Chromed, sanded or polished?

[dope_on_a_rope]

Well, many people have been claiming to have chromed guns for sale recently, when in fact it's just sanded. Frankly, I believe this to be fraudulent, and quite unfair on people who have actually had their guns chromed.

For those of you who don't know what chromed things look like, here's a Wikipedia image, and a website who chrome plate things.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mo...ns_bw_edit.jpg
http://www.rschrome.co.uk/photogallery.html (even a desert eagle on there)

Compared to sanding.



...and a polished Glock.




Seems that most offenders, are offering chrome guns, when it's nothing more than sanded. It takes 20 min with some wet and dry to get a Glock to look like the first picture. Hardly a lot of work. The second picture can take upwards of 10 hours to achieve. It's loads of sanding, down to 1500 even 2000 grit, and that's the easy part. Then you're down to hard work with the polish and elbow grease. Even then, polishing alone is not chromed. Chromed is a whole different ballpark, it involves electroplating, and if you were curious, here's a list of what chroming involves (taken from wiki)

A) Chrome Stripping-
1) Rack part for stripping process
2) Dip in electrically activated sodium hydroxide
3) Dip in hot water
4) Strip off nickel with activated sulfuric acid (taking care that the nickel is not eroded)
5) Place in Media Blaster for coating preparation
B) Grinding-
1) Grind off any and all pits/ protrusions/ unwanted metal material
2) Smooth unwanted edges
3) As necessary, grind points of contact for future soldering
C) Cyanide Bath-
1) Rack part with copper wire (some need weights attached to underside to prevent floating giving special attention avoiding the wire to touch the part)
2) Dip into Electro-cleaner wash
3) Rinse off soup lather
4) Dip in non-electrified sulfuric acid
5) Spray rinse with water
6) Place in cyanide
7) Place in cyanide rinse tank
D) Touching Up-
1) Solder pits and fill in undercuts (with attention to avoiding a detrimental cut through part)
2) If applicable, attach broken metal pieces and filler metal with solder
3) Grind off extra solder to smooth finish
E) Acid Copper Bath-
1) Place in cyanide to cover solder
2) Again dip in cyanide rinse
3) Spray wash with water
4) Cycle following steps for (1) hour intervals until acceptable appearance is seen:

• Copper Bath
• Sanding
• Buffing

F) Chome Plating-
1) Re-rack part with wire giving attention to sensitive areas (points and sharp curves are corroded without care)
2) Clean with kerosene and soft-bristled brush
3) Hand wash with soap and water
4) Spray rinse with water
5) Dip in sulfuric acid
6) Dip in sterile DI (deionized) water
7) Nickel plated
8) Dip in DI water
9) Dip in chrome tank with settings specific to the part
10) Spray rinse with water
11) Buff to smooth finish

You can only imagine how long that takes. Entire factories are dedicated to doing this, and to chrome a 1911, you can expect a 1 week turnover from when the factory gets it, to when it's done. I ask again, how is it just to claim 20 minutes of sanding, as a chromed gun?

Thankfully Stealth1911, who provided the Glock pictures, titles his threads apropriately. He sold his glocks as either sanded, or polished. Never chrome, because it wasn't. I suggest the moderators bring this to the attention of the poeple who are mislabeling their sale theads. And for those reading this, maby you'll think twice before claiming your gun has been chromed next time, yeah?

Thank you.