That's a personal thought not a fact
I was thinking of coating my front wishbones lightly with bronze (10%Aluminium - 88% Copper - 2%iron)and polishing them up (don't ask how -
it's complicated) but the coating would be thin and polished up it should look quite nice.
Just wondering if it would tarnish/corrode over time.
bronze can corrode but probably not in this environment. It will probably dull though
Strange alloy....I thought bronze was a copper/tin alloy? Must be more of an Ali/bronze I'm guessing?
[Edited on 26/2/09 by Alan B]
Bronze doesn't corrode but it goes pretty dark with time. Brass goes more orangey gold with time. Copper develops verdigris....
quote:
Originally posted by BenB
Bronze doesn't corrode but it goes pretty dark with time. Brass goes more orangey gold with time. Copper develops verdigris....
Bronze does corrode - it turns into into a kind of "Bronze Oxide" known as a Patina.
When the Patina forms it has an iridescent look of a bluey/green type colour (from the copper/tin mix).
Putting iron into is will cause rusting - why put iron in?
Steve
I thought you could only plate with elements?
That's a personal thought not a fact
Is there not a disadvantage in this similar to chroming... the wishbone can crack and the cracks be hidden under the chrome.
Then you don't know there's a problem until the wishbone falls in 2! 
Cheers,
James
quote:
Originally posted by James
Is there not a disadvantage in this similar to chroming... the wishbone can crack and the cracks be hidden under the chrome.
Then you don't know there's a problem until the wishbone falls in 2!
Cheers,
James
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
quote:
Originally posted by James
Is there not a disadvantage in this similar to chroming... the wishbone can crack and the cracks be hidden under the chrome.
Then you don't know there's a problem until the wishbone falls in 2!
Cheers,
James
Woul 't that be more risk with paint? Plating is only microns thick?
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
I thought you could only plate with elements?
That's a personal thought not a fact
quote:
Originally posted by Alan B
Strange alloy....I thought bronze was a copper/tin alloy? Must be more of an Ali/bronze I'm guessing?
[Edited on 26/2/09 by Alan B]
may i ask a question thats slightly related to this thread.....
i was thinking of having the wish bones nickel plated ( don,t know the elements), for two reasons, will rarely need polishing & looks nicer than
chrome (imo).
parts of my race bike are nickel plated & looks good, alot easier than having to keep polishing to keep the part looking good.
question is, would this weaken the wishbones at all ?
cheers
andy
quote:
Originally posted by aerosam
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
I thought you could only plate with elements?
That's a personal thought not a fact
It's not plating, it's electric arc thermal spraying with pre-alloyed wire, like i said, it's complicated.
Bronze spraying shouldn't cause any embrittlement.
Likewise Nickle plating is usually regarded as acceptable.
Bronze oxidises (like ally, in that the outer "rust" layer is quite impenetrable by elements once formed), depending on environment will go
very dark in polluted towns (see most sculptures in London) and green (verdigris) by the sea (like good olf copper roofs).
See this which we did about 5 years ago
If you polish it, be prepared to keep polishing it, as even a fingerprint will leave a mark that will need polishing out.
We do stuff for Clive Barker, see
ATB
Simon
[Edited on 26/2/09 by Simon]
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
I thought you could only plate with elements?
That's a personal thought not a fact
We have a metal spray shop at work which is used for building up shafts. Its not a complicated process but has its disadvantages.
I assume you are talking about PVD/CVD coatings Steve. Some of the coatings are incredible and very hard. Its how the coatings are applied to carbide,
ceramic and CBN tips for those not in the know
David
sounds cool flak monkey. The processes I use are plasma spray, arc-wire spray and HVOF spray.
We spray a huge range of coatings, alloys, carbides, ceramics (aka thermal barrier coatings - good for over 1500 deg C!).
Our work is all engineering, not as pretty as simons stuff, most of ours is dimensional restoration and get's machined after spraying.
I'll have a go with some spare steel next week and post some pics up.