We used to have a plastic plater in our plant. The plastic went through a "preplating" process where it was coated prior to going through the plating process. In the plating process, the parts were dipped in three baths of copper, then dipped in nickel baths, with final dips in the chrome tanks. It was a quite extensive process.
The plating that gregful described is still done in the plant. What he described is "Vacuum Metalizing". Parts are coated, placed in a vacuum chamber where they are charged with electricity. Strips of aluminum are placed on copper rods in the chamber which have the opposite charge as the parts. At an extremely low vacuum the aluminum vaporizes and since the particles are charged they are deposited onto the parts. The result looks very much like chrome.
Jim
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