BF2S Forums The 'What Did You Buy Today' thread

Dilbert_X wrote:

Yeah, glasses are another thing I don't spend money on, they have even shorter lives than my watches.

yeah, it is daylight robbery. however in this case i was willing to spend that bit extra to get a very unique japanese design. if anything, it's a sort of memento of a chapter in my life. i always look at getting new glasses as a way of ushering in a new phase, as silly as it sounds. i had 'grad school' glasses and now i have 'japan' glasses, made by japanese artisans, blah blah blah.

in retrospect using chemical wipes on my face/head while wearing expensive glasses was Not Smart. but it's just such an ingrained part of my routine life here, and has been for the last few summers. you simply cannot leave the house without sunblock, cooling wipes, and electrolyte drink/water. the heat and humidity will toast you in 30 minutes otherwise. and remembering to stop and take off my glasses everytime i wanted to dab my forehead or catch some sweat off my brow seems a bit much. very expensive mistake, really.

my only hope is that their no doubt ultra-high margins may dispose them to replace the frames in an act of ophthalmological clemency.

i think it's probably the alcohol content or similar in the wipes that is corroding the acetate or metal finish of the frames. glasses do discolor over time due to interactions with sweat and facial products. just didn't expect it to happen within 4 weeks. intense summer climate ...

which one are you in the picture? the feller who looks like conor o'malley?



or acclaimed wisconsite cheese-consumer and reviewer of comic movies, rich evans?

Last edited by uziq (2025-08-20 05:24:32)

these are 'lightweight titanium construction', apparently, with a 'hand-applied laquer'. i guess my facewipes or some other product (or raw sweat) is causing that laquer to, er, delaminate.

https://www.matsuda.com/products/10103h … 6828583162

yeah, i can see basically that the silver/pewter-looking top layer is basically flaking off, revealing a much plainer material beneath.

it would be pretty hard to scratch off the whole thing evenly, plus the glasses would go from looking like 'premium unique design' to 'specsavers £20' real fast. unsurprisingly the frames beneath the fancy coating/detailing aren't anything particularly special.

i am holding out hope that they'll replace them or at least give me some sort of markdown price on a replacement.

"Handcrafted from light-weight titanium and finished with precious metals."

Plating titanium is not a game for children.

Q. I need to electroplate silver onto grade 2 titanium and have pickled the titanium in 1% HF acid but am still getting poor adhesion.

A. Getting good adhesion on titanium is very difficult and usually involves more than a one-step pickling process. ASM Metals Handbook Vol. 5, Surface Engineering, has a good chapter on preparation of titanium for plating. There is also a procedure to nickel plate the titanium and then bake it for diffusion, ASTM B481, which may be applicable to your needs.

https://www.finishing.com/405/58.shtml

Issues With Plating on Titanium
Plating on titanium has long been considered an extremely difficult, if not impossible, process to master. The biggest issue is that titanium is a highly reactive metal. Specifically, titanium reacts with the oxygen that is produced by many plating processes to form a passive film on the underlying substrate. This film generally prevents sufficient bonding of the metal coating that is applied during plating, rendering the process ineffective. In order for titanium electroplating to occur with any success, the chosen process must promote adhesion between the metal coating and the substrate. The method must also completely remove the native oxide and keep it away for the duration of the plating process. Finding a plating-on-titanium company that is capable of achieving each of these objectives can be nearly as difficult as the process itself. At present, there are only a handful of metal finishing entities that can provide a reliable cost-effective titanium electroplating process. Luckily, Sharretts Plating Company has the expertise and knowledge required to properly perform the titanium electroplating process.

Plating on Titanium With Nickel
Nickel is one metal that has been used for plating on titanium with a relatively high level of success. A nickel coating can increase the corrosion resistance of the titanium substrate and make it less susceptible to wear. In general, the process should consist of the following steps:
Use a solvent to degrease the substrate.
Scrub the surface with a pumice powder paste in water.
Apply an alkaline cleaner and rinse thoroughly.
Immerse the substrate in a 500 ml hydrochloric acid/500 ml water solution and rinse thoroughly.
Immerse the substrate in a hydrofluoric acid (48%) 120 ml/ nitric acid 400 ml/ Water to 1l solution and rinse thoroughly.
Immerse in a hydrofluoric acid (70%) 130 ml/ Acetic acid 830 ml/ water 40 ml for anodic treatment.
Apply a 15-30 ASF electrical current density at room temperature and rinse quickly.
Immerse the substrate in a sulfamate nickel plating bath maintained at a temperature of 145°F and 1000 ASF and rinse thoroughly.
Heat-treat in an inert-gas atmosphere at 480°C for two hours to promote adhesion.

https://www.sharrettsplating.com/base-m … s/titanium

LMAO - after that plating silver onto nickel should be quite easy.

I suggest questioning their pickling process and asking for your money back.

Last edited by Dilbert_X (2025-08-21 03:43:23)

Dilbert_X wrote:

Is it really 'antique silver'? Or are the not the ones in the web-link.

that's just the name for that particular SKU/colourway. probably not as attractive in marketing speak to say 'titanium baked and diffused with precious metals according to ASTM B481'.

uziq wrote:

i skimread that and my eyes glazed over like 3-week old skimmed milk.

Thats literally my working day.