Hard Chrome Control Fingers

Marc Weller · From: Upland, Ca. 91784

Like the crankshaft in my supercharged roadster, my BJS bar is hard chromed and bulletproof. Why then are the control fingers on my Williams and my Sho Bud made of aluminum. The finger has a stainless string dragged across its surface hundreds (thousands?) of times every night. The string invariably cuts a groove in the finger surface leaving me with sizzles and sitar sounds which are not all that desirable for country music. Do any steels have hard chrome changer fingers?

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

People who have done the research say that the aluminum sounds better. Strange but true.

Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

Are there industrial hard chrome places where we can walk in off the street amnd get our parts chromed?

Farris Currie · From: Ona, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

YOU guys in CA. have all the best hot rod shops, and surely you have the chrome shops out there!!!!
farris

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Farris - that's a different chrome, if you're talking about the exterior parts...not crankshafts, which are "hard chrome"..

Decorative chrome plating - "bright chrome", the kind you see on cars and motorcycles - is mean to be a "pretty" product and have a mirror-like finish. It is not, however, as durable as "hard chrome" - an industrial plating that is stronger and does not have the tenadancy to peel like bright chrome. Hard chrome is duller in color...more "metallic" looking. It's also much harder to find places that do industrial chrome, as it's a nasty process with tons of hazardous materials.

I seem to recall that Fender '63 and newer-type fingers are hard chrome. I could be wrong, and it's hard to tell visualy - hard chrome looks a lot like stainless.

[This message was edited by Jim Sliff on 01 July 2006 at 12:12 PM.]

Farris Currie · From: Ona, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

JIM

YOU BET I KNOW, i use to work in a shop that did the stems on aircraft valve stems.

they would build the stems then grind them down to size. that was hard chrome.

I still say Ca. has all that stuff compared to Florida.

farris

Eric West · From: Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.

As well, a couple of things.

The Thin Dense Chrome like the Bullseye bars has to be on a ferrous base, SS NS etc. It doesn't work on aluminum.

Chroming aluminum is a self defeating proposition. Pretty much for decoration only.

Unless the technology has changed there must be a plastic type barrier between the alum, and the copper base for the chrome. It ususally in my bike experience looks green.

Copper and Aluminum react cathodically with eachother, bubbling and oxidizing the aluminum.

On chromed aluminum for auto and bike apps, whenever there is a rock or other ding contact that breaches the thin layer between the two, the aluminum bubbles up with white powder oxidation. Without fail. Oxidation never sleeps.

On a finger, as soon as the string did the same thing, you'd have a mess.

Thin Dense chrome was developed by the USSR to make cheap parts hold up longer. It works good. They line soft metal oil pipelines with it to minimize sand erosion.

The hard chrome on my Bullseye Bars has worn very well, but I'd like to try the densest type.

I know that if you have the fingers made out of a ferrous metal, you could probably get them TDCed by the guy at Bullseye, but you'd have to check with them. Other than him you have a hard time getting small batches done. Allowing for the layer is a lot smaller undersize than with standard chrome, but you'd have to allow for it.

I'm thinking though, what b0b said is right though, and there are all kinds of hardness available in aluminum.

EJL

Farris Currie · From: Ona, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

This is funny to me!!!!

and i got just enough experiance to get myself in trouble.

the Hard chrome was nothing special, they put the valve stems in after grinding down, and build them up so many thousands.

then they grind them in a centerless grinder.

thats about all i know.

farris

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

I soent about a year working in a plating shop that did both. a l-o-n-g time ago (I was in college), but from what I understand the technology hasn't changed much.

We turned down aluminum for just the reasons mentioned.

Dick Wood · From: Springtown Texas, USA

Marc, I've owned two Dekley's which had chromed fingers and I thought they both had really good tone. The fingers wore very well and after 20 plus years, I never saw any gouges develope on either of them.

I'm not sure but I don't think anyone except maybe MSA chrome plates fingers.

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Cops aren't paid much so I steel at night.

Marc Weller · From: Upland, Ca. 91784

My Williams is about 10 years old. If aluminum sounds better and I have to change fingers every 10 years that won't be much of a problem. Alan Johnson probably gets about 15 seconds of use out of the hard chrome crank in his top fuel motor. I'm going to call Bill Rudolph on monday about a new set of fingers. How difficult will it be for me to change the fingers on my 400 Series Williams?

Ernest Cawby · From: Lake City, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

Check with John coop he uses the chrome on his parts.

ernie

Brendan Mitchell · From: Melbourne Australia

I think the where the string passes over the finger on my ZB is chromed steel . This is a part that actually slips onto the "finger" it is like 3/4 of a disc . I have not explained this very well but maybe one of the ZB experts could tell it better.
Brendan

Jim Palenscar · From: Oceanside, Calif, USA

It's no problem having aluminum chromed- I've done it lots of times. It has to be zinc/nickel plated 1st- no big deal.

A. J. Schobert · From: Cincinnati, Ohio,

Those groves are a reflexion of your dedication to your craft get some new fingers and wear them down as well!!!

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

Because of the clearances involved on the sides and all, it seems to me like it would be easier to machine some slots in the top of the fingers and use some hard stainless steel inserts, chromed or not. The (replaceable?) inserts could almost certainly be cut from an existing available stainless steel pipe, you'd just have to find a matching diameter. Just like changing the bridge inserts on a six-string, it would certainly tilt the tone towards brighter (shrill?), so you'd have to have enough equalization control to re-EQ it back towards "musical." (You sure wouldn't want the little buggers to rattle in their slots, either....)

The reason aluminum fingers sound "better" is because someone made an amp with particular equalization parameters, then someone made a guitar that sounded good with that amp, then someone made another amp that sounded good with that guitar, then someone made another guitar, and so on and so forth. There's a certain range of proportions of midrange and treble that sound "right" to the human ear, but you could make a solid aluminum or bell brass steel guitar sound good if you had the EQ capabilities to cut the sizzle.

Dave Potter · From: Texas

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