Koken Barber Chair Restoration

[Ogier Dudley]

AFor your use, consider "brush plating". Check out the vendor lists at this site. This procedure is extremely operator sensitive. If you want a lot less pain, attend the free school from the folks that you think that you want to buy the equipment and solutions from. Typical is 3-5 days of lecture and hands on. Good equipment makes a huge amount of difference, so look at more than one vendor.

Q. I am restoring a barber chair and have had all the metal chrome parts replated. However, now some of the parts don't fit; the new plating is too thick. What's the best way to remove some of the plating. File, wet sandpaper, or ?

Thanks.

A. Hi Brian. I think you'll find that chrome plating is harder than a file, in which case a file won't work, of course. Sandpaper on a power tool will probably work -- if you are talking about functional hard chrome plating on shafts, bearings, etc. The shiny decorative "chrome" plated items are actually a few millionths of an inch of chrome over a nickel plating layer which is thousandths of an inch thick -- so you will lose corrosion resistance and there will be an appearance difference where you sand anything. Hopefully the sanded areas are not visible. You may wish to look over our "Introduction to Chrome Plating" page. Good luck.

Q. Question about stripping Chrome Plating I have 3 old (1940's) barber chairs that I would like to strip and refinish. They are a combination of Chrome plated cast iron, aluminum, and stainless steel. I don't want to re-chrome the chromed parts but I do want to strip them of the old bubbling and flaking chrome. I would like to powdercoat and/or use automotive paint on the parts once stripped.

The problem I have is the local shops (Sacramento, Calif) are telling me that you can't just strip the chrome because the stripping process/chemicals can't be neutralized. Therefore you must re-chrome them. I'm no chemist but this seems odd to me because one can usually neutralize a chemical reaction with another chemical. Right? What is the real answer. Can I have the parts stripped and neutralized or what? If yes, then what is the process?

I attempted to sandblast a part with no luck . If this can be done I would then be able to fill and prep the parts before coating with powdercoat or automotive paints.

Thanks in advance for your feedback. I would really like to restore these because they are from a family members shop.

A. Dear Doug,

The "bubbling and flaking chrome" on your barber chairs is probably nickel rather than chrome. Chrome is usually a very thin coating that protects the nickel and prevents discoloration. Stripping process/chemicals can't be neutralized? You're right, that's ridiculous.

If you would like, I will refer you to companies in your area that distribute our nickel strippers and may be able to give you the names of plating shops that can help you. Note: Since these chairs were manufactured in the 40's they may not have a nickel/chrome finish. During WWII many manufacturers suspended the use of chrome for commercial products, reserving their chrome supplies for the war effort. If the chair parts do have the nickel/chrome combination, the chrome is easily removed by submersion in an electrocleaning tank and applying reverse current for a few minutes. The nickel can then be removed by immersing the parts in the nickel stripper.Hope this helps.

RFQ: I am in the process of restoring my Grandfather's 1908 Koken Barber Chair and am searching for a company to re-plate the metal parts with Nickel. Does anyone have a recommendation in the Philadelphia, PA area?

A. Hi Michael.The items in questions are almost surely steel or cast iron so they cannot be polished to high reflectivity. But there are plating shops, probably right in your area, which can nickel-chrome plate these items for you. Good luck.Regards,

RFQ: I like to restore a lot of things and I recently picked up a 1940s barber chair. This will be the first barber chair I have ever restored and being in college I am on a budget. How much would it cost to nickel plate an antique barber chair?

A. Hi Connor.It would depend mostly on how much prep work is required and how big an area must be plated, but probably a couple hundred to several hundred dollars, maybe even more. The cost of plating can be a shock, but restoration plating is time-consuming handwork, and platers don't survive who charge less for their time than a plumber or mechanic. Good luck.Regards,

Q. Hi,

Am restoring an early Theo. Koch chair. All of the original nickel plating is shot, and the estimates for replating are astronomical. Has anyone had acceptable results with any type of paint?

Q. Hello all:

I appreciate any help given....

I am having a problem with my chrome giving off a haze in the LCD areas.

It is a standard Hex bath with no additives

33 oz chromic acid

.33 sulfuric

Water

Fume blanket

Chrome plating is preceded by standard bright Watts Nickel.

I have tried varying the temp from 110 to 120 F, and get the same results. When I turn up the power to the point of making the haze disappear I start to get a slight burning on the edges. It does not matter the base metal as it happens with everything from steel to zinc die castings.

I have sent samples out of both the nickel and chrome and am awaiting analysis.

Thank you,

I finally got it all fixed. :)

My leveler was very low in one bath and gone in the other in my nickel. I has also learned that I should use a ratio of 5:1 brightener/leveler when making adds to the nickel bath. (I use a lot of auxiliary anodes for restoration work and it was killing my leveler)

I also needed more current in the chrome.

So ... all is well now.

Thanks!

Q. I purchased an old Koken Barber chair and am going to start restoring it. How can I tell if it was Nickel or Chrome plated? Or is it easier to take one of the parts, once I have it polished to a plater and they can tell me.

A. Hi Don. Certainly not just chrome, and probably not just nickel. Most likely nickel-chrome plating. Please see our Intro to Chrome Plating for a full explanation.

Perhaps the easiest way to see the difference between nickel-only and nickel-chrome is to take one of the parts and put it next to a part which you know is chrome. If a friend has a Harley it will have lots of chrome. Nickel can look fine when standing alone, but it will look yellowish when next to nickel-chrome, which will then look blue-ish compared to the nickel.Regards,

Thanks for the reply. Once I get the chair disassembled, I will contact a couple of area companies on plating options. First, I was thinking that it was nickel plated and then changed my mind to chrome. And now it sounds like it is probably both!! grin

A. Don,

Chrome plating was invented in 1924, so I'd say if your chair was made prior to 1925, have it nickel plated. If it was made 1925 or later, you could get away with chrome.

Find the cleanest piece of material you have and polish it up. If it looks like it has a yellowish color to it, then that's nickel plate. If the piece has a silver/white color, then it's probably chrome.

If you know you're going to refinish your metal, and your plater is nearby and does both nickel and chrome, take all of the pieces in and have them plate it in whatever material they determine the original was.

My nearest plater didn't do chrome, so I had to do some research to find out the material of origin. Turns out mine was nickel (1914 Theo A. Kochs).

Q. I have purchased an old Belmont barber chair. I want to restore it; it reclines but does not swivel or raise lower. I can't find parts or manuals. It appears to be a Koken classic design.

THANKS!

A. Try kicking the handle forward. Sometimes they stick when they have been pulled back too hard. I use these chairs on a regular basis. In fact one of mine I got at a discount because the arm was froze in position and I knew all I had to do is kick it forward. Unless it's just moving forward and backward and still not working.

All the way forward and down holding it there lets it down. pushing the lever forward and down and up raises it, and just halfway down/forward lets it swivel. to lock in position lightly pull back to the upright position.

Hope that works

A. Hello there, greetings from Toronto, Canada. That looks like a beautiful chair! I have been doing research on Belmont barber chairs and recently purchased that exact chair but with red leather. I really love that design, and I'm interested to know how your repair went? Can you post any finished pictures? Also, it may be too late but a friend advised me most chairs will take about 2 liters of unleaded motor oil. Cheers

Q. Can metal Antique barber chair parts be welded? My name is John and I'm thinking of buying two Takara Belmont barber chairs. both chairs have the long arms broken in half -- the arms that attach to the foot rest. Does anyone know if this type of metal can be welded?I cannot find the parts to replace them. The serial numbers are 60819 and 60820 I believe; if I'm reading the serial numbers right they were made 1960 August 19th and 20th

A. Hi John. These parts are probably cast iron, which is difficult but not impossible to weld. If you google "weld cast iron" you'll get the picture. But you might also consider having it brazed, since this is perhaps a little easier. So also google "braze cast iron". If you find a good weld shop, I think they'll be able to do it. Good luck.Regards,

Q. My dad has a 1970s era Belmont barber chair, but the fluid seems to be low and we can't figure out how, where and what type of fluid to install. We would be grateful to receive a reply with any help. Thanks.

Q. I have a mid-50's (I think) Belmont barber chair. I can't lock it to stop it from rotating. It always wants to rotate away from the direction I want to face. Am I correct that rotating the pump up handle should stop the chair from rotating? Can someone point me in the right direction to fix it?

Thanks in advance

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