Vintage Pachinko ... Re Chroming

[sydtheframer]

Most vintage Pachinkos I see ... Need the door trims etc... re chroming ... I am sure many members on here have experience of this... I would be interested to know what members have been charged for this ... Thanks for any replies ... I live in USA ...

[emmadog]

i don't think many have done it-probably in the single digits. it's expensive to do and it's generally easy to find a donor machine with a door in very good shape.

[Moparformances]

i don't think many have done it-probably in the single digits. it's expensive to do and it's generally easy to find a donor machine with a door in very good shape.

there is a current post where a member is talking about re-chroming..

[mxfaiman]

On a vintage machines most shops will charge between 50-75 for the front panel and then around 100-150 for the rest of the frame.

I did rechrome a Nishijin B frame a few years back and it cost me $225 in total. I also in the last year or so got quotes from about 3 other shops and they said the numbers I stated above.

[cardwwi]

Last time I check on re chroming 4 years ago it was $175 for glass door frame and ball tray door, most the time I just replace with better looking one. The problem here is that there is only one company in town that does re chroming and he take as long as he wants to do the job.

[CarlW]

Can have sand blasted and powder coated... about $75 and there is a shiny silver (not really chrome)
http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/vint...inko-game.html

[sydtheframer]

Thank you emmadog ...

[sydtheframer]

I had considered spraying and also chrome car tape ...

[stampeed valkyrie]

I'm gonna 2nd what was mentioned previously. I have never had anything pachi related rechromed.. but I work on other restorations.. vehicle and emergency lighting like beacons.. Chroming can be very costly depending on what it is your redoing.. however it does pay to shop around.. and you will get better prices if you redo multiple parts.

[emmadog]

[QUOTE=sydtheframer;543977]Thank you emmadog
no problem. spraying won't give that great of results unless you have lots of experience with it. even then it's still not as good as chrome and the finish is very fragile which necessitates the application of a clearcoat. clearing over a chrome spray finish dulls it down to a silver color.
chrome auto tape I think wouldn't fare much better.

[browne92]

There are DIY Chrome plating kits. The are expensive, time consuming, and use some pretty nasty chemicals:

http://www.caswellplating.com/electr...ting-kits.html

Something interesting to note, from the Caswell site:

"Decorative Chrome Plate

• Most chrome plate is considered 'decorative'. It is a very thin layer, approx. 1/100th the thickness of a human hair, which is applied over a NICKEL plate. Chrome offers NO corrosion resistance, as it is porous, so the nickel does all the protection. The chrome merely gives the nickel a 'blue' look, and stops it tarnishing. Decorative chrome plate can be considered a 'clear coat' over the nickel 'paint job'."

I suspect that pachinko parts were never chrome plated at all, but simply nickel plated. There was really no reason to go through the added expense and labor of chrome plating something who's design life was only 1 year. Especially when, after a little buffing, you can get nickel to look like this:

align_tool_nickel.jpg

In fact, a good bit of the shiny utensils in your kitchen that you think are stainless steel are simply nickel plated steel.

[pachiwall]

I watched the video...very interesting. A tank for a frame could be made by using a dough tray, like used in a pizzeria. Still would be expensive! Would make you want to rechrome EVERY machine you had!

[luckydog]

back in the 60's I had a Gov't issue 45 automatic hardchrome plated. the small gun shop chrome plated the whole thing including the barrel and magazine for $30.00.

I added simulated pearl grips everybody that saw it loved that gun, its one I really wish I had kept

the hard chrome held up fine with well over a thousand rounds fired

some examples!!

https://www.google.com/search?q=45+a...B1GaHfzdEvU%3D

[mxfaiman]

I got a caswell plating kit. It works okay for touching up some spots. The problem is you have to get the copper plate kit as well. As you need to copper plate it, then chrome plate.

Also it doesn't look nearly as nice when finish. The chrome tends to turn out kinda dark.


Edit:

I should mention this is the caswell kit that I have. http://www.caswellplating.com/plug-n...hrome-kit.html

[sydtheframer]

I think I will look into nickel plating ... Thank you ... I know somebody that
has done it at home ...

[sydtheframer]

There are lots of U tube videos about home nickel plating ...

[blinddog14]

I'm in the same chrome flaked pickle with a 1965 nishijin door frame (liking the powder coat idea a lot), but also the two tulips and four silver jackpot ball catchers are fairly rusty. I've tried a few metal polishes and the aluminium rub to some decent result, but not enough. I think the little "chromed" jackpot catchers I'm going to pull off, sand down, and spray paint chrome. The tulips however seem to be the sticky wicket. Are there any threads out there showing how to pull them from the playing field? Do I go with my first instinct of rooting a butter knife up under there and wedging loose? How do I not damage my wonderful gazelles or impalas or whatever cloven hoofed mammals frolic across the play field?

I'm guessing there's a more professional approach and a decent thread somewhere on this, but i haven't come across it, yet. I do have a bit of hillbilly in me and have acted rashly with bad brains before, butter knife included. And although this method usually fails in the most aggravating manner, it's worked enough times that I'm likely to do it again. Car repairs, relationships, life choices... nothing is sacrosanct. So I'm trying to get advice these days before I ramble off to my own devices.

I'll keep wandering through the forums. They're nice to read and usually some nugget pops up along the way.

Hat tips and thanks all around.

Tulips, baby, tulips...

thanks,
mb

[emmadog]

a butter knife is as good a tool as any and gently prying up the part on one side and then the other is how I’ve done it. once it’s pried up a bit, push the part back up against the playfield and there should now be some clearance between the nails holding it in and the part itself. grab some pliers and carefully twist and pull the nails out.

ever heard of the murders that took place on Palmyra atoll? Fascinating story.

[blinddog14]

I work there as a cook at the research station three months on/off. Yes, it's pretty much the third or fourth thing they tell you when hired. I haven't seen any ghosts or found any bones... yet... but I have been to Buck's cabin by the old Lodestar plane wreck. Buck is the guy that murdered the two yachties. Well, he and his accomplice girlfriend... she actually got off... interesting story, indeed... we actually have a swimming hole where Mac and Muff parked their yacht before being killed in rather grisly fashion as presumed by the bones of Muff found a few years later locked in a metal trunk washed up on the beach. Same story kinda?

[emmadog]

yep, that's the same story. the book was great-in particular the forensics used to determine time of death for the body found in the metal container. i think there was a made for tv movie about it but i'm sure it is nowhere as good as the book.