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How to coat with (not onto) stainless steel

October 7, 2011

I would like to use stainless steel as a coating for its highly corrosion resistant properties (Very Good) and also for it (Good) wear resistance.

I have read that Electro-deposition may not work for coating another material, say mild steel, with stainless steel.

Is this true? If yes, could you point me to some relevant information (as any variation in google of stainless steel coating on brings up materials that can coat stainless steel).

If not, could you suggest other coatings with Very Good strong Alkaline and Acidic resistance and wear resistance.
Or
another way to coat a 1.5 mm dia wire in stainless steel.

Cameron Nichols
Recent Graduate mech engineer - Kent, UK
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Hi, Cameron.

Stainless steel cannot be electroplated onto anything. As a laboratory curiousity, Dr. David Lashmore, then of NIST, plated hundreds of alternating microlayers of nickel and chrome, but that is the closest anyone has come that I have heard of.

In heavier industry, stainless steel plates are clad to steel plates by nickel plating both and then autoclaving, but I don't see offhand how this could be applied to the cylindrical shape of wire.

Hard gold plating might meet your needs but would be expensive. Electroless nickel plating might fill the bill.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
October 7, 2011

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October 12, 2011

Thank you Ted.

I had an idea, an old memory maybe, of stainless stain coated cutlery. But I can see that if a stainless coating was built up in the way that you described it would be a very labour intensive method.

Thank you,

Cameron Nichols
- Kent, UK

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It is possible to coat stainless steel on to other metals by PVD techniques. I have used cathodic arc method for this. Cost of coating is another matter.

H.R. Prabhakara - Consultant
Bangalore Plasmatek - Bangalore Karnataka India
October 12, 2011