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Drum Restoration - How to strip chrome from hoops?

PostPosted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 11:29 pm
by COL66
Hey guys, so I have some 1990s LP Classics. Like all old LP rims, the gold-tone chrome plating is pealing. Does anyone know of a do-it-yourself way to fully peal off that chrome? thanks!

Re: Drum Restoration - How to strip chrome from hoops?

PostPosted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 4:40 am
by Thebreeze
To do it right, I would do this... Some time ago I had a Gon Bops Quinto that had bad hardware on it and a friend of mine had a " Bead Blaster " where he worked so he blasted the side brackets and rim for me and it turned out a nice " Gun Metal Gray". You can always spray a couple of coats of verithane to keep rust from ever forming, although I did not put any protective coating on my Gon Bops and I did not have any problems with rust, just keep it nice and dry and clean.

Here is a picture of that Gon Bops.......

Image

Re: Drum Restoration - How to strip chrome from hoops?

PostPosted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 5:34 pm
by skinslapper
I've used steel wool and after all the chroom was gone i've polished the rim .
The polishing was the most work but it looked good .

It was for a friend who sold the conga a few years ago so i don't have pictures .

Re: Drum Restoration - How to strip chrome from hoops?

PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 3:30 am
by Jaisen Torres
will you never showed me this quinto , as always a perfectionist , you the man !!! good , very good job....

Re: Drum Restoration - How to strip chrome from hoops?

PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 5:47 am
by Thebreeze
This picture is 8 years old Jaisen. Thanks for the compliments. Back then I sold it to a good friend for ........150 dollars.

Re: Drum Restoration - How to strip chrome from hoops?

PostPosted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 3:20 am
by COL66
okay guys, there is my follow-up. I went online and read websites that recommended all sorts of crap to remove rusted chrome. Some suggested alcohol, others bleach, others oven cleaner, etc. NOTHING WORKED! So i decided to bust out a piece of #60 grit sand paper and went to work! They came out awesome! I decided not to used finer grit sand paper, since I really liked the industrial look that the 60 grit left. Here are the before and after pics

Re: Drum Restoration - How to strip chrome from hoops?

PostPosted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 6:59 am
by rhythmrhyme
that's cool.... especially that the side plates and lugs worked out as well.

How long did it take you? I have some LP's with gold hardware that I loath, did you try an orbital sander? Probably want to wear a mask with an orbital, I expect it would kick up a lot of metal dust and who know's whats in the gold chrome.

RR

Re: Drum Restoration - How to strip chrome from hoops?

PostPosted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 10:34 am
by RitmoBoricua
Polished metal look, not bad.

Re: Drum Restoration - How to strip chrome from hoops?

PostPosted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 5:18 pm
by skinslapper
RR Nice, i like that look 2 !!

Good job !

Re: Drum Restoration - How to strip chrome from hoops?

PostPosted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 6:40 pm
by COL66
thanks guys! took me about 3 hours to do one drum. I used the orbital sander for a little, but it doesn't leave the metal looking nice, so I preferred to strip the top layer with the sander, then do the rest by hand. The trick was to always sand in straight lines (back and forth, NOT in circles), so that the metal looks nice and polished.

I ran out of sand paper, so I'll be doing the other drum soon. I think it should take me less time now that I actually know what i'm doing.

I'm tempted to re finish the wood, but I refinished a set about 6 months ago, and it was a tonnnn of work... i'll have to wait until i'm really, really, motivated!

Re: Drum Restoration - How to strip chrome from hoops?

PostPosted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 8:27 pm
by skinslapper
You can also sandblast them .That will go much faster and will give a nice result .

Re: Drum Restoration - How to strip chrome from hoops?

PostPosted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 10:15 pm
by rhythmrhyme
skinslapper wrote:You can also sandblast them .That will go much faster and will give a nice result .


I just called a local chrome shop, the guy told me over the phone that he's blast down my 4 gold giovanni hoops and side plates for around $100... may give this some thought.

Then I went and looked at all the bolts etc I'd need to take apart and began wondering how much I actually dislike gold hardware vs. how f**k'n lazy I am and if I want to pull the drums apart. We'll see :D I'm thinking that for another $50 they shop guys would probably do a quick polish on the hardware as well.

Re: Drum Restoration - How to strip chrome from hoops?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 6:42 pm
by skinslapper
Hallo RR you might wanna check if you can find a "do it yourself sandblaster" .

We have them overhere and its cheaper .
You have to buy the "sand" and rent the booth !
Use a fine grit you don't have to polish !

If your not to lazy afcourse ........





And i agree , gold hardware sucks ... :mrgreen:

Re: Drum Restoration - How to strip chrome from hoops?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 10:21 pm
by skinslapper
How to remove Chrome the right way .... :mrgreen:

0 1
Put on proper safety gear such as respirator, splash goggles and protective gloves. Pour either acetone, ammonia or bleach into the large metal bowl or pot. Only use one of these chemicals; do not mix them.
o 2
Submerge the object from which you wish to remove the chrome in the the chemical. Cover the container with aluminum foil to keep the fumes contained. Allow it to soak for at least two hours
o 3
Remove object from the chemicals. Dip a toothbrush into the acetone, ammonia or bleach.
o 4
Brush the surface of the object vigorously with the toothbrush. Continue dipping and scrubbing with the toothbrush until the plating comes completely off.
o 5
whipe the stripped steel with a clean rag

Re: Drum Restoration - How to strip chrome from hoops?

PostPosted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 5:10 am
by COL66
brother skinslapper,

tried bleach, tried ammonia, tried oven cleaner, tried isopropyl alcohol. NONE of it worked!
i experimented by putting small side plates in different ziplock bags, then filling them/covering them with a different one of the above chemicals then left it overnight in the bag. the next day I scrubbed with a really hard brush...
some of the chemicals were good at removing the rust/stains, and some of chemicals turned the plating very dark... but none of them pealed off the golden tone.
i'm sure the sand blaster would be the best way to do it, but I don't have one, and the estimate to have someone do it professionally was $150. i'm poor! :(
i did it myself for $6.00 in sandpaper and a $3.00 facemask. it was a lot of work, tho. took me 3 hrs to do the quinto, almost 4 to do the conga.
i have the drums in front of me... I still cant believe they are the same ugly drums I had not too long ago 8)