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Triple Chrome Plate?

We manufacture and electroplate a number of tableware items. Many of them are finished in nickel-chrome. I recently read an advertisement of a 'Cherry Pitter'. It described it as "triple chrome plated on zinc". Will anyone please enlighten me on what 'triple chrome plate' is and why this is necessary? I shall truly appreciate a response. A. Mookerjee

Aloke Mookerjee
- New Delhi, India
2000

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In the dark ages of chrome plating, it was thought that taking a part out and reactivating it and putting on another layer of chrome for three layers was superior.

Modern thought is that is wrong. The quality of the strikes and in some cases duplex nickel over copper has allowed the bumper folks to get similar corrosion resistance with a lot less chrome. In short, a mil of chrome will have the same capabilities regardless of if it is put on in one coat or three.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2000

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2000

Hello, Jim. You know chrome plating better than I do, and I will not deny the possibility of applying three layers of chrome as you describe, but I don't think that 'triple chrome plated', as it's used today, means that. It is an ambiguous term used in sales promotion, not technical specifications, that merely means 3 total layers-- most likely copper, nickel, and chrome.

Our FAQ: Chrome Plating Tutorial may be interesting to beginners.

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

I paraphrased a paragraph out of "Chrome Plating Simplified". Believe I had also heard that when I got my CEF certification. Whatever, It is an advertising gimmick.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2000