I AGREE! They call this gold plating, though the process doesn't
resemble anything like what you would imagine actual gold plating to be.
After doing this process for a number of years, I would not recommend it at
all. As for the aluminum...I don't remember if it works on aluminum or
not, I haven't done it since 1998. They do it on chrome mostly, and in my
opinion it just comes out looking like yellowish-chrome...ick! Kenyon
mentioned a lot of anodizing going on in the 1960s, and it made me think about
how even cups that you drink out of came anodized in a number of finished colors
back in the 1960s, and are once again very popular...just seems like there ought
to be someone out there who still does this, and if you all find that
person PLEASE let me know.
Thanks,
Teresa
Teresa
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 10:06
AM
Subject: IML: Mobile detailers plate,
they don't anodize
Careful on that mobile detailer source: That
process
is gold plating using electrical current and a liquid
bath that
has gold particulate suspended in it that
adheres/plates the emblem.
It only works with Chrome or steel as far as I know,
might work on
aluminum, but will give a non-stock,
glitzy vega$ look.
Very
few auto emblems these days are aluminum because
it is such a soft metal
that deforms easily. The 1960
LeBaron emblems are murder to take off
straight and
are scarce because people use too much force to remove
them
and rip them up in the process of removal (ask me
how I
know).
Chances are that the source to use will be in a
commercial
park with giant vats that have electrical
currents running through
them. Wonderful chemical
aromas, but I wouldn't want to work
there. A distant
relative of the chroming process.
There was a
mouthwash/toothpaste commercial awhile
back where they painted liquid onto
a cylindrical
piece of white classroom chalk and then broke it in
half
to reveal a cross-section where the mouth-goo had
soaked in below the
surface? Well that's what goes on
with anodizing as far as I
understand it.
The coloration is a dye of some sort that
penetrates
the pores of the metal somehow and gives the lustre
that you
see. It happens due to mild electrical
current. Scratch the
surface and it's aluminum color
underneath - as seen on anodized bicycle
rims where
the brake pad wears the surface down.
That's as good as I
can do - it's been 15 years since
I was last dealing with that stuff, so
this is all
from memory.
=====
Kenyon
Wills
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