can we identify this finish?

[funkmunky]

http://www.kavousa.com/products/handpieces_accessories/high_speeds/cellular_optic/others.asp?navid=500005&lan=Us

a little background... I'm a dental repair technician working for a reasonably large company, and we're interested in offering a "refinishing" service to customers whose dental handpieces are starting to show signs of aging, i.e. cosmetic wear on the body of the handpiece that shows the original copper/brass/bronze material through the matte silver finish. It looks really ugly, and "upper-class" dentists have a tendency to throw away and replace these drills, spending upwards of $800 on a new one, rather than display a cosmetically unattractive handpiece in their fancy offices.

now, a couple months ago, I picked up an Electroless Krome kit from here, and got it working great. fun stuff, plating the keys on my keyring, some parts on my paintball gun, etc... I even did some drills, with various surface preparations, and got some nice results. But, it's not the finish I'm looking for. I'm trying to reproduce as close to the original finish as possible, so I can offer this service with as much transparency to their new handpieces as possible.

So, if anyone can look at the pics in the above link, knowing that the base metal is some sort of brass-colored alloy (not sure exactly what, but I know it only works in the Electroless Krome kit if I use steel wire to hang it), and suggest which kit to try out next, I'd REALLY appreciate the feedback. I'm looking for a finish with a high-durability that will be autoclaved on a regular basis as part of dental sterilization procedures, and will maintain a flat/mildly shiny silvery look (not a polished look by any means) without a lot of yellow or blue tint to it... I've taken a look at the CopyCad system, but am not sure without seeing something in person if it's the right choice, especially given the knowledge that this equipment ends up in people's mouths on a regular basis, and Cadmium is extremely toxic... or maybe the Tin Plating kit, with the proper surface preparation, would yield the correct results, and is food-safe, so would work for my needs... but again, no good pictures of the kits employed with varied surface preparation, so I don't know what to do.

If more pictures are needed, let me know here, and I'll take some of handpieces in various states of finish "decomposition" for reference, upload them, and post the links here.

Thanks to all of you SO MUCH in advance for any feedback and input you might have.

Sincerely,
Dave
Detroit, MI

[mcaswell]

It looks like a satin finish to me

Try a satin nickel or chrome by bead blasting the base to a flat or matte finish.

[funkmunky]

hrm. so, if I pick up one of these Cyclone pencil blaster kits, and some glass bead abrasive, the Electroless Krome kit I've already purchased should produce a finish identical, or at least very close, to the pictures in the above links? Not to question your professional expertise, but due to my budget on this project, I need to be sure. the finish on these handpieces in person appears more like a matte silver, with no hints of blue or yellow in it. it's a very flat look, but with a slight texture to it.

I was looking at examples of the Copy-Cad system's output, and it looks a bit more like that (unless the pics aren't very good). will Krome plating on a beadblasted part produce a look similar to that, with high durability? and, what sort of after-plating finishing work needs to be done to smooth and/or finalize such a finish without "polishing" it, which is NOT desirable in this case?

Again, your input is MOST appreciated, and if anybody has example pics of beadblasted-then-chromed/Kromed work, I'd love to see it. my e-mail address is [email protected]

thanks! --Dave

[mcaswell]

I think you have a good handle on the problem with Copy Chrome.

The finish appears to be a satin. To achieve this, I would use a SCRUBBER wheel to remove the crud surface, then as long as you had achieved a satin look to the metal, plate it directly with Copy Chrome.