49893

My current vendor's ebonized stainless steel parts aren't black enough [New York] 

September 4, 2008

I work in the surgical instrument repair field. Most of the instruments that we repair are made of 300 0r 400 series stainless steel. There are certain surgical instruments that are ebonized by the OEM for identifcation and for use in laser surgery.
With time this ebonization begins to wear off. I am asked by my customers to re-ebonize their instruments for them. My current plating vendor sends my instuments back to me and they are a very dark grey. Most of my customers are happy with these results, but a couple of customers insist their ebonized instruments be jet black in color. I know my present vendor is electro plating with black nickle. Should I change to a vendor that uses a black oxide process? Could someone please refer me to vendor that can solve my problem? I would need a plating vendor that wouldn't mind doing small runs of 5 or 10 instruments, and still maintain a fast turn around time.

Thank you,

Vince Tarantella
product design and repair - New York , NY, USA