Inspired by Barry's " bad chrome" discussion in this topic: viewtopic.php?t=408713 but rather than sidetrack that one, I'll post about doing this to my Fender Artist D10.
Jerry Overstreet wrote: 21 May 2025 11:50 am
Well, I have some preliminary findings on the surface of aluminum legs after the chrome has been manually removed.
I used an orbital sander then a pneumatic surfacing tool with pads as an experiment in polishing post chrome removal.
Now, I don't have a lot of time for this as I'm dealing with a family member's health, I do not want to spend a lot of money, nor is a perfect polished finish my goal. As I stated earlier, I'm going with shrink wrap after sanding and smoothing enough so that the chrome blems and imperfections don't show through the wrap.
Judging by my limited attention, it is my opinion that polishing these aluminum legs to an acceptable finish after they have been prepared, etched and plated would be a futile attempt.
So: some photos:
This is a comparison of 2 legs, one after sanding, the other after sanding and polishing attempt. [The last photo at the bottom of this paragraph is the best shot of this action.]
IMG_20250521_144732300 - Copy.jpgIMG_20250521_144727544 - Copy.jpgIMG_20250521_145438785 - Copy.jpg
Here is one of those legs and a pedal rod that I have shrink wrapped. I decided on black for this old Artist but it's available in various colors and sizes. For more details PM me.
IMG_20250521_151536869 - Copy.jpg
So here is the finished product and a comparsion of the original chrome parts and the black heat shrink tube parts.
These are not the original legs, I bought these COA legs to replace them and lose some weight. I knew were in rough condition going in and I acquired them with these intentions in mind.
Heat Shrinked:
shrk 1.JPG
PC181022.JPG
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Last edited by Jerry Overstreet on 24 May 2025 7:18 am, edited 3 times in total.
There is one thing I just discovered that I hadn't considered.
Leg mounted devices using the standard GL, Show-Pro leg clip fit really, really tight, almost don't want to clip on. Weak or thin clips might fracture trying to install them over this.
I'm not sure what mil thickness this stuff is. It just reads 2:1 shrink down or 1/2 it's original dia.
The legs are 7/8 adhesive lined I bought from Amazon supplied by a company named Electriduct. https://www.amazon.com/Heat-Shrink-Tubi ... -3&th=1The pedal rods are 3/16 and also came from Amazon. 3:1 shrink ratio supplied by a co. listed as HOLED.
The shrink ratio is 2:1 for the legs. It's available in 3:1 as well but that is more costly and shrinking to 1/2 it's size is plenty adequate here.
The Electriduct stuff comes in many colors. The first roll I bought was 1 in. orange, but it was taking too much time to shrink down, so I decided to go with the black 7/8 dia.
I think I wrote all that in the big long post I showed a link to.
