Artistic Plating to once again Exhibit at 2012 Medical Design and Manufacturing Show in Anaheim, CA – Artistic Plating will be exhibiting in booth 3083 at the upcoming 2012 MD&M West show in Anaheim, CA February 14th-16th 2012…. 
Tacti-Black Black Electroless Nickel High Purity Silver Heavy Build Copper
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Aesthetics And AppearanceHow do I obtain a bright and reflective finish on my product? The application of a bright finish, especially a bright "flaw-free" finish, has been a major challenge for the metal finishing industry for decades. Successful brilliant, reflective surfaces are the result of proper basis metal selection, preplate process(es), proper application of chemically leveling deposits used under controlled conditions, post plate buffing and continuous careful handling of the product. Figure F.6 below shows the ability of leveling deposits to reduce the surface roughness of a basis material. However, note that the plated layers are still not fully level. Without a very good starting surface, a flaw-free, mirror bright surface can not be achieved. Figure F.6: Electrolytic Leveling Deposits
Often the purchaser of a bright finish feels that the electroplating bath is the sole agent responsible for the desired appearance. Actually the bath is most often the least responsible. Proper basis metal selection which is free of macro discontinuities such as scratches or machining lines is of primary importance. Substrates that are corroded, full of porosity (often found in castings), tooling marks or handling damage require extensive preplate polishing. Polishing can often remove basis metal defects, but it is expensive. Polishing that provides consistent surface finishes of Ra <1.0 are not found at all facilities. Even with the best substrate selection, preplate polishing and bright, leveling bath, careless handling or improper packaging can easily damage a product, causing delivery delays and substantial scrap costs. Successful application of flawless bright finishes requires coordination between customer and the metal finishing vendor. Discussion of the customer’s needs and expectations before finishing begins is crucial to providing the correct sequence of finishing steps to meet the finished products requirements. Artistic Plating has a 60 year history of successfully dealing with all of the variables required to produce a bright finish. High-end decorative work is a core-competency that APC provides in several industries such as plumbing, automotive accessories and archery. How do I prevent darkening of a nickel deposit over steel when baking? Baking of hardened steel products is a common step to relieve hydrogen embrittlement (see What is Hydrogen Embrittlement and How is it Prevented? ). A common product requirement for bright nickel plated products to retain their luster after baking. It is a common misconception that the nickel deposit darkens during baking at common hydrogen embrittlement temperatures of 375-400F. Bright nickel deposit can maintain their luster at these temperatures as they generally form a relatively passive oxide with good spectral properties. However, any nickel deposit that is plated to a common (thin) commercial thickness of 0.0001-0.0003 inches is generally a porous deposit that can be thought of metalugically as a screen on the surface of the steel. During baking the steel itself is susceptible to oxidizing or slightly scaling with a darker oxide film. The ferrous scale has a tendency to propagate through the pores in the nickel deposit resulting in a loss of luster to the overall deposit. In order to mitigate this phenomena it is recommended that the nickel deposit be increased to a minimum thickness of 0.0004 inches in order to reduce the porosity of the deposit. It has been shown that this higher nickel thickness generally works to better “seal” the substrate steel and thus prevent darkening of the deposit during the baking process. Slight variations from this rule of thumb may be needed but as a generally design guideline this increase thickness provide acceptable results. |
FINISH SELECTOR Gold Plating CERTIFICATIONS
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