Nickel Chrome Plating

Nickel Electroplating and Nickel Chrome Plating

Bright nickel chrome is what you see, not necessarily what you get. Depending on your application requirements, the layers of metal plating underneath the bright nickel chrome can include a copper strike, nickel strike, semi-bright nickel, high sulfur nickel, a layer of bright nickel, micro-porous nickel, and a final topcoat of chromium.

Why so many layers? The layers of nickel are structured to provide increased levels of corrosion protection. There is a specific ratio for the thickness and a measurable difference in electrochemical potential of the semi-bright nickel layer to bright nickel layer. High sulfur nickel layers and micro porous nickel layers are designed to improve the corrosion performance.

We determine which layers of nickel to use by understanding the application, part specification, and corrosion requirements.

Mirror chrome is a good way to describe bright nickel chrome. The appearance can be as reflective as a mirror. The more reflective a part must be (usually referred to as an “A surface”), the smoother the surface finish needs to be before chrome plating. Nickel plating has a white finish and the chrome plating which deposits chromium has a clear translucent finish which is hard and scratch resistant.

All of our bright nickel chrome plating requires a special rack fixture to hold onto the parts during the plating process. The plating racks are engineered to maximize the productivity of each rack and distribute the electrical current and plating onto each part as uniformly as possible.

Electroplating is driven by direct current electricity so the metal plating deposit can vary in thickness. In the evaluation stage we determine minimum thickness points on each part and design the rack fixtures and the plating cycle to meet the minimum nickel electroplating thickness requirements.

Contact our metal finishing company now for additional questions or request a FREE quote for nickel electroplating or nickel chrome plating!