Technichrome, Inc. - Titusville FL

[Concordia...41]

WOW! OMG and Double WOW!

For the last couple of years I've been trying to find someone to de-chrome some of SARAH's bits. The interior (galley and head faucets, skylight hardware) and most exterior metal was original chromed. Fifty+ years later, it wasn't looking so good, and a couple of boats that I've been on that just had the basic bronze I really liked. Personally, the warm butternut color of the bronze is more appealing to me than the bright silver chrome. Hence the desire to de-chrome. But de-chrome or re-chrome, I had to find someone to do it.

There were several posts here over the years with DIY operations, but I've just never had a strong desire to play the mad scientist.

On the exterior, the Charlie Nobel and cowl vent were particularly narley as they had been painted over when the chrome started to go...

I'd found a New York company through a recommendation here, and even though I spoke to someone on the phone, but I wasn't really comfortable shipping things which are, to me at least, priceless and irreplaceable.

After three false leads, I found a number for these folks in Titusville.

www.technichrome.com

They were great on the phone, great in person, and they finished the items in 3 weeks instead of the 4-5 weeks promised!!! :cool:

Keep in mind I took them a box-o-crap looking boat parts and just asked for them to be dechromed.

This is what they hand me back!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8db01b3127ccec47dcebfd00100000056108BYtG7lsxbg9 vPhA

Interior pieces spread out:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8db01b3127ccec47c87ce31b000000056108BYtG7lsxbg9 vPhA

Exterior pieces reinstalled:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8db01b3127ccec47c4253f0e700000056108BYtG7lsxbg9 vPhA

[S/V Laura Ellen]

I'll say it again...
WOW! OMG and Double WOW!

[adampet]

WOW! Sarah really does like her 'bling.

Looks very nice Margo.

Adam

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

It's fun when you get around to doing this kind of stuff..:D

I have rechromed probably around 200 pieces of Vanora's hardware, from the 1/2 mile ray search light to all the stanchion bases... Chrome was the fashion of the day in 1964, so I went ahead and rechromed.

One thing you probably have noticed Margo, and especially now, is the QUALITY of the old fittings compared to what you find out there now. Not that you can't find the real deal still, but $$$KACHING$$$ for really good bronze hardware.

Man, that galley pump looks awesome!!!

[JimConlin]

I am also partial to shiny metal.
I once re-chromed a Wilcox head. Such a throne!

[Torna]

Wow!
Thank you for the lead - this one's going in the rolodex.

I see on their web page they mention meetig mil specs. Does that mean their prices are mil spec too - or were they "reasonable"?

-leif

[Bark]

Wow, indeed. Looks fantastic. I have had a lot of stuff de-chromed, but my contact in Annapolis dried up. This one is good to know about.

I'm curious ... if you requested de-chroming only, did they charge you to polish them up?? I always had to be very specific about what I wanted, i.e. de-chrome only. To have it polished meant a LOT more $$ ...

Ben

[Canoez]

After the strip and polish, did they laquer the pieces or leave them natural?

[Calliste]

Hey guys, I want to know, just how agressive, do you have to get to remove a deteriorated chrome finish ? Can sand blasting remove the chrome ?

[Hughman]

*pant*


;)

[Calliste]

Ahoy Hughman ,,,, what tools or techniques do you use to *pant*, with ?

[Frank Wentzel]

Silicone carbide wet or dry sandpaper will do it. I have "dechromed" a few items without too much trouble. Use relatively fine grit paper to get the chrome off and a buffing wheel to remove scratches. Note that it would be much harder to do something as intricate as Margo's galley pump.

/// Frank ///

[htom]

Shiny! (That's a good thing, at least in this case.)

[Hughman]

Ahoy Hughman ,,,, what tools or techniques do you use to *pant*, with ?

Well, I use a *pant* brush, a *pant* roller, and some *pant*.

I roll on the *pant*, brush the *pant* until it lays fair, and let the *pant* dry before I pick the bugs out.

Hope this helps.

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

Can sand blasting remove the chrome ?

Probably. But that's not the way to go. What you want is an electroplater who simply reverses the electrolytic process that put the plating on in the first place, thus taking it off again. Such a crowd is presumably who Margo found.

Failing that, ask around a few biker shops about who they use and you'll probably get some good leads.

Mike

[Raka025]

That is nice Margo. You'll have to do the base that the vent goes into now.

[Lew Barrett]

Margo, that stuff looks spectacular. There is some significant effort required in that, as you know, and paid for.


I spent a couple of nights last week de-chroming the hard way, and let me tell you it wasn't fun. I had the same problem; many things had been painted over to hide the losses. I have a grinder and buffing wheels as well as all the various attachments, but it was a lot of work. I took everything down, then polished it all back up to snuff again. The smaller deck pieces are back on the boat, and I don't have any photos of those yet, but I'll take some. They're brought to a higher polish than the windlass mostly because they were easier and not as rough to begin with.

The biggest project was the windlass, which was heavily painted, but never chromed. The castings were a bit rough. I gave up going for a super high polish because of the weight of the individual pieces, some of which were hard to hold up, let alone buff out. I put these shots up elsewhere, but here they are again 'cause I like them :

http://i29.tinypic.com/zswhhw.jpg



As Peter says, rebuilding (as in the case of this piece) or polishing/chroming these types of things are some of the most fun projects on the boat. They're things you do when you're nearing a certain stage of...I hesitate to say completion....you know what I mean.


http://i28.tinypic.com/2renm35.jpg

This stuff should go back on the boat within the next week or so. My wife's finishing sewing the cover this weekend, and I'm finishing the pad and the fittings. I'm excited to get it back on. It's a beautifully made thing, inside more so than the exterior. Local product of Bennett, now long gone.

[jerry bark]

WOW is right, nice looking stuff.

So, are you taking applications for a Bahamian cabin boy to keep that stuff polished?

cheers
jerry

PS: I'll be camping in titusville in july, are you nearby? I'd enjoy dropping by the marina to see Sarah while there.

Edit: Now i see St Augustine, that's a ways away and not on my route back. though i did get two flat tires on my camper the last time i drove through St. Augustine! got new ones from a tire store in a converted drive in restaurant at 4:50 pm on a friday afternoon. you should have seen those tire busters hustle to get out on time, LOL, I bought the first round.

[Concordia 33]

Margo:

That is beautiful!!!

I'll have to keep that in mind for Weatherly.

-Paul

[epoxyboy]

Hey guys, I want to know, just how agressive, do you have to get to remove a deteriorated chrome finish ? Can sand blasting remove the chrome ?

I "accidentally" dechromed one of the pins in my trailer light plug when it got submerged in the briny. The brake light "positive" pin where it was exposed to the salt water had been stripped back to clean brass in about two minutes. I am sure that it was pretty thin chrome to begin with, but looks like it might be workable if you want to play mad scientist with nothing more dangerous than 12 volts DC and salt water. The caveat would be that you would have chlorine or hydrogen gas come off, and I suppose something chromate in the left over solution - any chemists out there?

Pete