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  for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Silver plating poor adhesion

2007

Can anyone suggest the best silver plating process for steel to solve the problems of poor adhesion and to prevent immersion deposit?
Best cleaning, undercoat or "strike", can you give me any recommendation.

Thanks,

Michel COTTAR
Delphi - Paris, France

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While a number of people will give you formulas, You would be best off to use proprietary strike and plating solutions as they will provide an operations sheet with all of the specifications to maintain for the metal you want to plate. Cyanide based solutions are the easiest to use, but they require higher safety precautions. Some companies sell a cyanide -less silver and some have a pyrophosphate strike. Some people have problems with them and others use them just fine. Unless you are going to do an engineering heavy build of silver, you will want a brightener to be used as directed. A proprietary will save you a lot of trial and error to get the results "just right" which costs time and money.
Check the vendors at this site and then hit their web site for who sells their product in France. I would get information from at least two.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2007