Re: My first (fairly successful) attempt at budget chrome plating
Ok, more details now that it's not late and I'm not sleepy!
First off, please know that this really still is in the experimental phase. I can explain the details of what I did, but there are a couple things I still need to learn. Namely, silver oxidizes over time. Since this process uses actual silver to coat the object, you have to protect it from oxidation. What I've read says that that means using automotive clear coat, 2k urethane. I think. I'll have to check that. Also, since the clear coat will turn it just slightly yellow, you have to add a tiny touch of violet color to the clear.
Prep work: Before you start, have the following ready:
A large tub into which you can spray and collect all the liquids.
1 spray bottle filled with distilled water. It's like a dollar a gallon, and has no impurities to mess with your finish.
1 spray bottle filled with the appropriate mix of
Tin Sensitizer and distilled water (1 ml sensitizer to 1 oz water)
1 spray bottle filled with the appropriate mix of
Silver Chemicals (equal parts of each). I used the pre-mixed ratios, there are also concentrated versions that would be cheaper, but I haven't tried them yet.
Wetting Agent
There may be many places to buy these chemicals. I don't know them. I only really know this one website for these materials. If you can find another one, great.
1. Start with a perfectly smooth surface. I have yet to experiment with just how smooth it needs to be, but I think "flawless" is really the level you should be at. That's why I used the plastic spoon as a test; it's perfectly smooth.
2. Paint black. I'm not well versed in which paints are best for a perfectly smooth black finish. From what I can tell, a black automotive paint will pretty much always give you a better result than any rattle can, although I've seen some great rattle can results on TheRPF. If you don't have the money to invest in a whole spray system,
there is a disposable spray kit you can buy at most hardware stores or paint stores. It's not very expensive, but with real automotive paints it will be a single-use thing, since they use a catalyst to cure and it will almost certainly mess up the inside of the sprayer. I have NOT tried any of the automotive paints yet; that's for later experiments.
3. Clear coat. Makes it super smooth and shiny, and will do a good job of preventing later oxidation.
(Note: Since I was using a clear spoon for this test and am not great at smooth rattle-can use, I painted the
inside of the spoon black, and used no clear coat)
4. Wetting agent. This stuff makes water not bead up so much on a smooth surface, and spread evenly over it instead. Squirt some on a cotton ball, run generously over the entire surface of the object to be chromed.
5. Spray off the wetting agent with distilled water. Be generous with the water, you do not want residual wetting agent on the surface.
6. Spray the Tin Sensitizer all over the surface. Be generous.
7. Rinse with distilled water. Use a lot; you cannot remove the sensitizer unless maybe if you're using a power washer.
8. Spray with the Silver Chemicals. Spray all over. I used an empty and cleaned throat spray bottle, because it gave a good even spray, but used only a small amount of the chemicals. If you are doing something larger (like a helmet) you will want a good high quality spray bottle that sprays out a lot. Don't let the chemicals just sit there though. Spray on all over, then rinse with distilled water. This will only deposit a small amount of silver, so you repeat it until your surface is mirrored enough for your preference. It took me 4-6 coats to get that look on the spoon.
9. Rinse again with distilled water.
10. Dry with compressed air, and then let it sit and dry completely.
As I continue to experiment with this, I hope to make some good videos showing the whole process!
About cost effectiveness: I paid about $65 for
all my supplies for this. That includes the spray bottles, distilled water, and shipping for the supplies. In addition to the chemicals I linked above, I bought a
waste treatment kit. This process used heavy metals and the wetting agent, both of which are bad (and possibly illegal) to pour down the drain. This kit gives you the supplies to clean it so you can legally dispose of it. And it's enough for 10 gallons of waste (I've made maybe 2 cups of waste so far, probably less).
I believe this is actually a pretty cheap way to do this. The Silver Chemicals I bought (and linked to) say they are enough to silver 8 sq feet. That should be a couple helmets I think. It's $16 for the silver chemicals. There is also a
concentrate version of the chemicals, which costs $74 but covers up to 133 sq feet, so about 1/4 the price per sq foot. You need to get fancier equipment for that, but there's still some budget ways to do it.
Durability: I would rank the current state of my coating as "not durable." Once it's completely dry (overnight, ideally), it can maybe handle some light touching, but I wouldn't recommend it. It scratches very easily, and can be rubbed off. However, the 2k urethane automotive paint is supposed to be used to cover it, which would make it very durable.
You can't use a rattle can to clear coat it, as it destroys the mirror look immediately. I hope to try some automotive paint soon.
Bonus image: The left side of this spray can cap is chromed:
