Barry Ashcroft Posted March 20, 2003 Share Posted March 20, 2003 Does anybody know of a company in the bristol area who can coat plastic to look like a chrome finish. Any advice please Barry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Elworthy Posted March 21, 2003 Share Posted March 21, 2003 Barry, Adding a Chrome effect to plastic is very difficult. In volume production, modern chrome plated components are now manufactured to a very high quality, but require a very complex process. The substrate (moulding) is usually of natural ABS or PC/ABS. It is then dipped for varying lengths of time in over 20 different solutions, firstly to make the material conductive, and then through the galvanic application of nickel, copper and finally chrome layers. The chrome layer has to be micro-cracked or micro-porous so that it can flex with the plastic. If this process is not followed, or the part you require plating is made from a material such as PP, PU or PE you will almost certainly suffer delamination. HOWEVER, as an alternative, you could try and locate someone who can apply a very thin FOIL to the part. Generally for foiling you need a flat clean surface as I believe it is fixed by transferring it from a backing sheet under pressure / even load. This process is used for picking out lettering and the like. Let me know what part you are trying to get chrome plated and I'll see if I can help you. If it is from ABS and is clean I may be able to get it chrome plated as a prototype. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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