Looking for your opinions on a different chroming process

Discussion in 'Cosmetic' started by Constable, Apr 22, 2021.

  1. Constable

    Constable You have the right to remain silent....or not!

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    Ok, fellow mutants. I'm considering, actually have done more than that, opening a business doing a spray on chroming/rechroming process. I'm not going to go into specifics on which one or exactly the process itself, but I want to see if it would be something guys like you would consider using. During my fact finding and starting to look for funding sources, I have gotten a significant amount of interest from car places. My contractor friend even sees home/business applications that would benefit from me opening shop. Turns out that this process has been around for 20 years but it hasn't been used widespread for some reason I can't fathom. West Coast Customs and Kount's Customs uses this process so I found it to be legit and started looking into it. Being the US branch of the company is only 2 hours away from me, off I went.

    The process puts down a metalized chemical which exactly mimics real chrome. I have gone as far as going to the company and being able to do the process with a trainer myself to see if it is snake oil or not. Yes, a big part of the prospective client demo is teaching the person how to do it and actually putting the stuff into their hands and doing it on a demo piece. It's anything but turns out. You absolutely cannot tell the difference between a finished item and one having been done at a chroming shop. One major advantage is that most any material can be chromed with this. Plastics, rigid vinyl, steel, aluminum, even wood if prepped right. Engine parts like valve covers, intakes, bracketry can be done as heat isn't an issue. Not exhausts though. Too much heat. With this, things like badging and other things that could not be redone by a chrome shop or things not being reproduced can be saved. Parts that you could never even think about chroming can look like the real deal with this process. Even badly pitted parts can be prepped and saved to be made beautiful again.

    It has the resilience of an OEM paint and I've seen some demo parts they have which were done 15 years ago and they still look like new. It's guaranteed not to yellow and repairs if the finish is damaged can be easily done unlike real chroming. The process can be done much, much cheaper than traditional chroming to the end user. For example, a bumper which would cost upward of a thousand can be done for a few hundred.

    So, your thoughts would be welcomed. I'm looking at a large pay out to get this off the ground so feedback is important to me.
     
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2021
  2. Powerband

    Powerband Member

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    I did see this paint process done on one of the shows and was quite impressive. I presume the preparation of a typical old part with corrosion or needing metal work would still be a large part of expense of re-chroming by any method.

    Alternate method is the vinyl-chrome wrapping I've also seen done.

    You can 're-chrome' a whole car body with these methods (probably already been on Kount's Customs)..

    hav e fun

    [​IMG]
     
  3. Constable

    Constable You have the right to remain silent....or not!

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    It's no different than any finishing process. The prep is a huge thing.

    My wife is general manager of a graphics company and they wrap. They hate to do chrome wrap because what is too often asked to be done are motorcycle and ATV items which usually are anything but flat and large. I offered this process to them with the intention of getting at least partially funded by them but they are being fiscally cautious which I understand. They don't get enough chrome wrap requests to justify the risk for now.
     
  4. yellow75

    yellow75 MCCI Oregon State Rep Supporting Member

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    Sounds like it could be an interesting venture to get into I have seen it done on tv and thought that is was really cool and can see it as a great opportunity to get plastic and other non metal parts done . Is it expensive to get started into ?
     
  5. Mavman72

    Mavman72 Gone backwards but lookin' forward

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    If I were you... I would look into commercial and industrial applications for this process. You wont get rich doing it on cars and the like. Commercial and industrial applications will be your bread and butter. As far as cars and the like are concerned. Unless you are doing the volume of work Counts customs or other such shops are doing...its gonna be a tough sell. I wish you all the luck in the world and yes... I would definitely have you do some parts for me.
     
  6. Constable

    Constable You have the right to remain silent....or not!

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    I'm a step ahead of you but you're absolutely right. My close friend, should say family, is a contractor. He is going to be involved with the start up if we can get it off the ground. He is a car guy and very talented in his own right. He already sees both residential and commercial applications that would benefit from this process. One of his claims to fame is cabinet making and carpentry of all kinds. He sees things like cabinet trim, counter trim and much more that would accent his work greatly. Having the option to do color chroming makes the possibilities for business applications even more so. So, we absolutely will be offering it to much more than just automotive applications.
     
  7. bmcdaniel

    bmcdaniel Senile Member

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    71gold likes this.
  8. bmcdaniel

    bmcdaniel Senile Member

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    Similar but different process, no spray guns:
     
  9. Constable

    Constable You have the right to remain silent....or not!

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    These processes are different, yes. The one I am going for uses machines to precision spray down the products, not spray bottles, thus why I need to raise funds to start up. It would be SOOOOO much cheaper to go with one of these products but that's the key. Cheaper products. I tried ordering one of these at first from the UK because I thought investing just a few hundred would be worth the risk. Shipping would have cost me way more than the kit cost which made it cost prohibitive to get. Spray bottles are very a unpredictable and inconsistent spray so it could and likely would affect how the product is laid down. It would be very easy to get high and low spots rather than a consistent finish which the machines do. Everything can easily look nice in photos and videos which can hide flaws and often do as I'm sure we've all seen. I have the proof in my hands of how the process I did can look and feel.

    Think of it this way. If the spray bottle processes were so great, why isn't everybody doing them? They're much more affordable than the two others offered in this country.
     
  10. bmcdaniel

    bmcdaniel Senile Member

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    What machines are you considering?
     
  11. Constable

    Constable You have the right to remain silent....or not!

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    Cosmic Chrome
     
  12. bmcdaniel

    bmcdaniel Senile Member

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  13. yellow75

    yellow75 MCCI Oregon State Rep Supporting Member

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    Very cool, I thought it was just chrome but adding colors into the mix adds a whole new line of possibilities
     

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