Any way to repair/restore rusty chrome plated hardware?

muttley600 said:
If you start removing stuff you could well start accelerating the problem. Pitting in brass is not so much of a problem but in cast metal which I suspect you have it will get worse if you allow more air and sweat or moisture to get at it. Essentially the cast is uneven in the distribution of the metal crystals as the alloy varies from place to place. A weak spot will get eaten away.

If I was you I would replace them and put the old parts in a dry sealed container wrapped in acid free paper with some silica. That is if you want to keep them as is for a resale.

The process of plating involves flashing a copper base coat to seal the casting, then building a base coat of nickel which levels out the polishing marks and introduces a bright shine. Finally chrome is flashed on top as it is hard wearing and stays bright longer than nickel. Anything not cleaned off before hand or any minute pits under the surface eventually result in pitting. Thats why lead free machining brass is preferred for plating on precision parts where longevity is required. it is significantly more expensive to produce though. Even replating cast metal is an issue as the process of cleaning and activating the surface for plating can make the pits worse. You can get by the problem by building up the copper base coat but that is time and problems.
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Ohhhh...THIS POST...sorry! I didn't see this until now. Duh. Reading now....:o
 
jimistone said:
Rub or with wet aluminum foil. The friction creates aluminum oxide and dissolves the rust. Then see to what degree the base metal is pitted.
You may be able to get it looking half way decent by painting the pitted base metal with a small brush and rust oleum paint.
There isn't a whole lot you can do short of torch or welder work if the pitting is severe. It would require grinder, file, and sanding work plus rechroming.
It would be worth going to those lengths on a super rare part. I would probably price replacing the part with an original or a reproduction and see what made the most sense
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Pitting is a result of degradation and decaying from within the metal itself. No amount tinkering from the outside will change it or really slow it down for that matter. At least not in service..

On base metal castings going back to bare metal reveals more pits in the surface. Like I said the only solution is to give it a hard copper flash and hope that seals it in for a while. There is an electroless nickel process available to seal off this sort of thing but it is horrendously expensive and still requires nickel leveling and bright chrome/silver/gold... whatever... It just aint worth it. Trust me I have been there. Save yourselves some time and pain and go with a replacement and save the old for posterity.
 
muttley600 said:
Pitting is a result of degradation and decaying from within the metal itself. No amount tinkering from the outside will change it or really slow it down for that matter. At least not in service..

On base metal castings going back to bare metal reveals more pits in the surface. Like I said the only solution is to give it a hard copper flash and hope that seals it in for a while. There is an electroless nickel process available to seal off this sort of thing but it is horrendously expensive and still requires nickel leveling and bright chrome/silver/gold... whatever... It just aint worth it. Trust me I have been there. Save yourselves some time and pain and go with a replacement and save the old for posterity.
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Yeah, like I said at the end of my post, I would see what a reproduction would cost. The aluminum foil is great on rusty chrome, but I've never delt with any that was heavily pitted.

If I need a part...even on my vintage strat...I don't obsess over originality. It's a player and I'm never going to sell it so why pay $200 for an original pot when I can get a new fender pot with the same value for $6?
I have a modern "fender/fender" saddle on that strat because I let one if the "pat" Pend." saddles get away from me somehow. I have the original steel block with a broke off piece of trem arm in my drawer and a block I bought in 1978 to replace it with is still in the strat. The volume pot went south and it has a modern fender 250k pot in it now.

If you're collecting vintage guitars originality is imperative but if you're playing them things are going to wear out and it will cost you 2 fortunes ti keep it original.
 
Using this vintage bridge 3rd string will be principle out of tune (bridge designed for 3rd WOUND string, not for plain!). Other problem - turn around bridge is the worst bridges in use because strong SIDE tension by strings is tending to deform relatively soft mahogany body wood around mount screw inserts. Even if body wood is just elastic deformed (best case) - it is rather strong damping vibrations and sustain. If body wood around inserts is permanent compressed/damaged - situation becomes worst. Adjustable T.O.M. bridge with std (or lightweight aluminum) LP/SG tailpiece, or strings through body option is the best solution for workhorse instrument. If you do not want to change anything on your vintage instrument body, but play it in tune - the best alternative is adjustable octave Schaller replacement. Just keep your original parts.
 
Ainaudio said:
Using this vintage bridge 3rd string will be principle out of tune (bridge designed for 3rd WOUND string, not for plain!). Other problem - turn around bridge is the worst bridges in use because strong SIDE tension by strings is tending to deform relatively soft mahogany body wood around mount screw inserts. Even if body wood is just elastic deformed (best case) - it is rather strong damping vibrations and sustain. If body wood around inserts is permanent compressed/damaged - situation becomes worst. Adjustable T.O.M. bridge with std (or lightweight aluminum) LP/SG tailpiece, or strings through body option is the best solution for workhorse instrument. If you do not want to change anything on your vintage instrument body, but play it in tune - the best alternative is adjustable octave Schaller replacement. Just keep your original parts.
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:confused:TF...
 
I not an expert but here's a suggestiong. Take the offending items off. Apply navel jelly and clean off the rust. Then have the items rechromed. Before doing any of that I would seek a restorer's expert opinion on how that might affect the value of the instrument. Good Luck,
Rod Norman

heatmiser said:
Hey - I'm not talking surface rust here either...

I'm talking about a bridge and tailpiece that are deeply pitted with thick rust. It's a 1968 Gibson SG Special, and I know a certain amount of surface rust might be appealing to some ("relic"?), but this is to the point where my hand can get raw from resting on the bridge too long.

I searched online, but only found info about cleaning rusty surfaces...not repairing this kind of damage. I guess I'm wondering about stripping/grinding it down and then is there some kind of liquid chrome I can apply?

Maybe I should just buy new hardware, but I'm always reluctant to change anything due to it's age. Whadduya think?
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Rod Norman said:
I not an expert but here's a suggestiong. Take the offending items off. Apply navel jelly and clean off the rust. Then have the items rechromed. Before doing any of that I would seek a restorer's expert opinion on how that might affect the value of the instrument. Good Luck,
Rod Norman
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