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Old 15th Apr 2012, 10:12 pm   #26
Bazz4CQJ
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,923
Default Re: Chrome stripping

A couple of points;
i) as pointed out previously in the thread, sodium hydroxide solution dissolves aluminium, however, we used to use a brief immersion (~20-30 seconds) of some aluminium components in hydroxide solution as a means of cleaning up their surfaces. When taken out of the hydroxide, they were quickly washed in water then dipped in nitric acid for 5 minutes to passivate them at which point they looked like new. Not sure if this might reduce the amount of polishing needed.

ii) if you can get hold of the right materials, electroless nickel plating is very easy to do. We had a small tank for doing at this a place where I worked - all kinds of stuff got put in there - one bloke put his son's first shoes in and did a good job! Also, there are a variety of kits for swab or wand plating on the market. The chemicals are not too expensive but they mainly make money selling small DC psu's for silly prices. I've put down gold and platinum layers with that technique.
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