Chrome work

[Dan Noecker]

Can anyone shed some light on why chrome work is so expensive? Is it the actual plating process, or is it all the prep work done on the part to be chromed?
THX
Dan

 

[guilld]

Probably both and I suspect the EPA is somehow involved.

 

[ellis8500]

EPA definitely involved. Plating shop requirements are so restrictive that most of the small shops could not afford the expense of meeting all of the pollution abatement requirements. Much of the off shore stuff is junk. If you want good chrome plating you have to pay. Even large corps got out of the business. Automotive didn't get rid of chrome due to style; they did it because of the EPA restrictions. Years ago I worked for a very large company that had their own plating shop. I was assigned to analyze the cost of bringing the shop up to EPA standards. They shut the shop down and decided to farm out the plating to those shops dedicated to the process. Same for asbestos remediation; cost $10 per 1 sq.ft. floor tile to remove and that was in 1992.

 

[bobs66440]

Yes, there is a lot of prep work involved and they work with some really nasty chemicals during the process. I would not want to do it. I imagine the disposal and dealing with the chemicals is very expensive as well as complying with regulations as mentioned.

 

[PotvinGuy]

The EPA regs are big part of it. When I had my chrome done in Dallas in 1992, they shipped the parts to some place deep in the woods in another state, where modern moonshiners did it real cheap.