




Barry L wrote:Bob
Several reasons for me to not venture into the field of chrome plating. My plate is already pretty full, there is already enough cost and time in these things that pricing would be a problem, and there are no local chrome shops left in this area.
But also there is a degree of finish issue. I pulled my step plate mold from one of the step plates that were on my boat when we purchased her. The original was not a perfict cast, pretty much all of the original GB casts I have messed with had their issues. They were all like mine, pretty much hand made products. So I start out with an imperfect original, pull a rubber mold from that which will also have it's little issues. Gravity pour a wax into the rubber mold, invest that wax into a ceramic shell mold, and then pour gas melted molten bronze into the fired shell mold. Every step along the way incorporates a degree of error and imperfections. With a bronze cast these are not so problematic as the bronze is a poor light reflector and it is just part of the charm of a heavy cast bronze object.
Throw some chrome on top of that to reflect every single scratch and dent and I think it would look a cheaply made part.
However, maybe an aluminum cast....
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