R&S Electroplating Limited

[rschrome]

Fire away with any questions also we are only a small company and up to now are not subject to the new legislation but that can change at anytime but at the moment all is well

[JamesH]

Nice to have you here Mark, and I'll definitely be trying you out in the not too distant future.

Question for you - I have a set of very solid genuine Honda HM341 4 into 4 exhausts that have suffered surface pitting to the chrome over the years....

How do you deal (if at all) with prep & replating of complete exhaust systems & what's the process you undertake. Happy for you to PM me a quote if it's the sort of work you undertake.

Many thanks,

James.

[BigAl (Alan)]

Welcome Mark,

I'm glad that you have joined. I will be seeing you again before Christmas with another batch of rusty bits.

Alan

[Green1]

Welcome Mark

Didn't take you long to mention pipes James  I should think baffles would be an issue.
I on the other hand have a solid set of HM300's that could do with being re chromed.

Mick

[AshimotoK0]

I think a lot of chromers won't do exhausts as they contaminate the chemical baths. Or they do them just before the chemicals are due to be changed. But Mark's the man on this. What's your opinion on re-plating wheels Mark. The 'Quality Chrome' guy near me says he will not do them if they are corroded near the spoke holes because of possible weakening/enlargement. They are 'scooter boys' by the way!!

Cheers ..Ash

[Lynx]

Welcome aboard Mark. I'll quite possibly start a new restro next year. I'll be in touch.

[rschrome]

I think a lot of chromers won't do exhausts as they contaminate the chemical baths. Or they do them just before the chemicals are due to be changed. But Mark's the man on this. What's your opinion on re-plating wheels Mark. The 'Quality Chrome' guy near me says he will not do them if they are corroded near the spoke holes because of possible weakening/enlargement. They are 'scooter boys' by the way!!

Cheers ..Ash

its true if the wheels are to corroded around the spoke holes you cannot do too much polishing but we have a good success rate with them so upload a photo via our website and lets have a look

[rschrome]

For general quotes on chroming just fill in the request a quote page on our website along with any photos and I'll always quote asap
http://www.rschrome.co.uk/page_2643277.html

[rschrome]

He loved chroming motorcycle parts and is missed greatly at our works and we now do even more motorcycle parts. On the subject of chroming aluminium we no longer do it due to the many problems that can arise from the process

[Spitfire]

I can thoroughly recommend Mark and the guys at R&S, they did a lot of stuff for me in 2006 when I was restoring the F1 and did a great job, fast and friendly service and the parts that they chromed are still going strong.

Cheers

Dennis

[AshimotoK0]

What's your take on customers doing their own prep work Mark, as I have access to the large polishing machines, like the ones chromers use.
My reason for asking is that way way back in '86 I had my CB400/4 smaller parts rechromed by a company called Alliance in Hull (don't exist any more). I prepped all of the parts myself and removed every trace of nickel and polished them so they actually looked almost as bright as the chrome. The guy at Alliance told me I was a fool and that I had done more damage than if I had given him the parts untouched and they would actually cost more for him to re-prep and plate. He told me the real art and time consuming bit was the prep and that this accounted for a high proportion of the cost. I was a bit miffed so told him to chrome them anyway and I would suffer the consequences if they turned out sh*te. He plated them, they came out perfect and they were amazingly cheap to have done and the turnaround was a week (normally several months). I moved house and the bike was stored in my brothers barn for 22 years. Some of the chromed Genuine NOS parts I had fitted unfortunately micro-pitted in storage but non of the parts I had done by Alliance suffered any corrosion.
Forward 23 years and I had quite  a few parts for my CB750K0 done by a local chromer  here in Hull (used by a lot of the classic magazines) who did all of the prep work. They polished the hell out of the thin items and I just wish I had prepped them myself. My method of prep is to remove all of the old plating by reverse plating and then rough finish on a linisher. Then I dip them in acid copper to reveal any areas of nickel remaining (if any). This copper is easily buffed off and then I polish on the industrial polisher I have access to. That way if I trash the part in polishing/prep, then it's down to me.

I appreciate that not everyone has access to the equipment / chemicals  I have at my disposal.

cheers ...AshD

[rschrome]

What's your take on customers doing their own prep work Mark, as I have access to the large polishing machines, like the ones chromers use.
My reason for asking is that way way back in '86 I had my CB400/4 smaller parts rechromed by a company called Alliance in Hull (don't exist any more). I prepped all of the parts myself and removed every trace of nickel and polished them so they actually looked almost as bright as the chrome. The guy at Alliance told me I was a fool and that I had done more damage than if I had given him the parts untouched and they would actually cost more for him to re-prep and plate. He told me the real art and time consuming bit was the prep and that this accounted for a high proportion of the cost. I was a bit miffed so told him to chrome them anyway and I would suffer the consequences if they turned out sh*te. He plated them, they came out perfect and they were amazingly cheap to have done and the turnaround was a week (normally several months). I moved house and the bike was stored in my brothers barn for 22 years. Some of the chromed Genuine NOS parts I had fitted unfortunately micro-pitted in storage but non of the parts I had done by Alliance suffered any corrosion.
Forward 23 years and I had quite  a few parts for my CB750K0 done by a local chromer  here in Hull (used by a lot of the classic magazines) who did all of the prep work. They polished the hell out of the thin items and I just wish I had prepped them myself. My method of prep is to remove all of the old plating by reverse plating and then rough finish on a linisher. Then I dip them in acid copper to reveal any areas of nickel remaining (if any). This copper is easily buffed off and then I polish on the industrial polisher I have access to. That way if I trash the part in polishing/prep, then it's down to me.

I appreciate that not everyone has access to the equipment / chemicals  I have at my disposal.

cheers ...AshD

We dont mind anyone preparing there own parts ready for chroming all we say is beware of two things firstly all  old chrome, nickel etc really should be chemically stripper prior to polishing as when we come to chrome them any trace of old plating can cause peeling etc and secondly polishing is a skillful job that takes years to perfect but as long as you are confident then yes we dont mind

[Bodd]

As I mentioned in another thread before my previous account was mysteriously deleted, I have used R&S twice and I am very pleased with the results, the RD exhausts were done 2 years ago and are still like new and the 400F bits in the bottom picture came out well, the only little moan I have is they took 10 weeks when I was told 3 to 4 weeks.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[MCTID]

Well I dropped off a stack of parts today for my T120 Bonneville to be Chrome Plated........£230 and three weeks the man said so I'll keep you posted.

Unfortunately R&S don't do Zinc/ Cad plating so can anyone recommend somebody who does in the North West? No rush - just want a good job doing at a fair price.

[MCTID]

Update on R&S Electroplating..........picked up the parts and very pleased with the quality. They took a bit longer than expected but I wasn't in any rush (and had told them so at the outset). A rear rack was in the box which wasn't mine so I handed it back and perhaps in future I should include a list and/or photos of what I give to them just to make sure its all kept together.

None of the parts were irreplaceable, but I should have given a valuation against each so R&S could decide if it was worth their efforts to clean, polish and replate. I had two front brake covers (T120 8" dish shaped) which cost £25 each to do, but one was still pitted and isn't really of much use so I basically wasted £25.......especially as I could buy a replica for about £25 anyway, so that's food for thought if you are having any parts re-plated which aren't critical for your rebuild etc.

From the couple of phone calls I made to check progress it was obvious that R&S have plenty of work on their hands which is no bad thing, but its best to add a few weeks to the programme.
 
I felt the price of £230 was a bit steep but not having anyone else to compare to or get a quote from didn't help but as I said, the quality was good so I would certainly use them again and recommend them to SOHC Forum Members.