Commercial plating has been around for many years. It shows up in just about every aspect of life. There are parts in your computer that have electroplating on them, as well as on your car, in your light fixtures and all over your house. There are very few places that you can’t find an electroplated object.
Electroplating is a process that has been around for ages. Over the years it has evolved into the streamlined process used today. It consists of a metal solution that has a charge and the charged object being plated. When the two come in contact with each other they finish a circuit. The charge in the object being plated pull in the ions of the plating material. They then stick to the metal, coating it. The piece is left in the solution for a few minutes, allowing the right thickness of coat to build up on the object.
You can find brass in many decorative pieces around the house while silver plating is found on silverware as well as jewelry. But, let’s talk about commercial plating with nickel, as it is both decorative as well as practical. There are 3 kinds of nickel plating and they get used in many places.
- Bright Nickel: This is generally found in decorations but it is also used to
protect objects. - Semi-Bright Nickel: This is still somewhat shiny, but it has one benefit that bright nickel doesn’t have. Bright nickel loses its ductile quality. Which means that it cannot be easily bent or manipulated. The Semi-Bright Nickel keeps that quality.
- Nickel Chloride: This is a very dull nickel. It is usually found as an undercoating, which works well at keeping anything from the plated object from leaking through to the final plate.
The two biggest benefits to using nickel as commercial plating are:
- Nickel plating is very good at protecting against corrosion because it encases the metal object leaving no place for anything that could get in and ruin the underlying material.
- Nickel plating also resists wear. Which makes it excellent to be used for equipment that gets a lot of use or equipment that has pieces that rub up against each other. It extends the life of the equipment and saves you money in the long run.
St. Louis has a wonderful commercial / residential plating company at their disposal. You should check out American Plating Company. They are set up to use barrel plating and rack plating and have been in business for over 65 years. They are very experienced in plating with Nickel, Chrome, Silver, Gold and Copper. As well as completing your item with your favorite finish. They can plate any item that you want or restore any antique or worn hardware item as well.
