How to remove chrome from a club???

I was doing some research online and called a couple places. They all say Hydrochloric acid will remove chrome from metal and not ruin the metal..

Hydrochloric acid, is the same as muriatic acid. I recently blued by vokey wedge and I have a cheaper Cleveland sand wedge and I would like to take the chrome off of it and blue that aswell.

I do NOT want to sand the club, but if I have to I will.

Thoughts?? Comments?

Why would you buy a chomed club if you didnt want chrome?
But to answer your question a local golf shop can do it for you,

maybe he changed his mind and would like it to be blued now.

Yep. I paid 35 bucks for this used 56 degree Cleveland sand wedge.. I want to blue it.

Hydrochloric/Muriatic acid should eat through the chrome without harming the metal. Not for sure where you would be able to pick any of that up though. Muriatic acid is used in a process called pickling which is a surfacing treatment they do to remove rust from iron. The acid shouldn't be able to eat through the metal of the club but it should take the chrome off. I would even try using a deluted solution first and increased the strength if it is not working.

Hydrochloric Acid can probably remove the Chrome of your club, but I would not recommend that!

The Chrome Finish has an oxide layer because it had contact to the normal air. This means the dilluted Hydrochloric Acid ( 0.1N - 1N ) is to weak without any additional Treatment of the Chrome. Perhaps you can strip the chrome with higher concentrated Hydrochloric Acid, but this acid is one of the strongest acids out there, so I would be very careful with that!

Use Protection Gloves / Glasses / Overall and strip the chrome outside in fresh Air if you really want to work with 10N HCL.

I am not sure if you can buy it without problems. In Germany where I come from it is classified as "Dangerous Good" and only available in a Pharmacy with a lot of bureaucracy involved.

What you could try is:

Scratch the Chromsurface with Sandpaper (take a fine one, you dont want to scratch the steel) then when the fine Chrome (IV) oxide Layer is gone put it into dilluted Acid (Sulfuric, Hydrochloric but not nitric acid) this should "solve" the Chrome problem, but you have to get rid of the oxide layer first. Try Vinegar or Acetic Acid on the scratched surface it could be strong enough for that purpose.

Second: Although the Acids are dilluted, they are still very aggressive! You should use the Protectiongloves etc. as well.

I sell industrial chemicals for a living. Hydrochloric/Muratic Acid will definately take the chrome off. Its what chrome shops use to clean the metal before re-dipping it. The only problem with this is you'll probably need to have some sort of caustic or alkaline rinse. If you do not completely nuetralize the HCl after the chrome is gone it WILL eat the steel of the club. I don't care what anyone says, I've seen HCl eat through 1" thick stainless steel. They thought the tank was de-contaminated with just a couple warm water rinses.

Now if you want a rusted club (I know thats what some people are looking for), then just rinse it with water very well. You can buy Muratic Acid at pretty much any pool supply store. I would seriously recommend buying a $20 wedge from walmart that's chromed and see what happens to that first, or bring it to a shop that can do it and garuntee their work. Good luck,

Cris