Ash, The sharp cut ends I would do this with, using emery on boards if available to get the best radius you can achieve between top and bottom surfaces and use oil / lubricant to get final finish with fine grade. chroming always has a problem with really sharp edges so any practical mitigation is going to help your final look and make it last longer.
The best chroming I've seen was with this sort of attention to the base steel and then copper plated / polished / nickel plated / polished then finally chromed and polished. As I understand it the chrome is slightly pourous and will not ultimatley prevent rust spots long term, the copper / nickel process prevents this and also acts similar to a body filler in that it fills small dips and blemishes to give that really deep luscious shine that looks so good.
Any polishing on the cut ends should be minimal to avoid breaking through the plating at those points.
