No passwords, No popups, No cost, No AI:
we earn from 'affiliate link' purchases, making the site possible

Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ

finishing.com -- The Home Page of the Finishing Industry

  The authoritative public forum
  for Metal Finishing since 1989

-----

Decorative Finishing options for cast A380

Q. We are a large lighting manufacture and I'm looking for advice on how to get high quality metallic finishes on cast Aluminum A380 parts. Currently we are powder coating these parts. Powder coat just does not look like a brushed metal finish. Since it's cast, we have not found an anodize solution that will work.

We have looked into electroless nickel which looks OK but doesn't give us any tinting options. I'm looking for a company that can cost effectively plate or metallize parts 4" in diameter so that they look like brushed nickel, brass, and various colored Alzak finishes

Is there a processing or plating method that I should look into? Machining these out of billet aluminum and then anodizing is not an option due to cost.

Chris Reed
Designer/buyer - San Antiono Texas
August 2, 2016

A. Cast aluminum can be nickel plated or brass plated, but getting the dyed colors of anodized aluminum is not going to happen with metal plating. How about PVD coating them with titanium and then doing titanium anodizing. Or how about forming them from stamped/spun aluminum instead of cast aluminum so they can be decoratively anodized?

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
August 2016

A. Here is a possible alternative. Your parts are small enough that they be mass finished in a dry organic abrasive mix. This is a common practice for antique looking parts. You will not get a grain appearance, but something similar.

AF Kenton
retired business owner - Hatboro, Pennsylvania
August 4, 2016

A. We've been taking aluminum railboards -- the body of a unique type of stringed instrument with lots of frets -- plating them and following up with various PVD finishes. We've figured out how to give these aluminum parts both brushed and polished finishes. It is a complex process, but certainly doable on parts your size (the railboards are around 36" long).

Jim Treglio - scwineryreview.com
PVD Consultant & Wine Lover
San Diego, California
August 16, 2016

(No "dead threads" here! If this page isn't currently on the Hotline your Q, A, or Comment will restore it)

Q, A, or Comment on THIS thread -or- Start a NEW Thread

Disclaimer: It's not possible to fully diagnose a finishing problem or the hazards of an operation via these pages. All information presented is for general reference and does not represent a professional opinion nor the policy of an author's employer. The internet is largely anonymous & unvetted; some names may be fictitious and some recommendations might be harmful.

If you are seeking a product or service related to metal finishing, please check these Directories: