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Preplating before deep drawing

Hi, I need to produce a deep drawn can with tin plating inside. The can is Nickel Plated tinplate (tin plated low carbon cold rolled steel) with a 15 mm diameter, 60 mm length, and .25 mm thickness. We are finding it difficult to plate tin layer inside after the can has been drawn and are now evaluating pre-plating the can with tin (on one side) prior to deep drawing. Can this work? There must be no cracking or other damage to the plating layers (nickel outside or tin inside) after drawing. Any suggestions?

Q Daniels
Buyer - Berkeley, CA USA
October 19, 2009

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Hi, Q. The reason people keep successfully developing new technologies is that they patiently deal with the difficulties a step at a time over a long period of time, so I hesitate to say anything is impossible. But this sounds really difficult and unpromising.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
October 19, 2009

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First of two simultaneous responses --

I seriously doubt if you could deep draw a tin preplate since your tin would be about 1/60 of the original thickness.

You MIGHT be able to electroless barrel plate the part, but it probably would take a special barrel. Whatever, it will be relatively difficult, involve labor, precision and great hired help.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
October 19, 2009

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Second of two simultaneous responses --

Yes, we are finding it to be VERY DIFFICULT. The plating layers of Nickel and Tin are 2-3 microns. I have also read in a few places that preplating can be done before deep drawing. So we are evaluating this method also.

Currently we are plating after deep drawing. But the quality produced by this method is very inconsistent, and we are producing a large quantity, so the cost is very high.

If preplating cannot be done, can you recommend a post plating method that will be easier and more consistent?

Q Daniels
- Berkeley, California, USA
October 19, 2009