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Chrome Plating Aluminum Case

M

[Metal]_Ice

n00b
Joined
Jun 2, 2004
Messages
49
Im going to be getting this Cooler Master Case & was thinking about getting it chrome plated.

I cant say that i have seen anyone with a chrome plated case i have seen anodized & painted.

I know you can normaly plate aluminum wheels but is a computer case materal different is the anodizing process messing with the chrome process.

Please add any info & yes i know it will be hard to keep clean & finger prints off also how paintable will the chrome be if i want to mask off a design & paint it
 
Basically, it's going to be heavy as hell and cost you a fortune, if you get it done, and your panels might not fit back on. They'll be covered in a layer of copper and a layer of chrome, so they'll be bigger and about four times heavier.
 
In the future my case is gonna be the Cooler Master Stacker, and I was gonna set its
FQDN as SHINYFILESERVER, so I was gonna give it that chrome look...but getting it
plated is presents you with the problems afore mentioned. I found some chrome paint
at WalMart and from some early tests, its not bad.

I was gonna simply spray paint it with mirror/chome paint, as detailed in one of the links of
the FAQ.

Basically its...

Sand
Primer
Repeat 3x

Mid coat
Sand
Repeat 3x

Gloss Top Coat
Buff/Polish
Repeat 3x


Or I could just buy mirror coated plexiglass and glue it to all the panels. Easier but less
forgiving in terms of chipping the edges of plastic. You'll pay a lot less cash this way but
a lot more in elbow grease.
 
yo, i just thought of this. why don't you polish it. then we can electro bake it. that how most of the shiny aluminum wheels are done. :cool:
 
I would go the route of polishing it, rather than plating it.
I have the WaveMaster and will only be getting a few parts plated, the rest will be anodized and/or polished.

Polishing shouldnt be very hard, surface prep is the most important part.:>

sand with :> 320, 400, then 600 grit (wet)
Buff with :> tripoli, then a high luster polish.

For that size case, it'd probably take about an entire day.
 
I have seen a few PC's get chromed and they are nothing but plastic. One guy even did his Sony laptop, and all they did was use the right buffing wheel and polishing compound. It's easier to polish plastic into chrome than Al.

Here, this page shows a few that have been done that way...just look at all the plastic with a mirror finish!
http://www.thewarfields.com/HotRodPCGallery.htm
 
Know of any more-detailed polishing guides? It sounds like its a lot easier than the sand-primer-sand-midcoat-sand-topcoat-buff technique.
 
You cant polish plastic into chrome, but you can polish plastic to make it very shiny, but not into chrome looking, only metal can be polished into a chrome type finish.

You can have plastic coated with a metal based paint, then that can be chrome plated, but thats alot of work.

Polishing is easy, sand with :> 320, 400, then 600 grit (wet)

the better the sanding, the better the polished surface looks, Ill see if I can post a pic of some polished items Ive done
 
Aluminum cannot be chrome plated without first coating it in zinc, the problem is that aluminum oxidizes the instant it is exposed to air. the aluminum must first be stripped of all anodizing and oxidization.
here is a link to more information on all kinds of plating.:
http://www.caswellplating.com
 
Agreed, Chroming Al is a PITA. It would be easier to just buff it to the best shine possible. As far as chroming plastic, it is possible with the right buffing compounds. Otherwise, if you follow the link I posted last, you will see that the cases that have been chromed are all plastic or Mg. Mg can be buffed by itself to a chrome finish.
 
waddles said:
Basically, it's going to be heavy as hell and cost you a fortune, if you get it done, and your panels might not fit back on. They'll be covered in a layer of copper and a layer of chrome, so they'll be bigger and about four times heavier.
Click to expand...


Uhm no and no. They hardly ad any weight to the entire thing. They covers will fit back on fine. It doesn't cost a fortune either. $100-150 for the entire case. BUT aluminum is not normally plated, only steel. So if you want to chrome aluminum, expect to pay a premium.
 
well i wood dif not do that cuz if the panels flix a lot the chrome well crack so i wood polish it but ha go for it hope to see how it looks
 
i think im going to get a extra side panle & test the whole polish thing out along with some other different things i want to do with the case thx for all the input & good to see the great one bonz posted love the fan grills
 
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