Removing Chrome from a Bayonet?

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

I bought a nice-looking Lorenz bayonet on E-Bay for a really reasonable price, but when it got here I found it had been coated with chrome. It looks too shiny. Does anyone know how I can remove the chrome other than sanding it off?

[Lou Lou Lou]

Is reverse electroplating possible?
i don't know

[Bullseye54]

Sometimes when the current is reversed when chrome plating it draws impurities out of the base metal and buggers up the surface...

[jonk]

Well, there's chrome and then there's chrome. If it was a cheap paint on job, odds are good that naval jelly or bead blasting would remove it. If it was plated on, I'd try the reverse electroplating to start. Hard stuff to remove.

[Pat in Virginia]

Gary,

Since it was plated, technically you might be able to de-plate it by reversing the polarity in a chrome plating solution.. I don't know how practical this might be these days given EPA requirements. Just a thought.

Another thought: I think chrome plating is sometime used to cover up a not so fine surface condition of whatever got plated.


Pat

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

Here's what I found on the internet. Some of it sounds pretty hokey to me, but I think I'm going to give the overnight Coke soak a try. http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Chrome-Plating

[R. McAuley 3014V]

Brownells has a chrome-plating stripper that works as a reverse plating process:

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/metal-prep-coloring/pre-finish-surface-prep/super-strip--prod20613.aspx

Or if your would like to read more about this product and its process:

http://www.brownells.com/userdocs/learn/Inst-160%20Super%20Stripper.pdf


Caution: Will destroy any aluminum, stainless steel, or high carbon steel - I don't recall whether the Austrians case-hardened their bayonets or made them out of high carbon steel -- some others here may know that answer

[Maillemaker]

Authentic bayonets will absolutely be a a high carbon steel so that it can be heat treated. Repros are mild steel and as a result can be bent with your bare hands.

Steve

[Jim Barber]

Steve, I beg to differ! My fine $20 Pakistani-made bayonet cannot be bent by hand! But use it to bust up a 25# bag of ice, and yeah, it will bend. It can, however, be "re-formed" by hand. Actual field testing has proven my findings. It is not a prying tool, it is a poking/stabbing tool. Just be gentle with it poking at rocky ground. Probably also poking someone with bones in their ribcage, though to my knowledge this has not been field-tested. Jabbing too hard may result in deformation and damage to the tool.

Cheers
Jim B.

[Bob Lintner]

Any shop that does chrome plating can strip the old chrome off. You're better off with someone local so shipping isn't involved and the risk of losing the part. I've been in the old car hobby for many years and I speak from experience. The metal underneath is polished before chroming, so it's usually a lot smoother than original. Depending on what was applied-nickel and chrome or copper, nickel and chrome-you're removing around 15 thousands of plating, give or take. Good luck. Bob

[Maillemaker]

My fine $20 Pakistani-made bayonet cannot be bent by hand!

Well my replica sure can. Bought it from S&S Firearms for my P53, I don't remember what country it came from. When I got it it was slightly bent. I chucked it up in my vice to crank on it to get it straight and discovered it was so soft I could have done it with my bare hands.

I assumed these things are made from mild steel and not able to be heat treated. I also assume that the real ones would be quickly rendered useless in a single side-swipe or bending movement of the impaled target if they were not hardened.

Steve