Process
A component to be chrome plated will generally go through these different stages:
- degreasing to remove heavy soiling;
- manual cleaning to remove all residual traces of dirt and surface impurities;
- various pretreatments depending on the substrate;
- placement into the chrome plating vat, where it is allowed to warm to solution temperature; and
- application of plating current, under which the component is left for the required time to attain thickness.
There are many variations to this process depending on the type of substrate being plated upon. Different etching solutions are used for different substrates. Hydrochloric, hydrofluoric, and sulfuric acids can be used. Ferric chloride is also popular for the etching of Nimonic alloys. Sometimes the component will enter the chrome plating vat electrically live. Sometimes the component will have a conforming anode either made from lead/tin or platinized titanium. A typical hard chrome vat will plate at about 25 micrometres (0.00098 in) per hour.
Various linishing and buffing processes are used in preparing components for decorative chrome plating. The overall appearance of decorative chrome plating is only as good as the preparation of the component.
The chrome plating chemicals are very toxic. Disposal of chemicals is regulated in most countries.
Read more about this topic: Chrome Plating
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