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Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ

finishing.com -- The Home Page of the Finishing Industry

  The authoritative public forum
  for Metal Finishing since 1989

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Chrome plating on plastics -- Q&A's

ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene)

Some glass reinforced nylon is plateable, but you need to contact the plastics maker to be sure. Most times if it's plateable they will call it "plating grade" or the resin number will end with "PG".

But ABS is the ideal substrate for plating because the chrome-sulfuric etch dissolves one of its 3 constituent plastics so well that it gives a good spongey base for great adhesion. While it's hard to compare plastic with brass, many (maybe most) of the world's automobiles have nickel-chrome plated ABS grills, so it's certainly very robust.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

Q. Hi ,

I have question in regards chrome mirror like plating on plastic material. Is there any effective method for chrome plating for plastic toy industry?

Thank you,

Dian Budijono
- Melbourne, Australia
June 10, 2015

A. Hi Dian. Aluminum vacuum metallizing has been a common answer for decades, but answers to vague questions are often of only limited value. Help us help you by telling us your situation in detail.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 2015

Q. We are in to electroplating business. after electroless nickel layer and a layer of copper there are small sparkling spot appearing on our product how can we improve that? Please help.

Govind M.
- Mumbai, India
January 20, 2016

? Hi Govind. A picture is going to be worth a thousand words I think. I don't know what you are trying to describe. But if you search the site you'll find many threads about troubleshooting defects in plating on plastic. Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
January 2016

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