[Rick Parker]

trularian: Chrome IS striped with acid, the parts are bathed in it to remove previous plating.

Chrome plating as you can imagine is a very caustic environment and looked at closely by the EPA. You don't find a lot of "old timers" still at it that have good work ethics, it is generally someone that is just looking for a job and actually learns the trade on the job.
I had a few bad experiences locally on two different occasions at the same shop where there was pitting in the plating which should have been caught and corrected while prepping the material. I was getting the rollbar and windshield side supports rechromed after I welded up and finish sanded a couple of screw holes that I wanted to move. Twice they came back unsatisfactory and finally the individual (owner) said it was the best he could do. (wrong answer) I went to a Custom Motorcycle (Harley) shop and asked who they had doing their chrome. Bikers as a general rule use more chrome than anybody and as you know want it to look nice. They recommended another smaller shop that I wasn't even aware of, that did a a large amount of chrome on aluminum. It turned out that they did a lot of the chrome for a vendor that makes aluminum parts and billet accesories for motorcycles and were used to doing chrome on aluminum. The parts were ready on time and perfect and at a lower price, how can you go wrong. For me this was a good find.

Rick