Historical Articles
June, 1953 issue of Plating
QUESTION BOX
readers’ question
of general interest.
Q. 158. We are compiling information
on safely in plating rooms and are particularly interested in guarding against
rash and allergy
from nickel solutions. Also concerned
are vapor degreasers, trichlorethylene, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid
and caustic cleaners.
A. Good housecleaning coupled with
the use of protective creams or lotions have been found to be satisfactory
answers to this problem
in the past. (The
names
of suppliers were furnished along with literature on control of dermatitis.)
Q.
159. Some of our cast iron parts are nickel and chromium plated. We do
get a small amount of frost, however, which incidentally buffs off.
Parts
are then
wrapped in paper until they reach the dealer. Dealers complain of frost
reappearing after a short time in display rooms. Will you kindly suggest
a possible cure
for this condition
A. Plate the castings
to a thickness of at least 0.001 inch and better in a cold nickel solution
at a current
density of about 6
to 8 amperes
per square
foot.
Following this lengthy plating operation with a buffing step plus a
flash of
chromium plate should give a product that will not be as troublesome
as that described.—LOUIS DONROE.
Q. 160. Is there a synthetic
resin or plastic which can be used for covering the inside of a watch
case? The purpose of this filling is
to prevent
gold plating of the inside of the case while the outside is being
gold plated.
A. There are a number of masking
materials or stop-off lacquers which can be used for the purpose described
(names of suppliers were furnished).—A.
KORBELAK.
Q. 161. Is it possible to economically
vapor coat steel evenly, with 0.003 to 0.004 inches of aluminum which will
then be anodized
to
produce a hard
wearing
surface?
A. The
conventional vapor coating techniques do not deposit a coating approaching
the thickness desired above.
In the alumnizing
of glass
reflector type
envelopes (sealed beam headlamps, etc.) the coating is approximately
6 millionths of
an inch in thickness. Other decorative aluminized coatings
are thinner— strong
light would be seen through them. Sprayed coatings may be too
porous, but will give the desired thickness. Gas plating is
not economical. The best solution
to the problem appears to be in the purchase of bimetallic
stock in which aluminum clad material is a regular production item.—A.
KORBELAK & H.H. HAFT