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Subject: 
Re: I only have on thing to say...
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.starwars
Date: 
Mon, 31 May 1999 13:59:36 GMT
Viewed: 
939 times
  
Selçuk wrote:



   This leads me to an odd question:

  Is it possible to electroplate/"chromize" Lego bricks oneself?  Seeing • as how
TLG's chrome is merely a veneer, maybe an enamel, is it possible?

  LFB.


Electroplating a part made of an "insulative" material?..I don't think so.

Not at all.  Electroplating plastic is a well-understood process pioneered during the 40s by (among
others) Richard Feynman at the Metaplast Corp.  His process went something like this (though I don't
remember the specifics):

Wash the platic in a mildly acidic solution (to establish a slight surface texture for better
gripping power)
Precipitate in a silver nitrate solution to deposite silver on the surface.
Electroplate to the silver.

I figure by now, someone has refined this process to the point where it's very efficient...
So while I don't know if the Lego parts are actually plated or painted, it *is* possible to plate
plastic.

--Karim



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: I only have on thing to say...
 
(...) as how (...) Electroplating a part made of an "insulative" material?..I don't think so. It should be some kind of plain painting process, and this would be a better than enough explanation to their rapid chip off rate. Do you want clear (...) (25 years ago, 31-May-99, to lugnet.starwars)

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