Plating or Shiny Coating for 3-D Printed Aluminum Casting

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A. Hi Matt. Finishing/coating 3-D printed metals is still rather new to many of us in the finishing industry. We've had "Guidelines" for the design of parts to make them readily plateable and finishable for decades -- cast them this way, extrude them that way, etc. -- but the 3-D printing and other rapid prototyping technologies of today are growing explosively, and involve many approaches such that the answer may depend on what metal forming methods were used …

My limited understanding of 3-D printed metals tells me that they tend to be porous … they may be made of mixed materials (some kind of binders as well as the aluminum?) … and the curing may involve heat that oxidizes the surface and makes it difficult to plate or coat.

If there is no special reason to want an actual metallic coating (electroplating), just a shiny one, I think organic coatings (electrophoretic lacquer, powder coating, or paint) will be more practical. You could do electrophoretic lacquer (electrocoating) and a "rose gold" tinted post dip. Even then some extra prep, pre-baking for outgassing, etc., may be required beyond what is usually used for conventionally built components. Good luck.

Regards,