Satin finish chrome?

[Ghoste]

Just what is the procedure for getting a satin finish in chrome?  Like the way the spokes are supposed to be on the 2nd gen woodgrain wheels.

[tan top]

was thinking about that the other day while looking at my spare woodgrain wheel ,    an acid dip or something !! also my original turn signal lever had the same finish  , but the NOS one i have is chrome  

[FJ5WING]

steelwool?

[stripedelete]

steelwool?

+1

Isn't satin also referred to as "brushed"?

[John_Kunkel]

The satin finish is originally achieved by simply not polishing the underlying metal. The final chrome finish will take the luster (or lack of it) of the base metal.

[ODZKing]

Yeah, they call that "brushed".  Like on the "Dodge Division" portion of the round trunk emblem on our first gens?
Scotch brite or very fine sandpaper will do the trick.

[maxwellwedge]

I think it was a nickel plating.

[ITSA426]

My brother does it by copper plating, then nickel plating, brushing the nickel, and then chrome plating over the nickel.  Different textures of satin finish can be obtained with different finishing in the nickel.  There's a little more to it, but the satin chrome finish is in the chrome plated nickel.

[Ghoste]

Is that how they did it originally though?  I can't imagine them brushing portions of parts in a mass production scenario.

[ITSA426]

It's how we did it in the 60s.  Different tooling is made to do specific sections of high volume manufactured parts, such as mass produced bezels.  No secrets to it.

[elacruze]

I think it was a nickel plating.

Bingo.

[PatrickPeeters]

Would be cool to do all the chrome in brushed... think it look different, did anyone do this

[nvrbdn]

when they put on the nickle, would they mabey use air to change the texture or finish of the nickle before the chrome? in galvanizing steel, we use air blown on the galvanize coating to change the way it looks. more air gives satin look to galvanize finish. no air and the coating comes out shiny like chrome. its a pretty neat process and doesnt change the thickness. just adjust the air to get different finishes.

[plumbeeper]

The process is copper, nickel, chrome. They used it on the 68-70 B-body wheels and the 70-71 rimblow wheels. The key is the type of nickel. They use a "dull or dirty" nickel versus the common "Bright" nickel used today. There's actually a technical name for it but I can't remember it right now.

The problem with using the dull nickel is that the chrome plating shops don't carry it anymore, at least not in the USA. There's not enough demand for the satin look to warrant having another tank dedicated to it plus the EPA is making it hard for the platers to stay in business. I've been through several platers and still can't get any of them to return a consistant satin sheen across the spoke, get the end of the spoke to look right and let's not even talk about the turn around time. I've seen others try it and still have yet to see it done right.

You can dull the nickel before the chrome to get a similar look but you can't dull the chrome after or you will get a scratched chrome look. It's just not the same.

Dave