You might try ceramic coating. Race car suppliers ceramic coat headers,
pistons, etc., with some very attractive finishes.

Brian


"Litl Fish" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,

I like to use mild steel to make shapes that deliberately have rather
sharp
edges after cutting with a blowtorch. To date, professional sandblasting
has
produced reasonable results in preparation for powdercoating or other
metal
finishes. Although one piece came up OK with a clear finish by
professional
powdercoating, earlier attempts to achieve the same effect by handpainting
a
clear finish on some candlestick holders were disappointing.

I want to sandblast the candlestick holders again, with a mind to having
them chrome-plated. My question is: does anyone have any experience with
chromeplating sharp edges? These candlestick holders wouldn't be under the
stress of car bumper bars (remember when they chromeplated these??) but
I'm
worried about the lifespan and strength of the chromeplating around sharp,
uneven edges. There's always the option of powder coating in a silver
coloured paint, but it's not the effect I want to achieve. The candlestick
holders are located in my web site at
http://www.twistedirony.com/candlestickholdr.htm. Any thoughts would be
well
appreciated, as to the feasability of obtaining a satisfactory standard of
finish through chromeplating.

Thanking you in advance,
Casey Herman

bizArRTe® digital imagery and twisted IRONy® metal sculpture
t/a twisted IRONy®
Melbourne, Australia
www.twistedirony.com

"Litl Fish" wrote in message ...
Hi folks,

I like to use mild steel to make shapes that deliberately have rather sharp
edges after cutting with a blowtorch. To date, professional sandblasting has
produced reasonable results in preparation for powdercoating or other metal
finishes. Although one piece came up OK with a clear finish by professional
powdercoating, earlier attempts to achieve the same effect by handpainting a
clear finish on some candlestick holders were disappointing.

I want to sandblast the candlestick holders again, with a mind to having
them chrome-plated. My question is: does anyone have any experience with
chromeplating sharp edges? These candlestick holders wouldn't be under the
stress of car bumper bars (remember when they chromeplated these??) but I'm
worried about the lifespan and strength of the chromeplating around sharp,
uneven edges. There's always the option of powder coating in a silver
coloured paint, but it's not the effect I want to achieve. The candlestick
holders are located in my web site at
http://www.twistedirony.com/candlestickholdr.htm. Any thoughts would be well
appreciated, as to the feasability of obtaining a satisfactory standard of
finish through chromeplating.

Thanking you in advance,
Casey Herman

bizArRTe® digital imagery and twisted IRONy® metal sculpture
t/a twisted IRONy®
Melbourne, Australia
www.twistedirony.com

Chrome is nasty stuff to use, it tends to have a lot of stress locked
into it when plated on and will peel if not done exactly right. The
full triple-plate process is probably what you want to have done,
that's copper, followed by nickel and then decorative chrome. An
alternative is electroless nickel, this gives sort of subdued
grayish-silver finish that's attractive, too. With electroplating,
you'll have trouble with sharp edges building up due to uneven
electric field distribution. This can be mitigated with plating
practices, but you'll have to watch out for it. As always, the final
appearance is only as good as the finish on the underlying surface.

Stan