Atlas Plating uses a triple layers blue/bright Chromium system. Most metals which are used in cars, motorcycles and furniture, are suitable for chrome plating. ALUMINUM is used in many car and motorcycle wheels and parts. To chrome the Aluminum we use three layers of Copper ,Nickel and Chrome.
STEEL is mostly used in furniture and we use a two layers of Nickel and chrome if customer needs a layer a Copper we can add it to the process.
PEWTER is used in some car parts. It is hard to chrome Pewter. We use several layers of Copper and then Nickel and chrome.
Chrome Plating Process
process of plating starts by removing all the layers of old coating off, it could be the old plating layers, paint, anodized surface, clear coat or powder coat. we do this stage using reverse plating, paint stripers, blasting. after this we go for polishing, every single piece has to be polished to a mirror like surface before plating starts, that's why we always ask our customer to dismount the assemblies to the smallest components. polishing normally starts from 60 grit and goes up to smooth surface. then we clean the parts and plating starts, each chrome plated piece has at least one layer underneath, this layer is Nickel, chrome is shinny because of Nickel, for example a steel part needs to be Nickel plated first then chrome plate, this mirror like surface is a base for chrome. now the high price of Nickel makes some plating companies to use copper first, you plate with copper first then you buff it to a shinny mirror surface now adding a tiny layer of nickel makes the part ready for chrome plating, so the legend of triple plating starts here.
plating Aluminum is another story, on Aluminum you have to have an extra layer, you can't Nickel plate directly on Aluminum, the standard way is putting a layer of Zinc then a layer of Copper then Nickel/Chrome. in Atlas plating we normally put a extra layer of Nickel( 3 times on Rear motorcycle wheels), it means after first Nickel we go back to tank for the second time, we do this on the parts or wheels with deep corners so we get enough thickness in these low current density areas.
after Nickel we go to chrome tank, then we buff and clean the parts.
some interesting facts:
-most of the parts stay in chrome tank for less than 90 Sec. the thickness of vary from 5 - 8micron
-it takes a lot of DC current , somewhere around 700A to 3000A
-chrome solution is like Dark Red or Chocolate Brown
-you can not chrome over chrome, it turns to a dull gray color finish, same if you stay long in the tank.
Gold Plating Process
Same as chrome the base layer for Gold is Nickel so after Nickel we do Gold plating. if you have something in chrome we can reverse the chrome off , Nickel plate it again and Gold Plate it, we do this very often on chrome Logos or center caps.
Chrome plating pot metal and pewter
Chrome plating these metals is a challenge when pitting present. most of the parts we work with have been plated before, if you see a bubble or blister on the surface it means there is a pit underneath. after stripping the parts from old plating, We start to grind the pits out as much a possible, after polishing stage we proceed whit copper plating and has to be done several times ,each time it has to be buffed and go back to the tank. after Copper we go for Nickel plating and then chrome plating.
Chrome plate all hand levers, foot pegs, peg brackets and heat shields
(levers = 4, pegs = 4, peg brackets = 4 and Heel guards = 2) sport bikes only
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