Pedal_Inn

Greetings all,

I have had a older paramount frame that is stripped and ready for finishing. Since many of the older paramounts are full chrome, I thought I'd do a twist on the theme by plating the bike, either with copper or nickel and let the patina develop as may. Now I know purists will scoff but I intend to ride it all the time, so I am less concerned about the correctness of the finish (for now) than I am about a durable plated finish. That said it seems to be hard to find a plater that has a reputation of doing quality work on lightweight bicycles. Anyone have any plating advice or reputable source that does bikes? I am in San Francisco but could ship the frame to have the work done.

thanks for all your help!

Scooper

CyclArt in Vista (San Diego County near Oceanside) does nice plating, but it isn't cheap.

Plating thin tubing is a skill requiring lots of experience and requires thorough cleaning and polishing the steel tubing before plating to achieve a nice finish. If not performed properly (oven baking immediately following the plating process at the right temperature for the right time period), plating can cause hydrogen embrittlement irreversibly damaging the frame.

CyclArt has a nice write-up on the process HERE.

If you're going to plate it (I wouldn't, but it's your bike), please don't do it half-assed. That frameset is worth a lot more than you paid for it.

Ex Pres 

Someone did a copper plate on BF here a few years back, looked great - until it started deteriorating. Try a search for the story.

My searches weren't particularly fruitful, but maybe it was @23skidoo ?

cyclotoine

don't do it.

Velognome 

IMO....Adds weight, bling factor gets old after a while and if the frame is not prep'ed correctly, it'll look like crap and you'll cry, weep and lament. If it ain't chrome now, just paint it. On that note, Jay Leno's Garage did a video on a painted Chrome process, looked great! Don't know who well it will wear....but it's gotta be lighter and less risky than Chroming.


Here's the video:
Jay Leno's Garage: Spray-On Chrome - YouTube

Ex Pres 

[QUOTE=Velognome;16617522]IMO....Adds weight, bling factor gets old after a while and if the frame is not prep'ed correctly, it'll look like crap and you'll cry, weep and lament. If it ain't chrome now, just paint it. On that note, Jay Leno's Garage did a video on a painted Chrome process, looked great! Don't know who well it will wear....but it's gotta be lighter and less risky than Chroming.


West Coast Customs did an Audi A8 in that stuff. It was wild watching them "paint" the whole car. (I saw it on Velocity) It looked like it was creating a huge mess, then turns out great.

headset

I think having it look like crap is the OPs intent, hence 'let the patina develop as may'.

Velognome 

Ahhh....... but Poop and Patina are not the same

Kactus

Despite much advise, requests and pleading on a previous thread, the OP seems bound and determined to destroy the collectable, monitary and historical value of a very valuable bike. It is his bike to do as he pleases but I for one don't wish to abet this destruction by giving him suggestions on where and how to do so.

Kactus

You're right... patina is honest signs of use and age. Poop is deliberate abuse.

TugaDude

Re: spray on chrome, did you catch the red tinted finish? Looks like chromvelato, gorgeous!

rootboy 

Heck. Get yourself a can-o-Rustoleum and a brush and go after it. Couldn't hurt.
Right?

zukahn1 

I'm with the others don't plate and if you feel you must pay for a proper first rat repaint restoration. Having just about any typical shop chrome the bike will basically destroy the frame at supstantial cost.

23skidoo

If the OP wishes to contact me via PM I'd be happy to discuss this issue rationally, minus any hissy fits from the patina police. I may be one of the few folks around here with actual experience.

The Golden Boy 

Hammer.

Just hit it really hard. It'll start to sparkle.

Scooper

I don't believe he has enough posts yet to PM you. You can PM him with your email address, though.

Velognome 

Michael Angelo 

I'm starting to think he's joking with us. Who in their right minds would copper plate a bike? It would turn green and nasty in no time. If he lived near me I would give him a good deal on paint, just to see wht he would do.

23skidoo

Double lol for this Velognome. I shall humble myself....

Velognome 

A little Lenten "jocularity" ................... Thanks for bein' a good sport!

Grand Bois

My Puch Bergmeister was copper plated with a translucent red over it. This was 1960 and it held up well, even though paints weren't nearly as tough as they are now. The copper plating could be clearcoated or a translucent color sprayed over it for the most beautiful Kandy you've ever seen.

There was a 1954 Chevy pickup on Fast and Loud last night with fake sprayed on rust completely covering the body. I think it sold for $25k at auction. I'm tempted to try to duplicate that finish on a bike frame.

repechage

I would experiment with say a fork from a cheaper bike, if one was from the "I must prove it for myself" type.

The article Scooper cited from Cyclart is reasonably good. It is interesting they don't mention copper more. Often that is the layer that is used to build up and polish back to refine a surface. Note that not all bikes that were manufactured with chrome regions get anywhere near the prep mentioned in the article. When one is restoring or creating a pro level restoration it is difficult not to want to be perfect.

Cyclart, Joe Bell and Brian Baylis work from the same pool of chrome platers in San Diego. The work is not cheap as the vendors have experience and know what they are getting into, that experience is worthwhile from a quality aspect and to avoid damaging the part, but not for the price. I have witnessed a frame go flying when the buffing wheel catches on a braze-on, damage city.

Schwinn had their own plating operation in house, they did copper, nickel, chrome. And were quite proud of it, using physical examples in the retail marketing displays. Schwinn Paramounts in the 60's and 70's frequently had standard chrome and even when the paint is beat the chrome lives on. Quality work.

CV-6 had a LeJeune chrome plated for a very attractive price, I bet that the plater would not do a second frame for the same money tough.

I am very aware of the maintenance associated with copper, brass and nickel plated surfaces that are exposed to the ambient air. Copper plated steel does not age anywhere near as gracefully as the copper flashing and rain gutters one sees on some architecture which is solid copper.

Scooper

Although the CyclArt write-up discusses the copper base later in the article, it's disappointing that in the beginning they don't even mention it, suggesting the nickel plating is the base. Here's the later, more detailed sequence from the article:

Schwinn's in-house chrome plating was superb, so IMHO they had reason to take great pride in it. My 1972 chrome plated Paramount still looks brand new, with virtually no discoloration or corrosion anywhere (including the BB shell where corrosion usually shows up first).

kaisersling

Hope the OP goes through with this and them posts the results. Should make for a fun and unique look.

repechage

Jim needs an editor. Yes, he does mention it later, but the early part of the explainer is not clear and is not aligned with the end of the article. Some of those chrome plated Paramounts had terrific buffing even inside of the chain stay bridge that is a tribute as it is really a challenge to do. Art Stump did his own buffing and I got to see how he did it. Time and awkward, no big buffing station need apply.