ELECTRO-PLATING
'A Class' finished products stand out from the rest'

DECORATIVE COATINGS
Decorative coatings enhance the appearance of parts and also afford a level of protection from environmental conditions. Examples of parts commonly treated with decorative coatings include tapware, door furniture and automotive trim.
Our plating staff work in close liaison with our manufacturing customers regarding higher volume production work and with the staff of the Restoration division to complete the restoration process. Regardless of the articles being processed they are all given the care and attention to detail that can only be given in a hand operated plating line.
Our decorative plating services extend to the ability to finish both metal & plastic (ABS) parts to high quality standards.

Some of the current decorative finishes available are:

- Chrome
- Gold (22ct, hard, cobalt gold),
- Gold (decorative 'antique' gold finish)
- Rose Gold (small parts)
- Silver (decorative)
- Rhodium (small parts)
- Nickel
- Copper including antique finishes
- Satin or "Velvet" (matt/non-reflective) in any of the above finishes
- Electroplating on ABS plastic in any of the above finishes

PLATING ON PLASTICS
Unlike metal objects, plastics can't be plated directly onto their surface as they are non-conductive and hence require a series of chemical processes to create a surface that can be plated. The other issue is adhesion of the plating to the surface of the plastic as there is no natural bond that forms between the two surfaces like that of plated metals. This is why ABS is a commonly used plastic for plating as it can be treated relatively simply to create a micro-porous surface that the plating can form into and give a "keying effect" that holds the metal onto the surface. Although there are many plastics that can be coated, there are few that can be plated successfully on a commercial basis as this "keying" can't be easily achieved on these plastics.

For restoration customers, as a rule, if the parts have previously been plated they can ususally be sucessfully replated but if they had previously been vacuum metallized and the type of plastic is unknown then the results may not be suitable.