Is anyone familiar with the process of neo-chrome plating and how it works? It is a different finish than burnt titanium, but seems to involve a heating method in some way to give it the rainbow finish.
If it is just heat that causes it, is it in every other way identical to traditional chroming? Or is it an entirely different coating.
I finally found some information that has helped clarify this process a bit.
"Neo-Chrome" (which seems to be a brand name) along with the other terms I've come across including "Aurora Electroplating" and "Burnt Titanium", all describe the process of Physical Vapor Deposition, or PVD. This process involves evaporating metals inside of a vacuum using an electric arc. Objects spinning around this source metal collect the evaporated particles as a coating.
Zirconium, Titanium, and Chromium are the different source metals used in this process, which helps to explain how "burnt titanium" and "neo chrome" differ. I.e., different source metals, coating thickness, and process can all contribute to different thicknesses and colors. In addition, no two parts will have identical finishes.
I'm very curious as to how this process would scale up when coating a wheel, or larger objects than that. The few custom shops that offer this don't seem to show off their process very readily, but hopefully someone who does this for a living stumbles across this question and can expound on that.
