Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

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The chrome finish is only as good as the start object.
That means - if you want a nice chrome fork , you have to pollish it to a mirror finish and then chrome it.
Your options are therefor to repaint the fork or rechrome it.
I would suspect that the paint option would be cheapest.

Thanks Mr G

I agree that the option is to repaint the fork.

Paint stripper from a hardware store is usually a good option but gloves are advised and an open area is also handy to avoid the fumes. The stripper usually asshes off in water but you will need to help the stripping process with a scraper (very easy).

Good question about the ability to polish the chromed area that wasn't polished by the chrome plater shop. I don't think it would be possible to buff the other areas to bring them up to the same finish as the fork ends. I also agree with ggungersen when he says that the initial preparation of the fork is most important to the finish you get after chroming. The forks would have been pre-polished where the chrome was to be seen, the other parts of the fork wouldn't have been cleaned up to the same extent as the paint would have covered the rougher surface in these areas.

I think your problem is not only the ability to polish the fork - which is probably not possible - but to match the paint finish on the rest of the frame if you re-paint the fork. You probably need a car paint specialist to mix you up a small can of paint to re-spray the forks. If you have access to a spray gun and compressor thats not such a problem. I have a local "Autopro" shop near by that is good at colour matching paint and they will put the paint into a pressure pack spray can as well.

The painting process is not cheap. You will probably need a primer before the paint and perhaps a clear finish after the paint. All this stuff is available. but then you need a good painting technique to get a good finish - (lots of light coats).

This probably sounds complicated and it can be expensive but it's not that hard and it can be quite rewarding.

best of luck,

Gary.

Thanks Gary.

Don't forget to use safety goggles or spectacles when using paint stripper.

Or better yet, get the apprentice to do it