Exciting News!
Our brand-new metal prep area is now up and running! Watch as Ian Molyneaux, our Sales and Logistics Manager, as he shares the fantastic benefits it brings to our operations.
Ensure your plated parts meet exacting quality standards every time!
We have recently made a significant investment in a new metal prep area. This investment will help us treat parts that come to us in a state that is ready for plating. As a partner with over 70 years of experience in the industry, we have a proven track record of delivering high-quality finishes to customers in the automotive, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing sectors. We prioritise cleanliness as it is an essential aspect of our work.
Why is surface preparation important before electroplating?
When it comes to electroplating, cleanliness is absolutely crucial. If your parts aren’t properly cleaned, all sorts of contaminants can make their way onto the surface of your components. And that, in turn, can seriously impact the quality of your plating. Nobody wants to end up with blistered, flaky plating that’s peeling off! That’s why we offer a range of blasting and cleaning processes that we use ourselves to prepare substrates for plating.
Metal Prep Equipment
Tunnel blaster
The tunnel allows us to use high volume parts and blast them all over. It can accommodate quite large parts and rotates the components during the blasting process to ensure that the entire surface area of the parts is thoroughly cleaned, making them ready for any subsequent processes.
Hand Blasting Cabinet
We have a hand blasting cabinet that allows us to clean more delicate and custom areas on components. This is particularly important for components used in the aerospace, electronics, and semiconductor industries, where high precision and care are crucial during the cleaning and plating process.
Aqua Blaster
The Aqua blasting machine is a highly effective tool that provides a clean and superior finish to components that require plating. This machine is different from the tunnel blaster and the hand blasting cabinet as it uses water-based technology to clean and blast the components simultaneously, making it an excellent choice for components that need replating. It’s also not as harsh as the other 2 machines.
Rail components and other outdoor parts are often exposed to elements such as dust, grease, and muck. If not cleaned properly, these components may become damaged, resulting in flaking, pitting, and poor adhesion. The Aqua blasting machine is a great solution to this problem. It can remove any debris and prepare the material for a perfect finish that will adhere well and last long. The wet blaster is especially useful for larger components.
Dishwasher
Our machinery includes a dishwasher as well as a degreasing unit that can efficiently clean and degrease hollow components. These components may have a variety of contaminants, such as oils, grease, lubricants, and other organic substances, which can be completely removed by our advanced cleaning and degreasing technology. This ensures that the components are prepared for further processing or use, without any residual contaminants that could compromise their effectiveness or longevity.
HOW THIS BENEFITS YOU
When plated, your components will have a consistent and uniform finish that enhances their aesthetics, performance, and durability.
Precision
Compared to other cleaning methods, this process prioritises delicacy, minimising damage risk and preserving surface integrity.
Surface finish
Not only will your components be cleaned, but the surface can also be smoothed out, which is great for the appearance of parts and beneficial to industries where aesthetics is important, such as the automotive, electronics and medical industries.