Little experiment: chorme removal

[HarpJim]

Hi guys!
I just did a little experiment this afternoon an want to share the results with you.

I tried to remove some chrome from a bridge I had for one of my projects by electrolysis process.

I want to say first that I did NOT try to give the bridge a RELIC look. My intent was to give it a BROKEN/WASTED look.

So here are some pics

Top view


On the side

[HarpJim]

15 minutes later




Not bad! But not enough to my liking.

So I did another plunge in a bigger bath


30 minutes later!



Yai!!

[HarpJim]

And some more pics

[mgdesigns]

I guess I am not sure what you were trying to achieve, I just hope you did this with plenty of ventilation. Chromium is a heavy metal and can be toxic. What did you use for the reaction agent?

[Tdot]

Dunk it again, I still see a shiny spot.

[Mr.Reed]

Originally Posted by mgdesigns

I guess I am not sure what you were trying to achieve, I just hope you did this with plenty of ventilation. Chromium is a heavy metal and can be toxic. What did you use for the reaction agent?

Sounds like he did it just for fun really. To see what would happen.

[olaftheholy]

That is exactly how it is done by Luke Whitfield from www.rebelrelic.com

[Shepherd]

The last couple of new Fender bridges I got were almost as bad . What does the wife think of your science projects in her kitchen . You should be in the laundry room where the 220 is

[HarpJim]

Originally Posted by mgdesigns

I guess I am not sure what you were trying to achieve, I just hope you did this with plenty of ventilation. Chromium is a heavy metal and can be toxic. What did you use for the reaction agent?

No reaction agent needed. It's just electricity and salted water.

The basic setup looks like this. Sorry it's in french.

Instead of the rusted thing on the diagram, put your piece of hardware.



The chrome is then slowly removed as electricity flows in the water.

I wanted to achieved a really broken look, I guess I made it.

[HarpJim]

[QUOTE=olaftheholy;2002556]That is exactly how it is done by Luke Whitfield from www.rebelrelic.com[/QUOTE=olaftheholy;2002556]

Nice stuff! But as I said, I was not trying to "relic" the plate.

[HarpJim]

Originally Posted by Shepherd

What does the wife think of your science projects in her kitchen . You should be in the laundry room where the 220 is

It's MY kitchen! And it's a reason why I don't want to marry. I don't want to have to deal everything I do with someone. We often see things like "wife don't want me to have another tele" on the board and it makes me so sad to see guys in such a difficult position. I pity them .

[Tom_B]

Cool. What's the bar in the water? magnet? What did you use as your power supply? Anyone have a link to a step by step guide? I can't seem to find one...

[newtwanger]

Originally Posted by HarpJim

Nice stuff! But as I said, I was not trying to "relic" the plate.

OK because you went well past "relic", but what's your plan for a body that will match such a destroyed bridge?

Originally Posted by HarpJim

I wanted to achieved a really broken look, I guess I made it.

Yup, do your tuners like that and you'll have an unplayable guitar.

You do know that it will continue to rapidly deteriorate from here don't you? (I'm sure that's part of the plan). I have a couple of "failed relic attempts" that looked like that and are now black and rust.

[HarpJim]

Originally Posted by Tom_B

Cool. What's the bar in the water? magnet? What did you use as your power supply? Anyone have a link to a step by step guide? I can't seem to find one...

The power supply is a small D-Link 5v



The bar is metal, anything made of metal. Just like this.


The only step by step guide I have is in french :-S

So ... put salt and water in the plastic bowl. The positive (here is the hook) wire to you pieces of hardware and the negative to the metal piece. Submerge them in the water, plug the power supply (you should not use more than 12V) and wait. Bubbles should start to come from metal part. It's hydrogen created by electrolysis of the water. It's not supposed to be dangerous for your health from what I read but I kept my windows wide open.

Good luck

[HarpJim]

Originally Posted by newtwanger

what's your plan for a body that will match such a destroyed bridge?

hmm the body is almost done now but I won't reveal it until it's completely done. I'll post pictures on the board as soon as it's over, in maybe a month, I just ordered the neck.

Originally Posted by newtwanger

Yup, do your tuners like that and you'll have an unplayable guitar.

Golden Tuners!


Damn!

LoL don't worry, I've ever done something worst than that and they are still playable. To preserve the inner mechanism I did put petroleum jelly with a syringe. Trust me, it works ;-)

Oh and I did this too

A bit too much to my taste, it reacted faster than the bridge...


and the back is just fine!

[Tom_B]

Thanks.

[RebelRelic]

Originally Posted by olaftheholy

That is exactly how it is done by Luke Whitfield from www.rebelrelic.com

Nope, it aint the way I do it.

[StalePretzel]

Funny. That i'm working extra hours to put 50$ down on a new bridge and some people throw theirs in electrified salt water just to see what would happen. hmm.

[mattdean4130]

That is interesting! So you have the positive attached to the bridge and the negative attached to a metal bar in the salted water? How salty is it?
Cheers!

[gitlvr]

Originally Posted by StalePretzel

Funny. That i'm working extra hours to put 50$ down on a new bridge and some people throw theirs in electrified salt water just to see what would happen. hmm.

Yep! It takes all kinds........