how come no one has made reflectors dipped in Chrome

wouldnt a reflector thats been dipped in the same chrome bath as car bumpers or bmx bikes be much better than the very scratch magnet the reflectors flashlights have, i remember wiping the chrome off my bmx bike back in the day with wd-40 and it shined like new

Probably production costs since reflectors are not exposed to the elements such as bumpers or bikes it does not need the extra strengh. Unless you are planning for a windowless light

Most chrome plated bumpers (automotive) are deep-drawn low-carbon steel, polished with anything from a 220-800 grit buffing wheel. A nickel electroplate is then applied to retard red-rust and corrosion and then the chromium is plated on top of that. Most P60 modules are aluminum or brass AFAIK, to help conduct heat. I don't know how well machined Aluminum or brass (for example) reacts to a chrome plate process. I think you would also have to shield the threads, or you could get chrome build up and the pill would seize.

A chrome plate process is pretty extensive. The cathode-anode and tooling required is an art... more than an engineering science. The plating bath chemistry can be tricky to get right and requires constant monitoring to ensure sufficient plating coverage and finish quality. The chemical waste is also a problem... at least here in the US.

I was a quality engineer for Toyota (Tacoma trucks)... I made a 5 year career monitoring chrome quality on those bumpers. It was a constant monitoring kind of thing. Even in a Japanese-influenced fully automated production process.

So, it probably CAN be done, but the consumer demand volume forecast has to be sufficient to overcome these hurdles and turn the investment into profit.

I bet there are chromed reflectors already, like the stamped metal ones in Fultons. It's certainly cheap and durable, but the only problem is Nickel plate is 55% reflective instead of 93% like aluminum. A-ok if durability is more important than hotspot brightness.

Looks like silver is where it's at, wonder how much cost would it add to reflector, consider how little metal is used for the top coating.

jzmtl said:

Looks like silver is where it's at, wonder how much cost would it add to reflector, consider how little metal is used for the top coating.

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I think silver would require too much maintenance.

bfg9000 said:

I bet there are chromed reflectors already, like the stamped metal ones in Fultons. It's certainly cheap and durable, but the only problem is Nickel plate is 55% reflective instead of 93% like aluminum. A-ok if durability is more important than hotspot brightness.

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Nickel plating isn't the same as chrome plating. I feel a bit silly explaining this, but nickel plating is done with nickel, and chrome plating is done with chromium. Inexpensive nickel plated (actually, electroless nickel plating) plastics and metals are extremely common on many, many house-hold items. You can probably look around the room you're in right now and find some. Just around me I have nickel plating on a cheap corkscrew, the buttons on my TV, a pen, the scroll wheel on my LG Chocolate 2 cell phone, the cap to a bottle of liqueur, and probably much more.

As Kramer explained, chrome plating is much more involved and expensive.

I have no idea how reflective chrome is. I know astronomical optics are usually silver plated, but some have been done in polished aluminum. I know of no examples of chromed mirrors, at least outside of cheap Kmart crap. I'll ask my dad (he knows a thing or two about this sort of stuff).

May I suggest to approach a local iron/gate smid, one who does powder coating as well for they are the guys that does chrome coatings daily and it would be no effort to drop in a small size like the ones used for a flashlight.

My previous home that had a large electronic sliding gate and the vendor does this too, maybe I'll ring up to inquire but I also fear that the temperatures first involved in the bathing of the metal, if its a weak type, simply might soften and deform its original shape altogether.:thinking:

Why bother to? Electroforming process is way better.

Umm, you guys know that the reflective part of decorative "chrome plating" is mostly the Nickel-plate underneath, right? The extremely thin (millionths of an inch, not thousandths) bluish Chromium flash-plating on top serves mostly to reduce the yellowish tint of the Nickel and provide extra scratch resistance.

Hard-chromed parts (with a thick layer of Chromium) are used where extreme wear-resistance is required, and aren't particularly shiny. They're bluish steel (gunmetal) gray.

Aluminum requires many steps to chrome-plate because the Nickel won't stick to Aluminum but sticks to Copper. Unfortunately Copper won't stick well to Aluminum either but Zinc will, and it sticks to Copper also. So aluminum parts are usually plated in Zinc, then Copper, then Nickel, and finally a finish layer of Chromium. Think of that next time you see shiny chromed Aluminum wheels!

bfg9000 said:

Aluminum requires many steps to chrome-plate because the Nickel won't stick to Aluminum but sticks to Copper. Unfortunately Copper won't stick well to Aluminum either but Zinc will, and it sticks to Copper also. So aluminum parts are usually plated in Zinc, then Copper, then Nickel, and finally a finish layer of Chromium. Think of that next time you see shiny chromed Aluminum wheels!

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and gottcha on those points, which brings to mind, easy said and asked than done for a fact.

My T1 at primary strength blasts alot of light, all 225 Lumens I assume but if I want it specifically focused with a beam... can anyone suggest or guide me here as to how to achieve that? Do I need to switch & replace the headshell altogether and which is it that I need to specifically order on and where from, that will grant a strong narrow/focused beam perhaps reaching further than 200 meters? Thanks.