The chrome plating which was applied at Wilson's when I was employed there in the early 1960s was of a two metal process, I'm pretty sure the base layer was copper. This layer was NOT used to fill in scratches. The heads were all polished by means of Set-up close weave & tightly stitched cotton cloth polish wheels which had glue applied around their perimeter & were rolled in grit. I do not now recall the actual grits used but first was an aluminum oxide wheel which was referred to as a Red Wheel. Next came one of silicon Carbide which was called the Black Wheel. Following this, they went to a brush wheel which was called a Tampico Brush. I was told this was made of some sort of Sea Weed. This w brush was treated with an abrasive embedded in a greasy carrier held in a cardboard bodied tube & had to be applied by rubbing it in every few heads. Also, this operator formed an inspection of the polish job & any with scratches were laid back to the other end of the container they were carried about in & they went back to "THE" polisher who had run them for touch up. This brush was followed up by what was called Hi-Polish which consisted of a loosely woven & stitched cotton wheel to which was applied a finer abrasive contained in a Dry Bar.
The heads went directly from the base plate to the final plate with nothing being done between the two. Any scratches which were on them when they went to plating Stood Out like a sore thumb after plating.
During my four years of employment, I did all of these operations, except the plating. That is I polished, I brushed & I high polished. Even though it has been more than 55 years since I last punched out on the time clock there, today if you gave be one of those wheels & an iron head I could still do those operations Blindfolded. I could not, of course, inspect my work blindfolded, but could do the operation.
Bottom line is all plating is not created equal.
I thought it may have been Wilson when you posted. My father had the Canadian distributorship for Wilson from the early 1950's until 1970. You must have produced some of the irons that came up here. As ridiculous as it sounds, small world.
