Electroplating is a method finishers use to improve the overall quality of a component or unit. It is a process selected as a means for cost-effective production. Originally, electroplating essentially referred to gold or silver plating. This involved the overlaying of a base metal with a thin surface coating of gold or silver. It kept the prices of flatware and other items down. This increased market availability that, in turn, meant higher profits for the producer.
Today, while cost remains a factor, an equal emphasis is on the properties that electroplating can transfer to the substrate metal. For example, gold plating may make an item cheaper but still attractive, yet it also imbues the substrate metal with durability. Electronics firms like silver because of its high level of conductivity as well as its looks.
Development of Electroplating
Electroplating is not a new method. It has been existence now for almost two centuries. Yet, it is to the Elkington Cousins – George Richards (1801-1865) and Henry (1810-1852), that the process owes its modern methods. In 1840, they patented the method that was to make its way from England to both the old and New Worlds. It was to replace gilding – the early form of plating an object, forever.
Electroplating made such things as gold and silver plating more accessible and commercially viable. While the new method was safer and less toxic than gilding was, it was in need of improvement. In the mid and later 20th century, changes were introduced that addressed such concerns. Among them were:
- Acid baths that were safer
- Improved systems of waste disposal
- Higher quality and more technologically advanced equipment
In the present, such approaches continue as companies work hard to ensure the current means of electroplating do not negatively affect the employees, the environment and the clients.
Commonly Employed Finishing Metals in Electroplating
Electroplating is often performed as a continuous process with the components involved in the procedure hanging from conveyors. Lowering them into the specific tanks – washing and fixing, is part of a process in which the metal substrates undergo an improvement in their properties. While almost any commercial metal component or item can undergo the process, some are used more commonly for substrates than others are. Among them are:
- Aluminum
- Brass
- Copper
- Steel
As for the metals applied as the surface layer in electroplating – they, too, vary. Yet, like substrates, some are preferred over others. Among the metals used in the process are:
- Chromium
- Copper
- Gold
- Palladium
- Platinum
- Nickel
- Silver
- Tin
Electroplating
If a manufacturer wishes to imbue a metal or plastic component with certain characteristics, it turns to a finishing company. While various processes may help improve the quality and protective properties of the metal, only one method is used to provide the consistency desired. This is the method known as electroplating.
