The authoritative public forum
  for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Want a hard thick coating for aluminum

Hello to everyone: I'm looking for a hard and thick (about 50-58 HRC)coating for aluminum alloys on order to build trimming tools. Have someone heard about plasma spray deposition on al-alloys?

Carlo Gussoni
Research institute - Cremona, ITALY
2006

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There are several alternatives to coat aluminum with hard materials. The issue here is that aluminum is so soft that any hard material would lack enough support underneath and could fail due to mechanical stress, more so with increased thickness. Electroless nickel could be an alternative either as plated (48-50Rc) or hardened (66-68 Rc). In this case a 0.002-0.003" thick layer would be a practical and safe upper limit.

Guillermo Marrufo
Monterrey, NL, Mexico
2006