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Trying to set up a chem film line!

My name is Jeremy Johnson I am the quality manager at a machine shop in Albuquerque, NM. We machine parts per print. We are interested in starting our own plating line, only chem film not anodizing yet. However I haven't had much luck finding information about how to start a plating line ie: supplies needed, tanks needed, testing, certifying etc. The majority of parts we make are flight hardware so we need to be able to certify what we do. I was hoping someone could basically point me in the right direction to get this started as soon as possible without wasting any time or money. I would appreciate any help greatly.

Jeremy Johnson
quality manager at a machine shop - Albuquerque, NM
February 23, 2009

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First of two simultaneous responses -- February 25, 2009

I had a machine shop near here ask a similar question. They had a building that they could isolate from all other functions. Depending on size and quantity of parts, My guess on his vague figures was a minimum of 50K and more likely 100K, and that was with paying me very minimal hourly rate for finding the best prices on quality material, supervising installation and training operators.

You need to take a look at the spec, possibly the Mil Spec, procedures and quality sections. At a minimum you will need a small lab with a chemist or an experienced lab tech.
You will need a DI water system. You will need tanks, solutions, heaters, racks, a blow down area plus a racking/deracking area. Often forgotten are things like certified thermometers. Also overlooked is a spill containment system. You get chrome solution in the concrete and you will eventually have to remove the concrete and send it to a certified land fill.
You will need to farm out salt spray testing or spend several thousand on your own salt spray cabinet and equipment. Tiny cabinets are not guaranteed to produce proper salt fog distribution.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida

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Second of two simultaneous responses --

Jeremy,

I would strongly advise you to contact a consultant about setting up a new treatment line. There is so much more to it than putting in a few tanks with the relevant water and electrical supplies.

You also have to consider what licenses you may require for operating a hazardous process, you will need to identify waste streams and how you are going to deal with them (treated in house, tankered away, consent to discharge etc.), you will need to have people who understand the process to operate it for you...the list goes on and on.

If you are determined to go-it-alone then check out the books section on this site, there are literally hundreds of references. You could start with Aluminum How To, or the Canning Handbook or maybe the Electroplating Engineering Handbook [on AbeBooks or eBay or Amazon affil links] . All are good references, full of useful advice, but as with all books they can only generalise as each situation will be slightly different.

Really look into the possibilities of employing a consultant, they should be able to give you all of the advice relevant to your situation.

Brian Terry
Aerospace - Yeovil, Somerset, UK
February 26, 2009