We offer a great selection of finishes, in large capacity plating hoist line. We have large tanks to accommodate all your plating needs.

Finishes

Bright nickel – Bright yellowish in appearance, is applied to a piece of metal, polished or not.

Polished chrome – Adds a thin layer of chrome to the nickel and it will acquire a bluish appearance and

Will last a lot longer, maintaining it’s mirror like appearance.

Satin nickel – similar process as bright nickel, with a dull appearance .

Satin chrome – adds a layer of chrome to the nickel plating, giving it a bluish appearance and more

duratility

Satin brass – is a similar process of satin nickel, but in this process the parts will acquire a gold color,

Which is then preserved with a clear coat of lacquer

Mirror brass – similar in color as the Satin Brass, but with a mirror like appearance, which is then sealed

With a coat of clear lacquer

Antique bronze – will turn a new piece of metal into an antique instantaneously. It is also used to

salvage an old piece of metal, maintaining it’s age with a new and fresh appearance. It is tremendously

versatile with an infinite array of tonality and appearance.

Electroplating is the term used for the operation of depositing a layer of metal on a substrate, using an external power supply to provide electrical current (electrons) that passes through a solution containing metal ions.

  • The part to be plated is connected to the cathode (negative terminal) and the metal being plated is connected to the anode(positive terminal), hence the term anode. The actual metal that is deposited on the item to be plated comes from the metal ions in the solution, the electrolyte, not directly from the anode, which is actually dissolved into the solution as a metal ion.

For example, a Watts type nickel bath contains nickel sulfate, nickel chloride and boric acid dissolved in water. This is the source of the metal that is deposited on the item being plated. It is replenished in the electrolyte to some extent by the metal that is dissolved off the anode. In some instances an inert, or insoluble anode, is used and all of the metal that is plated out must come from the metallic salts that are in the solution.

 

  • Typically not all of the electrons in the reaction are used to reduce the metal ions at the cathode. Some are used up forming hydrogen gas. This hydrogen can co-deposit with the metal and cause an undesirable condition called hydrogen embrittlement.
  • Other chemicals called additives are dissolved in the plating solution to increase solution conductivity, aid in anode dissolution, or in some cases to modify the crystalline structure of the plated metal. Some of these additives, called brighteners, level the surface and make the resultant deposit smoother and shinier.