Re-chroming winches.

Martin_J

Martin_J

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I am currently wondering about having a couple of Lewmar winch drums re-chromed. Size 44...

Looking back at past threads there have been various suggestions as to places to send them to but not much in the way of postings about success or failure of the re-chrome.

Phoning round I have come across J & A Finishings Ltd in Fareham who say that they can re-chrome. Seems like they don't have to wait for other items to make up a batch either.

Does anyone have any other suggestions, recommendations or have you taken yours to J & A (or anywhere else on the South Coast) and been pleased with the service.

Thanks in advance.
 
I can't suggest anyone but make sure you get hard chrome as used for wear protection on engineering items, not decorative chrome like old car bumpers.
 
It's clear from previous threads on this subject that one thing general-purpose chroming shops are wont to do is polish out all that horrible rough stuff on the waist of your winch. They should obviously be advised up front that this is not what you want.
 
Ah, thanks troubador. I got a winch done at a place on the West Hythe Industrial Estate (that's the Kent Hythe); cost me about £75. Since they seemed to specialise in classic vehicles I'm now wondering if they put the softer stuff on.
 
The chap I spoke to at J & A appeared to know what he was talking about.. and was actually recommended by another metal plating company that I had called (who seemed to now only do aluminium finishes and powder coating).

As to 'hard chrome' plating.. I understood that process to produce a dull grey finish. Since the Lewmar winch was originally a very shiny silvery finish I would not have thought that was hard chrome. Correct me if I am wrong.

Spuddy - What size winch was that £75 for? Guestimation of costs from J & A were a little lower than that for the Lewmar 44.

Macd - If the company taking my winch drums in did not make their process clear to me then I would be reticent about leaving the parts with them.
 
Spuddy said:
Ah, thanks troubador. I got a winch done at a place on the West Hythe Industrial Estate (that's the Kent Hythe); cost me about £75. Since they seemed to specialise in classic vehicles I'm now wondering if they put the softer stuff on.
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I'm afraid it is rather different. Decorative chrome is liable to come off in flakes if stressed.
Somebody posted a few weeks ago about successfully having hard chrome done and named a supplier - have a search if you can face it!
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrome_plating
This firm's name is a bit of a giveaway http://www.hardchromeplating.co.uk/
 
Tradewinds - I would be interested to know the total cost and what size you posted.

My drums are each 7" across the bottom and 6.5" high. The weight and value of them was putting me off sending them.

Still intrigued whether your hard chrome finish will be a dull or a shiny colour and whether the extra thickness of hard chrome will fill the dimples in the grip section.
 
I had some winches re plated 3 years ago they looked fantastic but it's now flaking badly again. I was thinking of having it done again but I think I would want to be very clear about a suitable process specification before spending any more money. Does anyone know a suitable spec to call up when ordering or what the original Lewmar spec was.
 
Another interesting quote regarding Hard Chrome...
"It increases wear and corrosion resistance whilst creating a low co-efficient of friction."

Low co-efficient of friction.. To me that means slippery.... :eek:
 
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Hi Martin,

Have a look for a major hydraulics work shop. I have a number of winches and many other items re chromed at our local bulldozer reconditioning factor.

No added extras for being classed as a "Marine" application, and very good standards of work.

They will even add a pattern or make sure it's perfectly round and true.

Good luck and fair winds. :)

PS. I always have a chat to the guy that is doing the actual work. ;)
 
Thanks for the responses so far..

I am still however hoping for some actual experience from someone who has had winches done (perhaps in the past few years) and can say how happy they were with the result.

There are just too many platers in the phone book to randomly call.
 
Tradewinds said:
I've just sent two of my winch drums to AM Philpot (Hard Chrome) Ltd who were recommended by someone on the forum.

Andy Morgan is a keen sailor with his own yacht so should know exactly what is required.

Tel: 01582 571234
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That's it, that's the one I was thinking of.

Hard chrome is generally more satin finish, less bright than decorative chrome, but that may be because it's often ground finish e.g. on hydraulic cylinder piston rods.
No it won't fill up knurling, it's still very thin compared with the depth of that.
 
Direct experience with Lewmar 43s. Looked like new when returned. The roughened rope contact surface still had the original pattern and gripped the rope well. I was initially very pleased. After first seasons long cruise the wearing surface was starting to take on a golden hue particularly the tapered lead in at the bottom of the drum which takes most of the wear. Winches are in service for 6 months and stored under cover during the winter. At the start of the third season one winch was starting to flake off. The plating was much thinner than the original. By the end of third season one winch had completely lost plating on the wear surface. The other winch has taken on the golden hue. The other 5 winches I had done at the same time still look new but these are used much less. The supplier said he only gave a 1 year guarantee. This seems to be standard for most suppliers and is clearly inadequate for most marine applications. It does not appear to be worthwhile having winches re chromed to "decorative" standards. The problem is to fully understand the specification required. Most of the standard specs MIL, QQ and DEF Stans require the purchaser to decide on what thickness and process he needs. I don't think any suppliers will give a guarantee of a specific survice life but should be able to prove they have completed the process to a stated specification. What is needed is information on what process to apply to yacht winches with specific information on process, surface prep, thickness, underplating type etc. From experience in industry I know that electroplaters can be pretty secretive about their process details but the information must be out there somewhere.
 
KAM - Agreed. I guess the hardness of the 'chrome' layer is a very small part of the equation.

Do you know if yours were initially de-chromed.. and were they then copper plated, nickel plated and then chromed plated? i.e. a three stage plating process.
 
As far as I know they were de chromed and polished before replating. It was a 3 stage process and I think the contractor did a good job for "decorative" plating. It's just not good enough for a working marine environment. The originals were 30 years old. The rechromed one with the problem does not look much better than before replating except for the abscence of the small surface cracks which seem to occur. I would have thought 10+ years should be possible. Maybe it is simply getting a thick enough top layer to take the wear. I don't know what the optimum thickness should be. I should have measured the old ones I suppose. Perhaps someone with some flaking chrome could provide a measurement as a starting point.
 
Martin_J said:
Troubadour - Did you get winches done by AM Philpot and if so how are they gripping/lasting and what did they look like?
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No I haven't had any done but I remember somebody recommending Philpott a while ago.
I just gave a caution about getting hard not decorative chrome based on general engineering experience.
 
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