. Take a pick to the inside of the cover where it won't show and see if it's brass, or some sort of copper based plating undernearth. While there are nonmagnetic steels, I'd wager it's brass if it's not magnetic and nothing you've tried so far works. (Due to the plating, not the brass).  A heavy scotchbrite on an angle grinder might be able to work through any plating - plating are typically very very thin no matter how durable they are.

If these are botique, have you tried reaching out to the proprietor to find out what they are? The suggestion to just replace the covers with something cheaper is a good one. That way you're not messing up the originals if they don't like it.

 

[Cagey]

Solved it. Revisited Pete's suggestion of finding a cheapie cover that would succumb to my tender ministrations, and found out you can actually buy unplated covers. Philadelphia Luthier's sells 'em, ~$8 in the box, out the door. So, that solves that.

Thanks all!

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Kudos on finding an inexpensive resolve.

I've heard of folks using hot tea and vinegar to soak stuff in.

 

[Cagey]

I'm sure it depends on the metal and how it's been treated. I tried two of the three "surefire" methods, and ignored most of the ones with spells/incantations or secret ingredients or heating/cooling requirements or just overall too anecdotal to be appealing. There are a surprising number of them out there. They're like hangover remedies. Everybody has a way that will work, but even the tried and true stuff may fail if you have a metal that's resistant to whatever abuse you're inflicting on it. A simple example would be rusting. You can rust mild low-carbon steel pretty quick in saltwater, but alloy it with about 10% chromium and it'll just eat it and smile.

 

[swarfrat]

If you need salt water resistance you need an OU812 alloy.