At R & S Plating, we offer our customers top-of-the-line Cleveland Hard Chrome Plating services. Founded in 1946, we’ve spent decades building a reputation for being one of the Midwest’s finest providers of metal plating services.
With a focus on meeting all of our customers’ needs, we pledge to deliver high-quality workmanship to your exact specifications. Whether your project is big or small, we’ll use our more than 70 years of experience in the metal finishing industry to provide you with the exceptional results that you deserve.
Overview of Hard Chrome Plating
Hard chrome plating is one of the most popular metal finishing services available. Also known as “Industrial Chrome,” it’s often used to strengthen the underlying object and provide additional protection against wear and tear.
The method used to coat an object with a hard chrome overlay is called electroplating. This process is accomplished by placing an object into a chromic acid solution and introducing an electrical current to induce plating.
Hard chrome plating can be done successfully on many different ferrous and nonferrous materials, including copper, brass, stainless steel alloys, zinc, and more. This versatility is one reason for the popularity of hard chrome plating.
It’s also well-liked as a metal finish because it can be used on objects of various sizes. While hard chrome plating is different from decorative chrome plating, that doesn’t mean the results aren’t nice to look at; an item that has been coated in hard chrome will be a gorgeous and bright uniform silvery color.
Properties of Hard Chrome Plating
When you have an object plated in hard chrome, here’s what you can expect:
- Hardness
As implied by the name, hard chrome plating has a well-earned reputation for being extremely hard. In fact, an item coated in a standard hard chrome plating bath will usually register around 900-1200 on the Vickers diamond pyramid hardness scale. If you’re working with an underlying substrate that is susceptible to damage, adding a layer of hard chrome through electroplating could be the perfect solution.
- Friction Resistance
Friction is a very destructive force, often causing objects to break down quickly. But with a hard chrome finish and its accompanying high lubricity and low wear rate, the plated item will be able to withstand immense contact stress.
- Even Application
With hard chrome plating, you don’t need to worry about the metal finish being thick in some areas but thin in others. This is a metal finish that’s known for its ability to be applied in a uniform coat.
- Superior Adhesion
There are two big factors that contribute to how well a finish adheres to the underlying substrate. One of these factors has to do with the initial preparation of the object – to be more specific, how well it’s cleaned. If the item isn’t cleaned thoroughly before plating, the dirt and debris that remains will interfere with adhesion.
But thorough cleaning isn’t the only factor that determines how well a metal coating adheres to surface of an object; it also has a lot to do with chemistry. The electrolyte bath that the item is placed in needs to be a certain temperature to ensure maximum adhesion.
How long the electrical current is run through the bath also has an effect on plating results. That’s why it’s important to hire professionals to complete your Cleveland Hard Chrome Plating projects – if you try to do it yourself or hire a company with little experience, you could end up with a lot of wasted time, energy, and money.
- Protection against Corrosion
Hard chrome plating can also provide additional protection against chemical corrosion. It’s especially suitable for use with organic acids such as oils, brine, sugar, fruit acids, milk, coal gas, glue, and molten glass. If your object requires even more corrosion resistance, it is possible to apply an additional non-corrosive coating prior to plating.
Applications for Hard Chrome Plating
Hard chrome plating is used in a variety of ways in the aerospace, firearm, medical, automotive, and machine tool industries. It helps to improve the performance of items such as:
- Gears
- Brake discs
- Drills
Shock absorbers- Motor shafts
- Dies
- Extrusion screws
- Piston heads
- Gun barrels
- Actuator components
- Medical devices
- …and more
Shock absorbersContact the Cleveland Hard Chrome Plating Experts at R & S
If you want to learn more about hard chrome plating, we welcome you to give us a call at 317-925-2396. We’d love to talk to you about Cleveland Hard Chrome Plating and the many benefits it offers. If you prefer written communication, just reach out to us through the contact form on our website.